Ben Affleck, known for his role as Batman in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, recently shared insights into his challenging experience portraying the iconic superhero for DC. In an interview with GQ, Affleck reflected on his decade-long journey with the character, describing it as "a really excruciating experience." He attributed his struggles to a complex dynamic with DC, which ultimately led to 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 discussed his struggles with the role before, but this time he delved deeper into the reasons behind his negative experiences. He cited a "misalignment of agendas, understandings, and expectations" as a significant factor, while also acknowledging his own contributions to the challenges. "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 elaborated, "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 led to numerous appearances in films like the original and Snyder Cut versions of Justice League, The Flash, and a cameo in Suicide Squad. However, his planned standalone Batman film was ultimately canceled. Rumors suggest this movie would have explored 80 years of the Dark Knight's history, potentially delving into Arkham Asylum and featuring Joe Manganiello’s Deathstroke.
The 10 Best DCEU Movie Heroes
11 Images
Affleck has previously credited longtime collaborator Matt Damon for helping him decide to step away from the role. However, in his recent GQ interview, he also mentioned that his son played a role in his decision to leave. "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 exploring separate paths for its grittier and more lighthearted stories. The darker tone will continue with The Batman 2 in 2027, while the lighter side will be spearheaded by James Gunn's DCU, beginning with Superman this July. However, fans should not expect to see Affleck return to DC to direct a film in Gunn’s new universe.
Latest Downloads
Downlaod
Top News
