Ben Affleck Admits He Didn't Realize How Iconic Batman Was

Ben Affleck didn't realize how iconic Batman was when he got cast for the role, and he definitely gets it now. He talked to GQ about his career and the topic of his time in the cape and cowl came up. Actors usually know when they're playing a part that is going to generate huge buzz, but it's hard to underestimate how big Batman is to a lot of fans around the world. It's something that both Robert Pattinson and Zoe Kravitz have noted early on in their stint with The Batman. Matt Reeves is coming from a different place with his story than Affleck's version of the character is. The veteran actor told GQ that he's never quite experiences anything like the passion emitted from the comic book fandom before.

"I don't think I even realized how iconic the character was until I took the job, and then that was a big story," Affleck told the magazine. "And it happened at the time when the internet was expanding into the movie business into kind of a different way... the fan sites and the relationships with the fans, and the studios, and the comic book creators and stuff was changing and evolving."

A lot of fans absolutely love what Affleck did with Bruce Wayne. There are still some holding out hope that he could return to the role sometime in the future, but that seems unlikely at this time. Still, Zack Snyder did an excellent job of selling the star on the role and maximizing what they could do together while on the franchise.

"Zack told me he basically wanted to do the tone of The Dark Knight Frank Miller series. Where he's older, he's kind of broken down and more vulnerable and I thought that was a really interesting approach to Batman," he remembered. "As a guy who is vulnerable, as a guy who aches when he gets up in the morning, as a guy who feels a lot of psychological torment, I thought was a really interesting approach to playing a hero and that is what we wanted to do."

Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey is now in theaters. Upcoming DC movies include Wonder Woman 1984 on June 5th, The Batman on June 25, 2021, The Suicide Squad on August 6, 2021, Black Adam on December 22, 2021, Shazam! 2 on April 1, 2022, The Flash on July 1, 2022, and Aquaman 2 on December 16, 2022.