Ben Affleck explained that his experience on Justice League caused his exit from directing The Batman.
In March, audiences will be introduced to a new Caped Crusader with Robert Pattinson in The Batman, directed by Matt Reeves. However, Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck will appear in The Flash as their Batmen later this year. At one point, Ben Affleck was set to direct The Batman after Justice League. The Batman star recently explained to the Los Angeles Times why he ultimately walked away:
“Directing “Batman” is a good example. 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.”
Ben Affleck went on to explain that his experience with Joss Whedon’s Justice League reshoots was the main reason why he exited The Batman:
“It was really “Justice League” that was the nadir for me. That was a bad experience because of a confluence of things: my own life, my divorce, being away too much, the competing agendas and then [director] Zack [Snyder]’s personal tragedy [Snyder’s daughter Autumn died by suicide in 2017] and the reshooting. It just was the worst experience. It was awful. It was everything that I didn’t like about this. That became the moment where I said, ‘I’m not doing this anymore.’ It’s not even about, like, “Justice League” was so bad. Because it could have been anything.”
Here is the synopsis for the Snyder Cut:
“In ZACK SNYDER’S JUSTICE LEAGUE, determined to ensure Superman’s (Henry Cavill) ultimate sacrifice was not in vain, Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) aligns forces with Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) with plans to recruit a team of metahumans to protect the world from an approaching threat of catastrophic proportions. The task proves more difficult than Bruce imagined, as each of the recruits must face the demons of their own pasts to transcend that which has held them back, allowing them to come together, finally forming an unprecedented league of heroes. Now united, Batman (Affleck), Wonder Woman (Gadot), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), Cyborg (Ray Fisher) and The Flash (Ezra Miller) may be too late to save the planet from Steppenwolf, DeSaad and Darkseid and their dreadful intentions.”
The Snyder Cut stars Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Gal Gadot, Ezra Miller, Jason Momoa, Ray Fisher, Jeremy Irons, Diane Lane, Connie Nielsen, J.K. Simmons, and Ciarán Hinds.
Both versions of Justice League are available on HBO Max, while The Batman will hit theaters on March 4, 2022. Stay tuned for all the latest news surrounding The Batman, the future of the Justice League franchise, and be sure to subscribe to Heroic Hollywood’s YouTube channel for more original video content.
Source: Los Angeles Times
