How Daredevil Convinced Ben Affleck To Play Batman

There are plenty of actors who have double-dipped themselves into the world of cinematic superheroes. Before Chris Evans suited up as Captain America, he played Johnny Storm, the Human Torch of Fantastic Four fame. Ryan Reynolds has also done the same; The actor debuted as Deadpool before briefly suiting up as Green Lantern. Amongst those actors, Ben Affleck also stands as someone who has played two superheroes in their long-running careers even if people tend to ignore Daredevil’s existence in favor of Batman.

UP NEXT: Justice League 2 Delayed to Make Room for Ben Affleck’s The Batman

However, fans may want to give Daredevil a bit more credit. The 2003 may have been a miss at the box office, but Affleck has revealed its legacy is what pushed him to take on the role of Batman in recent years.

In an interview with the New York Times, Affleck spoke about his filmography and was asked about his on-going stint as Gotham’s Knight. The actor recalled how Warner Bros. approached him about the comic-based story for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Affleck said he knew the gritty tale was one he wanted to work on.

“That’s the movie I want to do,” Affleck told Warner Bros. “I want to be a part of that.”

The actor then continued and explained how his work on Daredevil pushed him to take on the project. “Part of it was I wanted for once to get one of these movies and do it right – to do a good version. I hate Daredevil so much.”

“It frustrated me. The Netflix show does really cool stuff. I feel like that was there for us to do with that character, and we never kind of got it right. I wanted to do one of those movies and sort of get it right.”

Right now, Affleck is devoting much of his time to Batman and the pursuit of cinematic perfection. During the interview, the actor admitted he was still working on the screenplay for his Batman standalone to ensure it would stand up to the hero’s historically praised films.

Before fans see Affleck’s Batman hit theaters, they will first watch the hero return in Zack Snyder’s Justice League. The ensemble flick will pit heroes like Aquaman, Wonder Woman, and Flash together as they take on a global threat. It will be up to Batman to bring the team together, and they’ll undoubtedly need some help from one of Krypton’s most famous ex-pats when the going gets rough.

In Justice League, fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to find and recruit a team of metahumans to stand against this newly awakened threat. But despite the formation of this unprecedented league of heroes—Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and The Flash—it may already be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions.

Justice League is directed by Zack Snyder, from a screenplay by Chris Terrio, and features an ensemble cast that includes Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Ezra Miller, Jason Momoa, Ray Fisher, Ciarán Hinds, Amy Adams, Diane Lane, Jeremy Irons and Jesse Eisenberg.

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Justice League will open in theaters on November 17, 2017.

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