Matt Damon Convinced Ben Affleck To Quit Batman Role After ‘Justice League’

Ben Affleck is definitely done playing Batman.

Matt Damon The Last Duel Ben Affleck Batman Justice League

Justice League star Ben Affleck has revealed that Matt Damon convinced him to stop playing Batman in the DC Extended Universe movies.

While Michael Keaton is returning to the role of Batman for the first time in more than thirty years, Ben Affleck is looking to distance himself from the character. Affleck brought Bruce Wayne to life in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad and two different versions of Justice League, but the two-time Academy Award winner made the decision to part ways with the role just before getting his first standalone movie as the iconic DC Comics character. As it turns out, Affleck made that decision thanks to his childhood friend and frequent collaborator Matt Damon.

Entertainment Weekly recently published a conversation between Ben Affleck and Matt Damon in which the former opens up about stepping away from the role of Batman and the DC Extended Universe. During the interview, Affleck disclosed that Damon was the one convinced him to leave the role behind after a horrible experience shooting Justice League:

“I had a really nadir experience around Justice League for a lot of different reasons. Not blaming anybody, there’s a lot of things that happened. But really what it was is that I wasn’t happy. I didn’t like being there. I didn’t think it was interesting. And then some really s—ty things, awful things happened. But, that’s when I was like, I’m not going to do that anymore.

In fact, I talked to you about it and you were a principal influence on that decision. I want to do the things that would bring me joy. Then we went and did Last Duel and I had fun every day on this movie. I wasn’t the star, I wasn’t likable. I was a villain. I wasn’t all the things I thought I was supposed to be when I started out and yet it was a wonderful experience. And it was all just stuff that came along that I wasn’t chasing.”

Ben Affleck recently wrapped his final scenes as Batman for Ezra Miller’s first cinematic solo outing as The Flash. Meanwhile, Robert Pattinson is set to make his debut as a new version of the DC Comics hero in The Batman, which is currently scheduled to hit theaters this March.

The Ben Affleck version of Batman was last seen in the Zack Snyder cut of Justice League, which premiered on HBO Max in March 2021. Here is the official synopsis for the movie:

“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.”

Directed by Zack Snyder, Justice League 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.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League is available on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray and streaming exclusively on HBO Max. Stay tuned for the latest news regarding Ben Affleck and the future of Batman, and make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content!

Source: Entertainment Weekly

Michael Bezanidis

Michael Bezanidis

Michael is the Managing Editor of Heroic Hollywood. When he's not playing video games, he's usually writing about film and television.