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Austin Manchester is a writer and editor living in New York City. At Polygon, he covers gaming and entertainment news, reviews new video games, interviews behind-the-scenes talent, and more. He enjoys discovering hidden gems and sharing them with Polygon's audience. Previously, he was the gaming editor for AIPT Comics and has written for other outlets like XDA, How-To Geek, and The List.
He enjoys soulslikes, character-driven RPGs, and third-person shooters plucked straight out of the Xbox 360 era. He also likes to flex his non-video game nerdy knowledge sometimes, whether that's explaining who's who in the new Wolverine game or recommending a comic book series about a sentient sword.
The Batman actor speaks candidly about the 'negative' experience of making Justice League
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Before Robert Pattinson adorned the bat ears and cape in Matt Reeves' The Batman, Ben Affleck was the caped crusader. He was supposed to direct, produce, co-write, and star in his own solo Batman movie before he ultimately stepped away, leading to Pattinson and Reeves starting the "Epic Crime Saga." As such, Affleck only starred in the role in 2016's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and 2017's Justice League. (He also had a bit part in 2023's The Flash).
In a new interview, Affleck explains why we'll likely never get another Batman performance from him and why the experience of filming Justice League was a "low point" in his acting career.
Production of Justice League was as difficult as film production gets, and Affleck called it "so, so negative" during an appearance on Josh Horowitz's Happy Sad Confused podcast. He was going through personal troubles at the time, like struggles with alcoholism and a divorce. The film's original director, Zack Snyder, also stepped away in May 2017 after his daughter died by suicide. Warner Bros. tapped Avengers director Joss Whedon to finish post-production on the film; Whedon also directed two months of reshoots.
"I really saw how not to make a movie like that when the studio is at odds with the filmmaker. You're really making a mistake," Affleck said, referring to tension between Warner Bros. and Snyder during production after Snyder's previous DC film, Batman v Superman, was poorly received by critics and audiences. "That was what really doomed that," Affleck said. He was "glad and gratified" that Snyder got to return to film in his own way with 2021's Zack Snyder's Justice League.
'This is about as gross as it gets'
Whedon reshot a good chunk of Justice League, and cast members Ray Fisher (Cyborg) and Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman) have spoken out about their negative experience on set with Whedon. Affleck called those reshoots "shitty" and "the low point" of his career. He explained, "The whole environment and vibe, much of which I wasn't privy to, but that I sort of heard about secondhand in terms of Ray [Fisher] and Gal [Gadot] and other people's experiences, it was just like, 'Wow, this is about as gross as it gets.'"
He said he thought Snyder's personal tragedy was used as an "excuse" by Warner Bros. to get Snyder off the film, saying it was "one of the shittiest things I'd ever seen. It was so gross." Reports from after Justice League had already been released stated that Warner Bros. had actually fired Snyder before he publicly announced that he would leave the film.
Whedon's career has mostly stalled after allegations of harassment and abuse from Fisher, Gadot, and other actors who worked with him. Snyder has made a few movies for Netflix in the years since Justice League, like the Rebel Moon series. Affleck's Animals was just released on Netflix, and is already a streaming hit.