Ben Affleck is back in Batman black in the latest trailer for Zack Snyder's Justice League. Affleck reunited with his Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice director Zack Snyder in October for a brief round of additional photography on the Snyder Cut, joining co-stars Henry Cavill (Superman) and Ray Fisher (Cyborg) for the first time since Justice League's Joss Whedon-directed reshoots in 2017. In the restored and all-new version of Justice League — which doesn't use a "single frame" not photographed by Snyder — Batfleck is back and will appear opposite the Jared Leto Joker for the first time when Zack Snyder's Justice League releases on HBO Max.
"Part of the reason I really wanted to do the scene was because I felt like this universe, it was important to me that Batman and Joker have a scene together," Snyder told I Minutemen about the newly-filmed scene bringing the Affleck Batman and the Leto Joker together in the post-apocalyptic Knightmare.
Calling the Batman-versus-Joker conflict "central to the universe," Snyder added, "It seemed odd to me, or a shame [we haven't seen them together]. And frankly, it was a conflict that I had planned for, the Knightmare sequence. I was excited to get the opportunity to do it, to have a little taste of it. So I thought it was important for fans to see their Batman and this cinematic universe's Joker come into some small conflict. Yeah, they have a little bit of history (laughs)."
Affleck famously retired the cape and cowl in 2019 after parting ways with Batman's first DCEU-set solo film that would have pitted the Dark Knight against Deathstroke (Joe Manganiello), who also returned for additional Justice League filming under Snyder. It came as a surprise last summer when it was learned Affleck will reprise the role opposite his Justice League co-star Ezra Miller in The Flash, which opens the DC Multiverse when Michael Keaton's Batman returns.
In January, Affleck told The Hollywood Reporter he played Batman for his kids, adding that wearing the Bat-suit to his son's birthday party was "worth every moment of suffering on Justice League."
Affleck's F-bomb-dropping Batman returns when Zack Snyder's Justice League premieres March 18 on HBO Max. Here's what DC fans are saying about new Batfleck footage revealed in Sunday's trailer: