Ben Affleck, renowned for his portrayal of Batman in *Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice*, has candidly shared his challenging experience with the role over the past decade. In a recent interview with *GQ*, Affleck revealed that his tenure as the iconic Caped Crusader within the Snyder-verse was "a really excruciating experience." He elaborated on how his complex relationship with DC executives ultimately led to a 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 DC journey before, but this interview sheds more light on the root of his dissatisfaction. He attributed much of his struggle to a "misalignment of agendas, understandings, and expectations," while also acknowledging his own contributions to the issues. Reflecting on his time with DC, he admitted, "I wasn’t bringing anything particularly wonderful to that equation at the time, either."
"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 confessed. "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 was followed by numerous appearances, including roles in *Justice League* (both the 2017 theatrical release and the 2021 Snyder Cut), *The Flash*, and a cameo in *Suicide Squad*. However, his planned standalone Batman film, which was rumored to explore 80 years of the Dark Knight's history and potentially involve Joe Manganiello's Deathstroke, was ultimately canceled.
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While the specifics of the canceled Batman project remain a mystery, Affleck credits his longtime friend Matt Damon with helping him decide to step away from the role. Additionally, his own son played a significant role in this decision. "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 into separate paths for its grittier and more lighthearted stories. The darker narrative will continue with *The Batman 2* slated for 2027, while the lighter side will be spearheaded by James Gunn's DCU, beginning with *Superman* this July. Meanwhile, Affleck has made it clear that he will not be returning to DC to direct a film in Gunn's new universe.
