Ben Affleck, known for his role as Batman in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, recently shared his candid thoughts on his decade-long journey with the character in an interview with GQ. Affleck described his tenure as a central figure in the Snyder-verse as "a really excruciating experience," attributing his disillusionment to a complex relationship with DC that has ultimately led to his disinterest 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 with the role, but in this interview, he elaborated on the sources of his dissatisfaction. He attributed the negative experience to a "misalignment of agendas, understandings, and expectations," while also acknowledging his own contributions to the situation. "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 admitted. "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 when he joined Zack Snyder’s Batman v. Superman alongside Henry Cavill. This role led to numerous cameos and a planned standalone Batman film that was ultimately canceled. His involvement extended to various team-up projects, including the 2017 Justice League and its 2021 Snyder Cut, as well as The Flash and a brief appearance in Suicide Squad.
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While details about the canceled Batman movie remain sparse, rumors suggested it would have explored 80 years of the Dark Knight's history, possibly delving into Arkham Asylum and featuring Joe Manganiello’s Deathstroke.
Affleck credited longtime collaborator Matt Damon for helping him decide to step away from the role, but he also revealed that his own son played a significant part in his decision. "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 is splitting its storytelling into grittier and more lighthearted paths. The darker narrative will continue with The Batman 2 in 2027, while the lighter tone will be introduced with James Gunn’s DCU, starting with Superman this July. As for Affleck, he has made it clear that he does not plan to return to DC to direct a film in Gunn’s new universe.
