Ben Affleck, known for his role as Batman in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, recently shared with GQ that his experience playing the Caped Crusader for DC was "excruciating." Reflecting on nearly a decade of portraying the iconic character, Affleck delved into the reasons behind his challenging journey within the Snyder-verse. He cited a "misalignment of agendas, understandings, and expectations" as a major contributor to his negative experience, while also acknowledging his own part in it.
"There are a number of reasons why that was a really excruciating experience," Affleck explained. "And they don’t all have to do with the simple dynamic of, say, being in a superhero movie or whatever. I am not interested in going down that particular genre again, not because of that bad experience, but just: I’ve lost interest in what was of interest about it to me. But I certainly wouldn’t want to replicate an experience like that."
Affleck admitted that he brought a lot of "unhappiness" to the set, which didn't help in creating a positive working environment. "I mean, my failings as an actor, you can watch the various movies and judge. But more of my failings of, in terms of why I had a bad experience, part of it is that what I was bringing to work every day was a lot of unhappiness," he said. "So I wasn’t bringing a lot of positive energy to the equation. I didn’t cause problems, but I came in and I did my job and I went home. But you’ve got to do a little bit better than that."
His journey with DC began when he co-starred in Zack Snyder's Batman v. Superman alongside Henry Cavill, which led to various cameos and a canceled standalone Batman project. Affleck appeared in team-up movies like Justice League (both the 2017 original and the 2021 Snyder Cut), and The Flash, as well as a brief role in Suicide Squad in 2016.
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While the details of his canceled standalone Batman film remain speculative, it was rumored to explore 80 years of the Dark Knight, possibly delving into the lore of Arkham Asylum and featuring Joe Manganiello’s Deathstroke.
Affleck credited both Matt Damon and his own son for helping him decide to move on from the role. He recounted how his son found Batman v. Superman too intense, leading Affleck to recognize a disconnect with younger audiences. "But what happened was it started to skew too old for a big part of the audience. Like even my own son at the time was too scared to watch (Batman v. Superman). And so when I saw that I was like, 'Oh shit, we have a problem.' Then I think that’s when you had a filmmaker that wanted to continue down that road and a studio that wanted to recapture all the younger audience at cross purposes. Then you have two entities, two people really wanting to do something different and that is a really bad recipe."
As DC moves forward, it's branching into separate paths with grittier and more lighthearted narratives. The former will continue with The Batman 2 in 2027, while the latter will kick off with James Gunn’s DCU, starting with Superman this July. However, Affleck has made it clear that he will not return to DC to direct a film in Gunn's new universe.
