Ben Affleck Shares Why He Turned Down Directing and Starring in 'The Batman'

As the release date for DCEU‘s The Batman comes closer, Ben Affleck has revealed why he decided to walk away from directing and starring in the upcoming film.

In a recent interview with The LA Times Affleck discussed the growing pressures he faced in her personal life that caused him to shift his priorities, “Directing [The] Batman is a good example. 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.” With his breadth of experience in the industry, it made Affleck “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.”

Affleck explained that at the time of filming Justice League, he was faced with immense pressure which led to him having the “worst experience.” He said, “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 [director] Zack [Snyder]‘s personal tragedy… and the reshooting. It was awful. It was everything that I didn’t like about this.”

Stepping away from his role from the Caped Crusader, The Batman will now star Robert Pattinson and is directed by matt Reeves. The film releases on March 4, 2022.

In case you missed it, Ben Affleck has confirmed that The Flash will be his final appearance as Batman.