Ben Affleck: 'Oh S***, We Have a Problem' - The Moment He Knew He Was Done as Batman

In a candid interview with GQ, Ben Affleck, renowned for his role as Batman in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, revealed the challenges he faced while portraying the iconic Caped Crusader for DC. Reflecting on nearly a decade of involvement with the character, Affleck described his journey within the Snyder-verse as “a really excruciating experience.” He cited a complex relationship with DC as a key factor that ultimately diminished his 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 previously discussed his struggles, but he provided deeper insights into the root causes of his dissatisfaction. He attributed the difficulties to a “misalignment of agendas, understandings, and expectations,” while also acknowledging his own contributions to the problematic dynamics. “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 forces with Henry Cavill in Zack Snyder’s Batman v. Superman. This led to numerous appearances in team-up projects like Justice League (both the 2017 version and the 2021 Snyder Cut), The Flash, and even a brief role in Suicide Squad in 2016. However, his planned standalone Batman movie was ultimately canceled. While details about the unproduced film are sparse, rumors suggest it would have delved into the lore of Arkham Asylum and possibly included Joe Manganiello’s Deathstroke.

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Affleck credited longtime collaborator Matt Damon for helping him move away from the role, but he also revealed that his own son played a significant role in his decision to step away. “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 navigates its future, the studio is branching out into separate storytelling paths, with darker narratives continuing in The Batman 2 slated for 2027, and more lighthearted tales set to launch with James Gunn’s DCU, starting with Superman this July. However, fans should not anticipate Affleck returning to direct within Gunn's new universe.