Ben Affleck says Justice League was plagued with “one problem after another.” The movie hit theaters just over two years ago, disappointing fans and critics all over the world. The problems were evident as soon as Zack Snyder left the project after a family tragedy. Already scheduled reshoots turned into marathons, which ended up costing the studio an arm and a leg when all was said and done. By the time the dust settled, the movie was completely different from what Snyder originally envisioned.
In a new interview, Ben Affleck touched on what went wrong for Justice League and why he felt it was time to move on from the world of Batman. The actor has been candid about the problems behind-the-scenes for the DCEU team-up movie, maybe even more so than the rest of his castmates. With that being said, the entire cast supports the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut campaign. Affleck had this to say about working on Justice League.
“Justice League was unfortunately touched by some personal tragedy – a death in (director) Zack’s [Snyder] family. And like I say, sometimes things sort of work and gel and sometimes you seem to be having one problem after another.”
Things weren’t always bad for Ben Affleck and the DCEU. The actor says he “really loved” Batman v Superman, but after Justice League, he was just done. This is a subject that Affleck has brought up more than once while promoting The Way Back. When it comes down to it, he was burned out by taking on the role again for what would have been his version of The Batman. He explains.
“I had my fill of that. They said, ‘Would you like to direct and star in a solo Batman movie?’ And I found that, at some point, I had lost my enthusiasm or passion for it. And I thought this should really be made by someone who for whom it’s their wildest dream come true. It was clear to me it was time to move on.”
The loss of passion for The Batman has come up more than once, along with Ben Affleck’s personal demons. The actor has been very open about his struggle with alcoholism and the end of his marriage. At one point, a close friend told him he would probably drink himself to death if he had to go through another blockbuster production with all of that pressure at the time. Now, Affleck seems to be just fine with letting Matt Reeves and Robert Pattinson take the lead.
Taking on the role of Batman is not something that everybody gets to do. It’s a highly coveted role which comes with immense pressure from all angles and nobody knows this more than Ben Affleck. He was looked at under the microscope even more so than Christian Bale was during the Dark Knight trilogy, mainly due to the rise of social media. Robert Pattinson is next on the chopping block and Affleck wishes him luck. You can watch the interview with Affleck below, thanks to the GQ YouTube channel.
