Ben Affleck or Batfleck is the Batman for a whole generation of fans. So when he decided to bid adieu to the DC live-action universe, fans were devastated. However, his inclusion in the first trailer for The Flash reinvigorated the fanbase with hopes of seeing their favorite iteration of the dark knight one more time. Affleck being a part of the Ezra Miller-led movie came as a surprise also because the actor was allegedly exhausted from working in Justice League. However, as per a recent interview, the actor is happy with his work on The Flash even though he will inevitably end up being compared to Michael Keaton’s Batman.
Ben Affleck Talks About His Experience On The Flash
In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Ben Affleck stated that playing Batman didn’t come easy to him. However, he ultimately figured out how to nail the caped crusader and had fun playing the vigilante in The Flash. As per Affleck:
“Yeah, I did finally figure out how to play that character [Batman], and I nailed it in The Flash. For the five minutes I’m there, it’s really great. 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 isn’t the only Batman in the Andy Muschietti-directed The Flash film. Michael Keaton is also reprising his role as the same character. As such, it will be interesting to see which iteration of the character audiences end up loving the most. However, it can’t be denied that Affleck’s version of the dark knight has nothing to prove anymore after two solid appearances in Batman v Superman and Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Apart from this, the interview is very informative and the 50-year-old actor finally explains what he went through while filming the much-maligned Justice League movie.
Ben Affleck Explains What Happened During Production Of Justice League
In the same interview, Ben Affleck finally sheds light on what happened during the rumored tumultuous production of 2017’s Justice League film. Fans know that the movie went from Zack Snyder directing it to Joss Whedon. However ultimately no matter the changes, the film received mixed reviews and failed to impress producers with its global box-office haul of $658 million on a rumored budget of $300 million. Affleck explains that one could take a whole class on what went wrong with the tentpole superhero film:
“Justice League … You could teach a seminar on all the reasons why this is how not to do it. Ranging from production to bad decisions to horrible personal tragedy, and just ending with the most monstrous taste in my mouth…There was an idea of someone [Joss Whedon] coming in, like, “I’ll rescue you and we’ll do 60 days of shooting and I’ll write a whole thing around what you have. I’ve got the secret.” And it wasn’t the secret. That was hard. And I started to drink too much. I was back at the hotel in London, it was either that or jump out the window.”
He further explained that he didn’t find superhero films creatively satisfying anymore and didn’t want to participate in making them. However, he didn’t condescend anyone who loves making them He said that:
“You want to go to work and find something interesting to hang onto, rather than just wearing a rubber suit, and most of it you’re just standing against the computer screen going, “If this nuclear waste gets loose, we’ll …” That’s fine. I don’t condescend to that or put it down, but I got to a point where I found it creatively not satisfying…I thought, “I don’t want to participate in this in any way. And I don’t want to squander any more of my life, of which I have a limited amount.”
Ben Affleck has clearly moved on from superhero films entirely. In the same interview, he even debunks James Gunn’s claims that he is going to direct a DCU film. As such, it’s clear that the actor has hanged up his Batman cape and is ready to move on to the next phase of his life which will perhaps begin with Air, a biographical movie about Michael Jordan’s life-changing shoe deal.
Air will be released on 5 April 2023 and The Flash will hit theaters on 16 June 2023.
Source: THR
