After many months of speculation, Ben Affleck is officially out as Batman and the news only further reminds us of how the DCEU wasted such mighty potential. It’s been all but confirmed for many months now that Affleck would not be returning to the DCEU as the Dark Knight.

Endless speculation over the matter, coupled with internal troubles regarding the franchise’s future, not to mention the very public difficulties Affleck has been dealing with in his private life, made the recent news less than surprising to most fans. The upcoming solo Batman film, directed by Matt Reeves, will feature a new star in the role. Affleck tweeted out a story confirming the news, adding that he was exctied for what Reeves has in store.

Related: Why Ben Affleck Is Out As Batman (& Why It Took So Long)

Affleck’s two films as Bruce Wayne signaled a strange bump in the road for the character and DC franchise alike. While the news of his casting, fresh off his 2013 Oscar win for Best Picture with his directorial effort Argo, inspired the usual furor and divided fans, people have primarily been very sympathetic towards Affleck’s tenure. Even people who really didn’t like Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice typically singled out Affleck’s performance as a high point. Nobody ever put the weight of the DCEU’s problems on Affleck’s shoulders, but people also didn’t blame him for looking so checked out of the entire experience. By the time this news broke, his departure felt inevitable and somewhat unfair. Warner Bros. wasted a lot of goodwill and good ideas with the DCEU but the frittering away of Affleck’s potential felt especially sad.

Ben Affleck Signed On For A Different DCEU Story

When Affleck signed onto the DCEU to play one of the genre’s most iconic heroes, he was on top of the world. He’d clawed his way out of the blockbuster wilderness after many years of being a Hollywood joke thanks to a series of flops and the tabloid frenzy that was his engagement to Jennifer Lopez. He took a step back from the spotlight and worked to re-establish himself as a more serious actor as well as a successful director. He won the Best Actor prize at the Venice Film Festival for his performance as George Reeve (the original Superman) in Hollywoodland, his directorial debut Gone Baby Gone was well received by critics, and his Oscar-nominated follow-up The Town made back four times its budget. By the time Argo became the Best Picture winner of 2013, grossing over $232 million worldwide and led to endless headlines about how Affleck was snubbed for a Best Director nomination, Affleck had regained the industry’s support. Between this and working as an actor with auteurs like David Fincher and Terence Malick, it seemed that Affleck had begun a new age as a Clint Eastwood style actor-director. He could do anything he wanted. He chose to be Batman.

Affleck seeking to return to blockbuster glory wasn’t a surprise, especially given what Warner Bros. had originally promised him. Not only had he signed on for a radically different interpretation of the character, driven by Zack Snyder's 5-part DCEU plan, but he was committing to a multi-picture deal that would see him direct his own solo Batman effort. It was an auteur's dream, especially since Batman's most defining films are typically seen as auteur's works (Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan). But it’s the interpretation of the character himself that seemed especially intriguing to Affleck, an actor with his pick of projects who would probably be a dream piece of casting for any franchise.

Related: The Best Ben Affleck Batman Replacements

Snyder's original vision for the role had Affleck starting out as a broken Bruce who was inspired to return to his Batman duties by Superman. Snyder also planned to take the unprecedented direction of killing off Batman, having him sacrifice himself at the end of his arc. It certainly would have been creatively risky but it's not tough to see why such a narrative would be of interest to Affleck: It would make his version of the character unique from the many others before him, it would give him plenty of big actor moments to sink his teeth into, and it would provide a natural ending to his multi-film contract. For all of the grumbling over the now mythic Snyder cut of Justice League and how much the director’s vision was compromised throughout his run at DC, it’s perfectly understandable how such turmoil would leave Affleck feeling dissatisfied with his lot. After all, this wasn’t what he signed up for.

Page 2 of 2: How Justice League And The Batman Wasted Ben Affleck

Bruce Wayne confronts Clark Kent at a party in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice

Batman's Character Was Changed Drastically For Justice League

The disappointing reviews and box office for Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice sent Warner Bros. on a panicky U-turn with the DCEU. Suicide Squad faced similar issues with re-shoots and massive rounds of editing, designed to realign the film’s tone into something more comedic, but that drama was nothing compared to what happened with Justice League. The film lost its original director and became a drastically different project from what was originally pitched, not to mention one with stark visual and tonal shifts that only further highlighted how the final product was clearly the work of two directors and a studio not on the same page.

Related: The Batman: Every Update You Need to Know

The most obvious changes for Affleck came with the Joss Whedon rewrites making Bruce a more jokey character. This wasn’t necessarily a terrible idea – the DCEU seriously needed more jokes – but it couldn’t help but feel like a massive change from how we’d seen Affleck as Bruce in Batman V Superman. A lot of the time, they felt like two different characters and neither really seemed to know what to do with Affleck. He had all the potential to be a great Batman and he gets to be a pretty good Bruce, but strange plotting and character decisions quickly overwhelmed the actors, not just Affleck.

Ben Affleck's Writing/Directing Contributions Were Wasted

Ben Affleck runs through fog in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice

The deal Affleck signed onto with Warner Bros. was an all-encompassing creative breakthrough, the kind of collaborative effort very few stars get to work into their contracts, especially from the very beginning of their franchise run. It took many years before Robert Downey Jr., for example, got better pay and more sway over Tony Stark in the MCU.  Not only would he play Batman but Affleck had signed on to direct and write his own solo film and serve as an executive producer on Justice League. Given how much of the DCEU in its early stages was built on establishing itself as a more director-driven franchise than the rigid mold of Marvel, having a post-Oscar Affleck on your team at the height of his powers was a smart move.

Affleck's creative involvement with the franchise slowly began to reduce. First, Affleck stepped down as director of The Batman in January 2017, citing a heavy workload and desire to focus more on the role itself. The following month, Matt Reeves signed on as his replacement, and by July, it was announced that Affleck's script would be completely rewritten. The depletion of Affleck’s own creative vision was a massive disappointment, especially since Affleck had proven himself as a writer and director (remember, he did win an Oscar for writing Good Will Hunting). For many, Affleck had more to offer the DCEU as a creative figure than an actor.

For Affleck, signing onto a new superhero franchise after winning an Oscar should have been a home run. He had been put off doing so for many years after the mess he’d gone through with Daredevil, but in the new superhero age, this could have been a creative breakthrough for him. Ultimately, the franchise wasted him and Affleck spent most of his promotional cycles looking very sad, to the point where it became a meme. Affleck has publicly dealt with very difficult personal issues during his time as Batman, and the new direction of the DCEU seems far less focused on Batman than originally intended, so nobody can blame him for wanting to bow out now and let someone else take on the mantle. It’s just a shame that he never had the chance to truly show people what his Batman could have been.

NEXT: All 29 Upcoming & In-Development DC Films

Key Release Dates