Ben Affleck Says Matt Damon Helped Him Quit Being Batman

Matt Damon helped Ben Affleck decide when it was time to end his stint as Batman.

Affleck was cast as the caped crusader for Zack Snyder’s Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. While the film wasn’t a knockout success, the star brought suave charm as Bruce Wayne and hulking physicality under the cowl, seeing ‘Batfleck’ earn a swarm of supporters ahead of Justice League.

Sadly, that’s where it all fell apart. After Snyder’s departure from the project due to a family tragedy, Joss Whedon stepped in. Much has been said about the disastrous direction he opted for, leading to the Snyder Cut campaign and allegations of ‘gross, abusive, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable’ behaviour from Ray Fisher.

As part of a new article on Entertainment Weekly, Affleck sat down for an interview with his Good Will Hunting co-writer and longtime pal, Matt Damon.

‘This friendship has been essential and defining and so important to me in my life. There were a few critical times, which are private and I don’t want to share, but where your support was so profoundly meaningful to me that I don’t think I would’ve been able to be successful without it,’ Affleck said of his bond with Damon.

He also opened up about his struggles filming Justice League, which eventually saw him step away from his solo Batman project, later evolving into Robert Pattinson’s The Batman. ‘I had a really nadir experience around Justice League for a lot of different reasons. Not blaming anybody, there’s a lot of things that happened,’ he said.

‘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*tty things, awful things happened. But, that’s when I was like, I’m not going to do that anymore. In fact, I talked to you about it and you were a principal influence on that decision. I want to do the things that would bring me joy.’

Affleck went on to discuss finding projects like The Last Duel, which wasn’t necessarily a box-office performer, but earned positive reviews and found an audience on Disney+.

‘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,’ he said.

Affleck will make his final appearance as Batman in The Flash, due to hit cinemas on November 4.

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