Ben Affleck was recently interviewed by The Hollywood Reporter to promote his movie “Air” but answered some questions about his past and future with DC.
The Flash
He first gave us a little insight into his upcoming performance in “The Flash” saying,
“Yeah, I did finally figure out how to play that character [Batman], and I nailed it in The Flash. For the five minutes I’m there, it’s really great. A lot of it’s just tone. You’ve got to figure out, what’s your version of the person? Who is the guy that fits what you can do? I tried to fit myself into a Batman.”
Ben Affleck
It is rumored we were only supposed to see Ben Affleck’s Batman in the beginning of the film and the trailer further proves this theory. The trailer only shows his opening action sequence on the Batcycle and him discussing the consequences of time travel with Barry. Given Affleck’s claims of being in the film for five minutes (although likely exaggerated) I wouldn’t expect to see him past Barry’s traveling back in time.
Justice League
Affleck then gave more insight into the behind the scenes issues with “Justice League” and why it made him step away from the character. He described,
“You could teach a seminar on all the reasons why this is how not to do it. Ranging from production to bad decisions to horrible personal tragedy, and just ending with the most monstrous taste in my mouth. But I was going to direct a Batman, and [Justice League] made me go, ‘I’m out. I never want to do any of this again. I’m not suited.”
“That was the worst experience I’ve ever seen in a business which is full of some shitty experiences. It broke my heart. There was an idea of someone [Joss Whedon] coming in, like, ‘I’ll rescue you and we’ll do 60 days of shooting and I’ll write a whole thing around what you have. I’ve got the secret.’ And it wasn’t the secret. That was hard.”
Ben Affleck
Based on all the dozens of information regarding the behind the scenes drama of “Justice League“, it makes sense that Affleck would be turned off by the character and franchise. Affleck went on to describe how the production issues would lead to more personal issues further pushing him away from DC.
Directing In The DCU
The most interesting tidbit of info that came out of this interview was about the possibility of directing in the DCU. When answering he said the following,
“I would not direct something for the [James] Gunn DC. Absolutely not. I have nothing against James Gunn. Nice guy, sure he’s going to do a great job. I just wouldn’t want to go in and direct in the way they’re doing that. I’m not interested in that.”
Ben Affleck
Interestingly back in December 2022, James Gunn was asked about the possibility of Ben Affleck directing in the DCU and he commented,
“Met with Ben yesterday precisely because he wants to direct & we want him to direct; we just have to find the right project.”
James Gunn via Twitter
Now a lot can change in three months but we are curious if this was a true statement from Gunn or why Affleck might have changed his mind. Many fans suspected that Affleck would direct “The Brave and the Bold” to make up for his lost Batman project, but this looks unlikely now. To be fair Affleck had just spent a good amount of words on why DC didn’t work for him so that’s possibly why he no longer wants to direct in the DCU.
Regardless of how you might feel about Ben Affleck’s performance as Batman, there is no debate on how he was the foundation of the DCEU and had an important impact on the way the character can be interpreted.