Ben Affleck Reveals the Moment He Knew He Was Done Playing Batman: 'I Was Like, Oh S***, We Have a Problem'

Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice prima Ben Affleck has opened up astir his “excruciating” acquisition playing the Caped Crusader for DC.

The histrion explored his feelings aft astir 10 years of playing Batman during a caller interrogation with GQ. He described his clip moving arsenic a figurehead of the alleged Snyder-verse arsenic “a truly excruciating experience,” explaining however the analyzable narration with those astatine DC has present led to his nonaccomplishment of involvement successful the superhero genre.

“There are a fig of reasons wherefore that was a truly excruciating experience,” Affleck said. “And they don’t each person to bash with the elemental dynamic of, say, being successful a superhero movie oregon whatever. I americium not funny successful going down that peculiar genre again, not due to the fact that of that atrocious experience, but just: I’ve mislaid involvement successful what was of involvement astir it to me. But I surely wouldn’t privation to replicate an acquisition similar that.”

It's a taxable Affleck has opened up astir before, but present we cognize much astir wherever the mediocre acquisition came from. He mostly chalked it up to a “misalignment of agendas, understandings, and expectations” but admitted helium has to instrumentality immoderate of the blame, too. He looked backmost astatine his stint with DC and felt helium “wasn’t bringing thing peculiarly fantastic to that equation astatine the time, either.”

“I mean, my failings arsenic an actor, you tin ticker the assorted movies and judge. But much of my failings of, successful presumption of wherefore I had a atrocious experience, portion of it is that what I was bringing to enactment each time was a batch of unhappiness,” helium said erstwhile elaborating connected wherever helium feels helium failed.

“So I wasn’t bringing a batch of affirmative vigor to the equation. I didn’t origin problems, but I came successful and I did my occupation and I went home. But you’ve got to bash a small spot amended than that.”

Affleck began his clip with DC erstwhile helium signed connected to co-star successful Zack Snyder’s Batman v. Superman with Henry Cavill, and what followed were years of cameos and adjacent a canceled standalone project. Fans volition retrieve that Affleck went connected to prima successful assorted team-up projects similar Justice League (both the 2017 archetypal and 2021’s infamous Snyder Cut) and The Flash, but helium besides made a little quality successful 2016’s Suicide Squad, too.

As for that shuttered Batman movie, we don’t cognize precisely however it would person covered 80 years of the Dark Knight, but rumors person teased that it would person explored Arkham Asylum and possibly progressive Joe Manganiello’s Deathstroke, too.

Affleck antecedently stated that it was longtime collaborator Matt Damon who helped him yet bent up the iconic cowl, but successful today’s GQ interview, helium says his ain lad helped play a portion successful his leaving, too.

“But what happened was it started to skew excessively aged for a large portion of the audience. Like adjacent my ain lad astatine the clip was excessively frightened to ticker (Batman v. Superman). And truthful erstwhile I saw that I was like, 'Oh shit, we person a problem.'

"Then I deliberation that’s erstwhile you had a filmmaker that wanted to proceed down that roadworthy and a workplace that wanted to recapture each the younger assemblage astatine transverse purposes. Then you person 2 entities, 2 radical truly wanting to bash thing antithetic and that is simply a truly atrocious recipe.”

DC seems to beryllium uncovering a caller groove arsenic it splits its grittier and much lighthearted stories into abstracted paths. We’ll spot the erstwhile proceed successful 2027 erstwhile The Batman 2 yet arrives, with the second acceptable to truly kickoff erstwhile James Gunn’s DCU gets its feet disconnected the crushed with Superman this July. As for Affleck, don’t expect to spot him ever instrumentality to DC to nonstop a movie successful Gunn’s caller universe.

Michael Cripe is simply a freelance contributor with IGN. He's champion known for his enactment astatine sites similar The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be definite to springiness him a travel connected Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).