Ben Affleck has suggested he may never return to massive blockbusters, and it seems no one is happier about that than Affleck himself. In a recent interview with The LA Times, the filmmaker sat down to discuss his newest projects and reflected on some of his darker days and rockier moments, some of which have changed his career forever.
These came around the time of the n0w-infamous reshoots on 2017’s Justice League. After shooting some of the biggest superhero movies of all time in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League, the gruelling schedule was getting to the actor and then life got even harder when Joss Whedon was brought in to take over from Zack Snyder on Justice League.
“It was Justice League that was the nadir for me,” said Affleck, explaining his decision to walk away from the DCEU and the original version of The Batman which would have seen him directing and starring. “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 Zack’s personal tragedy 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,” he continued. “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.”
SEE ALSO: The Flash contains Ben Affleck’s favorite scenes as Batman
Following Affleck’s exit from The Batman, Warner Bros. enlisted Matt Reeves (War of the Planet of the Apes) to reboot the franchise with Robert Pattinson in the role of the Dark Knight. Affleck did return to the role however for Zack Snyder’s own Justice League reshoots, and will bid farewell to the DCEU officially this year as he dons the cape and cowl again for one final outing in The Flash.
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.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League is directed by Zack Snyder and features Henry Cavill as Superman, Ben Affleck as Batman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Ezra Miller as The Flash, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, Connie Nielsen as Queen Hippolyta, Robin Wright as General Antiope, J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon, Amber Heard as Mera, Joe Morton as Silas Stone, Willem Dafoe as Vulko, Ciaran Hinds as Steppenwolf, Joe Manganiello as Deathstroke, Harry Lennix as Martian Manhunter, Kiersey Clemons as Iris West, Zheng Kai as Ryan Choi, Peter Guinness as DeSaad, Ray Porter as Darkseid, and Jared Leto as The Joker.
