Don’t expect Ben Affleck back as Batman anytime soon as the actor again opens up about playing DC’s Dark Knight and his not-so-great experience with the Justice League movie.
From what we’ve been told, there were once plans for Ben Affleck to return as Batman in a multiverse storyline, which is why he was originally involved with The Flash. However, it’s our understanding that WBD head David Zaslav scrapped those plans and told James Gunn to reboot DC with cheaper talent. Affleck’s ending / post-credit scene was removed and replaced with George Clooney, effectively closing out the DCEU. When asked, Affleck said he would absolutely not direct anything for James Gunn.
Affleck Details What Went Wrong on Justice League
In an interview with GQ about his new production company—which is behind The Accountant 2, releasing April 25 (the first Accountant is great)—Ben Affleck opened up about his Justice League experience. After Batman v Superman, Zack Snyder began directing Justice League, but had to step away due to a family emergency. Snyder was replaced by Avengers director Joss Whedon. Long story short, Snyder’s vision for the film was heavily altered, and production reportedly didn’t go well:
There are a number of reasons why that was a really excruciating experience. 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. A lot of it was misalignment of agendas, understandings, expectations. And also by the way, I wasn’t bringing anything particularly wonderful to that equation at the time, either. I had my own failings, significant failings, in that process and at that time.
Affleck’s comments about the studio wanting to move in a different direction than Zack Snyder align with previous reports. Reportedly, Warner Bros. was aiming for something closer to the Marvel movies, which were highly successful at the time.
Loved playing Batman
Regarding playing Batman, Affleck said he loved portraying the character and enjoyed filming Batman v Superman. While many fans were initially skeptical when he was cast, Affleck is now considered by a lot of fans to be one of the best on-screen versions of the character:
I had a really good time. I loved doing the Batman movie. I loved Batman v Superman. And I liked my brief stints on The Flash that I did and when I got to work with Viola Davis on Suicide Squad for a day or two. In terms of creatively, I really think that I like the idea and the ambition that I had for it, which was of the sort of older, broken, damaged Bruce Wayne. And it was something we really went for in the first movie.
Thinks the DCEU skewed too old
Affleck continues and expands more on how the studio wanted to go in a different direction than Zack Snyder. Affleck says he became concerned when his own son was scared of Batman vs. Superman:
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 the movie. 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.
However, in hindsight, none of the DC movies released after Affleck’s involvement in the DCEU have been successful, and fans seem to have rejected the goofier, Marvel-style approach, and the MCU hasn’t been the same since Avengers: Endgame. Looking back, Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel and Batman v Superman are billion-dollar films when adjusted for inflation. In 2013, Man of Steel earned $670 million, which equals over $917 million today. Batman v Superman made $874.3 million in 2016—about $1.162 billion in today’s dollars. Safe to say, Zaslav would kill for those numbers now.
What’s next for Batman?
Matt Reeves has since rebooted Batman with Robert Pattinson in the cape and cowl. The Batman Part II is expected to be released October 1, 2027.
James Gunn is also developing a separate Batman as part of the DCU. The Flash director Andy Muschietti is said to be directing The Brave and the Bold. The film doesn’t have a release date, as Gunn is apparently waiting on a script he likes.
Rocksteady is also rumored to be developing a new Batman video game.
The Dark Knight makes an appearance in a commercial for State Farm. Watch the extended version:
