The vast majority of fans out there would likely agree that Ben Affleck did not get a fair shot at playing Batman in DC's own cinematic universe.
His first appearance in 2016's Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice showed promise. This was a bitter, broken Bruce Wayne who had been through some real tragedy in his time as the caped crusader. Unfortunately, many felt director Zack Snyder went a little too far in making this Batman fully unconcerned with murdering people. It also didn't help that the film as a whole was just a bit rubbish.
Then came Justice League, or at least the version that was started by Snyder and finished by Joss Whedon. This was a mess of a movie that couldn't decide what it wanted to be. One moment Affleck was the grittier Bruce Wayne of Batman V Superman, the next he was cracking one-liners like he'd wandered into an Avengers movie.
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Zack Snyder's Justice League, which released last year, went some way towards giving fans the film - and the Batman - they wanted. While I'm still not on board with this more violent and troubled Batman personally, I can at least appreciate the consistency.
Unfortunately for those fans that did like what they got, Affleck is done with Batman. Beyond one last appearance in the upcoming Flash movie, it looks like the actor is stepping aside for Robert Pattinson's upcoming take on the character in The Batman. We'll never see Affleck in a solo movie, and I think that's a damn shame.
For Affleck, however, moving on was the best thing he could've possibly done. Speaking to friend and longtime collaborator Matt Damon in a lengthy interview for Entertainment Weekly, Affleck revealed that the experience of shooting Justice League showed him he just wasn't enjoying it anymore.
"I had a really nadir experience around Justice League for a lot of different reasons," Affleck said. "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 sh**ty things, awful things happened. But, that's when I was like, I'm not going to do that anymore."
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He added that it was actually a conversation with Damon that helped him see it was time to move on and start new projects.
"I talked to you about it and you were a principal influence on that decision," the actor explained. "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."
You can see Affleck for the last time this coming November in The Flash. Let's hope he gets the sendoff he deserves, eh?
Featured Image Credit: Warner Bros.Topics: Batman, Warner Bros, DC