Ben Affleck, known for his role as Batman in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, recently shared his challenging experience playing the iconic character for DC in an interview with GQ. After nearly a decade of embodying the Caped Crusader, Affleck described his journey within the Snyder-verse as "a really excruciating experience." He attributed his struggles not only to the dynamics of working on a superhero film but also to a complicated relationship with DC, which has ultimately led to his disinterest in the genre.

"There are a number of reasons why that was a really excruciating experience," Affleck explained. "And they don’t all have to do with the simple dynamic of, say, being in a superhero movie or whatever. I am not interested in going down that particular genre again, not because of that bad experience, but just: I’ve lost interest in what was of interest about it to me. But I certainly wouldn’t want to replicate an experience like that."

Affleck has discussed this topic before, but he provided more insight into the root of his negative experience. He attributed it to a "misalignment of agendas, understandings, and expectations" and acknowledged his own role in the situation. Reflecting on his time with DC, he admitted, "I wasn’t bringing anything particularly wonderful to that equation at the time, either."

He further elaborated on his personal shortcomings, stating, "I mean, my failings as an actor, you can watch the various movies and judge. But more of my failings of, in terms of why I had a bad experience, part of it is that what I was bringing to work every day was a lot of unhappiness. So I wasn’t bringing a lot of positive energy to the equation. I didn’t cause problems, but I came in and I did my job and I went home. But you’ve got to do a little bit better than that."

Affleck's involvement with DC began when he signed on to co-star in Zack Snyder’s Batman v. Superman alongside Henry Cavill. This led to several years of cameos and a canceled standalone project. He starred in team-up films like Justice League (both the 2017 original and the 2021 Snyder Cut) and The Flash, and made a brief appearance in Suicide Squad in 2016.

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Details about the canceled Batman standalone film remain sparse, but rumors suggest it would have explored 80 years of the Dark Knight, possibly delving into Arkham Asylum and featuring Joe Manganiello’s Deathstroke.

Affleck credited longtime collaborator Matt Damon for helping him decide to step away from the role, but in the GQ interview, he revealed that his son also influenced his decision. "But what happened was it started to skew too old for a big part of the audience. Like even my own son at the time was too scared to watch (Batman v. Superman). And so when I saw that I was like, 'Oh shit, we have a problem.' Then I think that’s when you had a filmmaker that wanted to continue down that road and a studio that wanted to recapture all the younger audience at cross purposes. Then you have two entities, two people really wanting to do something different and that is a really bad recipe."

DC is now navigating new directions by splitting its grittier and more lighthearted stories into separate paths. The darker tone will continue with The Batman 2 slated for 2027, while a more family-friendly approach will be introduced with James Gunn’s DCU, starting with Superman in July. As for Affleck, he has confirmed that he will not return to DC to direct a film in Gunn’s new universe.