Ben Affleck Explains Why He Dropped Out of Directing The Batman
The tenure of Ben Affleck's time playing Bruce Wayne / Batman has been an eventful one, beginning with him being cast as the character for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. DC's initial slate of movies had included plans for a solo movie surrounding Affleck's incarnation of the character, which Affleck was originally poised to write, direct, and star in. Affleck eventually stepped down from helming the film, and was eventually replaced by Matt Reeves, with the entire project ultimately being reworked over the years to a standalone (and out of main DCEU continuity) project starring Robert Pattinson. In a recent interview with The L.A. Times, Affleck spoke about the way his career priorities have changed over the years, and revealed that he stepped down from helming The Batman after realizing he wouldn't "be happy" working on it.
"Directing Batman is a good example," Affleck revealed. "I looked at it and thought, 'I'm not going to be happy doing this. The person who does this should love it.' You're supposed to always want these things, and I probably would have loved doing it at 32 or something. But it was the point where I started to realize it's not worth it. It's just a wonderful benefit of reorienting and recalibrating your priorities that once it started being more about the experience, I felt more at ease."
Affleck's comments might be disheartening to those who have still hoped for his version of The Batman solo movie to see the light of day, especially after he was confirmed to be reprising his role as Batman in the upcoming The Flash movie. Variations of #MakeTheBatfleckMovie have trended on social media several times since that news was first confirmed — but apparently, The Flash will serve as "a really nice finish" on Affleck's time with the character.
"I have never said this — this is hot off the presses — but maybe my favorite scenes in terms of Batman and the interpretation of Batman that I have done, were in the Flash movie," Affleck recently told The Herald Sun. "I hope they maintain the integrity of what we did because I thought it was great and really interesting — different, but not in a way that is incongruent with the character. Who knows? Maybe they will decide that it doesn't work, but when I went and did it, it was really fun and really, really satisfying and encouraging and I thought, 'Wow — I think I have finally figured it out.'"
What do you think of Affleck's latest comments regarding his Batman solo movie? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
