Ben Affleck finally gets candid about his departure from The Batman, revealing Justice League's behind the scenes production issues diminished his enthusiasm for his own DCEU movie. Justice League's rewrites, reshoots, and drastic departure from Zack Snyder's original vision is a well-known story by now, but this is the first time Affleck has admitted they have a share of the blame for his decision to hang up Batman his cape and cowl.
Ben Affleck famously swore off superhero roles after his turn as Matt Murdock in the much-maligned 2003 Daredevil, but Zack Snyder's unique spin on the Dark Knight won him over. Affleck put in the gym work, becoming the most physically imposing Batman to date, truly embodying a version of the character very much in-line with Frank Miller's interpretation in The Dark Knight returns comics.
Despite a strong fan reaction to his take on a fallen (and subsequently redeemed) Batman in Snyder's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the critical reaction was hard to stomach, spawning the "sad Affleck" meme and leading to Warner Bros. deciding to drastically retool Justice League, bringing in Joss Whedon to add nearly 80 new script pages and drastically reshooting the movie, turning it from a 214 minute Zack Snyder film to a 120 minute Frankenstein monster of a movie.
After Justice League, Affleck faced several years of personal (and public) struggles with alcohol but is now on his way back to the top, starring in The Way Back, a movie about an alcoholic who's asked to coach his old high school's basketball team. A new New York Times with Affleck reflects on his time as Batman.
Africa in 1900 is a long way from “The Batman,” which Affleck was supposed to direct himself. He stepped aside, allowing Matt Reeves to take over (and Robert Pattinson to don the cowl), after deciding that the troubled shoot for “Justice League” had sapped his interest. Affleck never seemed to enjoy his time as Batman; his sullen demeanor while promoting “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” in 2016 resulted in the hit meme Sad Affleck.
In his previous statements, Affleck blamed his departure from The Batman on trouble getting the script where he wanted it, but now he paints a very different picture, saying the script was good, but the behind the scenes issues were too much "I showed somebody ‘The Batman’ script. They said, ‘I think the script is good. I also think you’ll drink yourself to death if you go through what you just went though again.'"
Based on what we've learned about the drama that was Justice League, it's no surprise it took a major personal toll on Affleck, who was even more invested than he was on Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, having been elevated to an executive producer in closer collaboration with Snyder.
While he's been mostly quiet on Justice League or his time as Batman in general, he did add his voice to the calls to release the Snyder Cut when it was trending on Twitter on the two year anniversary of Justice League's release. It's safe to say he doesn't have fond memories of Justice League's production, but not enough to sour his desire to support Snyder, whose take on Batman convinced Affleck the project was worth taking a risk on in the first place.
Fortunately, Affleck seems to be in a better place now, with a packed schedule, including his first writing collaboration with Matt Damon since Good Will Hunting, The Last Duel, a 14th century period piece to be directed by Ridley Scott. It seems like there's still more story to be told about Affleck's time as Batman, but with Matt Reeves and Robert Pattinson taking those reigns, all parties seem to be in a better place now, and audiences have a lot of Affleck and Batman to look forward to, just not on the same project for now.
