The Flash: DC Fans Wonder Why Ben Affleck Isn’t Credited in the Film

The Flash movie is now out in theaters, and DC fans have known from the very first trailers that Ben Affleck’s Batman was going to be part of the film. However, as audiences have started turning out to see The Flash, it’s quickly been noticed that Ben Affleck’s name is missing from the end credits of the movie. As you can see in the document below (via Warner Bros.), Affleck’s name is also not included in the official cast list for The Flash. 

The Flash is coming out at a pivotal time for the DC movie franchise: it marks the end of the SnyderVerse era (aka the DCEU) and the beginning of what James Gunn and Peter Safran are building with DC Studios and DCU Chapter One: “Gods and Monsters”. That transition comes with its own fair share of backlash from fans of the SnyderVerse – in large part due to the fact that Ben Affleck’s time as Batman is officially coming to its end. Snyder fans have been particularly sensitive about how The Flash is using Snyder’s vision (like Man of Steel’s General Zod invasion), and whether Warner Bros. and director Andy Mushietti are being respectful of the SnyderVerse, or exploiting it. Seeing Ben Affleck not even get credited for The Flash is definitely not sitting well with that side of the DC fandom. 

Once reports that Ben Affleck wasn’t in The Flash end credits got out on Twitter, it didn’t take long for the anger to get pointed at James Gunn. As one user tweeted: “You’re that unprofessional @JamesGunn?? I cannot understand why @wbd and us the fans, ended up with you”.

To be clear: James Gunn (AND Peter Safran) were given the jobs of DC Studios heads when The Flash was already well through production, and working on post-production effects and additional photography. That’s all to say: it’s not a project that was under Gunn’s purview. Even if the cynics don’t believe that Gunn wouldn’t purposefully tamper with The Flash’s cast list and credits for some reason, it does bear mention that Ben Affleck himself treated his Flash cameo like it was no big deal: 

“…I nailed it in The Flash. For the five minutes I’m there, it’s really great,” Affleck previously told THR. “A lot of it’s just tone. You’ve got to figure out, what’s your version of the person? Who is the guy that fits what you can do? I tried to fit myself into a Batman. And by the way, I like a lot of the stuff we did, especially the first one [Batman v Superman].”

Affleck reportedly helped DC and Warner Bros. out with both The Flash and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, after the Warner Bros. Discovery merger and DC Studios franchise reboot altered previous plans for Michael Keaton’s Batman to be THE Batman in the franchise, going forward. Affleck has always been a man of the fans, so maybe he wasn’t seeking credit for these cameos. Clearly, he doesn’t need to push for it: the fans will always do that for him.

The Flash is now in theaters.