Ben Affleck, known for his role as Batman in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, recently shared his challenging experiences playing the iconic superhero in an interview with GQ. Reflecting on nearly a decade of involvement with DC's Snyder-verse, Affleck described his journey as "excruciating." He cited a complex and strained relationship with DC as a significant factor in his waning interest in the superhero genre.
"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 has previously discussed his struggles, but this interview sheds new light on the underlying issues. He attributed much of the difficulty to a "misalignment of agendas, understandings, and expectations," though he also acknowledged his own contributions to the negative experience. "I mean, my failings as an actor, you can watch the various movies and judge. But more of my failings, 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 admitted. He further explained, "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."
Affleck's journey with DC began with his role in Zack Snyder’s Batman v. Superman alongside Henry Cavill. His tenure included numerous cameos and a canceled standalone Batman project. He starred in team-up films like Justice League (both the 2017 original and the 2021 Snyder Cut) and The Flash, and even made a brief appearance in Suicide Squad in 2016.
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While details about the canceled Batman film remain scarce, rumors suggest it would have delved into 80 years of the Dark Knight's history, possibly exploring Arkham Asylum and featuring Joe Manganiello’s Deathstroke.
Affleck credits longtime collaborator Matt Damon for helping him decide to leave the role, but he also mentioned his son’s reaction to Batman v. Superman played a part. "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."
DC is currently navigating new directions by separating its grittier and more lighthearted narratives. The darker path will continue with The Batman 2 set for release in 2027, while the lighter side will be explored in James Gunn’s DCU, starting with Superman this July. As for Affleck, he has made it clear that he has no plans to return to DC to direct a film in Gunn's new universe.
