Ben Affleck Opens Up About Batman Return in The Flash Movie
Ben Affleck confirms he's coming back at Batman in The Flash movie.
It’s hardly a secret at this point: the DC multiverse. It’s unexpected, to say the least.
But even more surprising is the fact that Ben Affleck is also reprising his role as the DCEU’s Caped Crusader for another go at the character he initially left behind just a few short years ago after 2017’s troubled recent set photos confirm it’s indeed in the cape and cowl.
“It was a really nice way to revisit that as the prior experience had been difficult,” he told Variety while promoting The Tender Bar, which stars Affleck and just so happens to be directed by another former Batman, George Clooney. The movie is out in December on Amazon Prime Video. “This was really lovely. Really fun,” Affleck said of his experience filming The Flash. “I had a great time.”
He stopped short of sharing any actual details about the extent of his role — rumor has it he filmed all his scenes in September behind closed doors. “I’m probably under some gag order that I’m not even aware that I probably just violated and I’m now going to be sued.”
Affleck became Batman in what will probably be looked back on as one of the most tumultuous eras for the World’s Greatest Detective on the big screen. After Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice presented a much darker version of the Dark Knight, a deeply paranoid fascist who had no problem branding and killing criminals or beating the Man of Steel to a pulp. If Clooney’s Batman was too silly, Affleck’s turn was the grimdark antithesis, made worse by a nonsensical script that saw the DCEU start out of the gate already limping.
While Batman lightened up for Justice League, in which he led the pantheon of DC superheroes against the forces of Apokoliptian villain Steppenwolf, the movie itself turned out to be a critical and financial disaster for Warner Bros. Although it can be argued that BvS didn’t really set up this big team-up film for an Avengers-level success, strife behind the scenes certainly didn’t help. Many reports have come out in the years since the movie’s release about the events that led to his version of Justice League earlier this year, which at the very least adds much needed context and depth to some of the theatrical release’s most confusing plotlines.
Affleck’s Batman has yet to really get a win in theaters, but perhaps third time’s the charm, especially in the hands of director Andy Muschietti, who recently turned Stephen King’s It into a critical success and a major blockbuster — the first horror picture ever to give even the superhero genre a run for its money. At the very least, seeing Keaton and Affleck sharing the screen as two different Batmen should make for a memorable pop culture moment.
The Flash hits theaters on Nov. 4, 2022.
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John Saavedra is the Co-Editor-in-Chief of Den of Geek. He lives in New York City with his two cats.