Ben Affleck has been vocal about his terrible time on the set of Justice League in the past, but he’s laying it all out in a recent interview, describing the period as his “worst experience” in the film industry.
There have been plenty of horror stories coming out of movie sets across the years, but none have captured the zeitgeist of the superhero era quite like the infamous Zack Snyder-turned-Joss Whedon film. From the abrupt change of director caused by the personal tragedy that struck Snyder’s life, to the toxic on-set environment brought on by Whedon, it’s not at all surprising that Affleck deems the whole experience transformatively awful.
The Batman actor confessed to drinking heavily during production, which just so happened to overlap with his divorce from Jennifer Garner. “It was either that or jump out the window,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. Affleck had spoken about the ordeal in the past, saying that the combination of the events related to Justice League – including the death of Snyder’s daughter, and the disappointing reshoots with Whedon – with his own struggles in his personal life just got to be too much.
Affleck is a confessed fan of Snyder’s vision for the DC Universe, which has been nicknamed the SnyderVerse by fellow enthusiasts. When the director exited the project mid-production, Whedon came in with what he claimed were all the solutions needed to take the film to the finish line, which, according to Affleck, didn’t end up being the case.
“There was an idea of someone [Joss Whedon] coming in, like, “I’ll rescue you and we’ll do 60 days of shooting and I’ll write a whole thing around what you have. I’ve got the secret.” And it wasn’t the secret. That was hard,” he told THR.
Affleck, who was staying in London at the time for the reshoots, didn’t find this new direction fulfilling enough to take time away from being with his children.
“I just thought, ‘This isn’t the life I want. My kids aren’t here. I’m miserable.’ You want to go to work and find something interesting to hang onto, rather than just wearing a rubber suit, and most of it you’re just standing against the computer screen going, ‘If this nuclear waste gets loose, we’ll …,’ he shared with THR.
That was the moment he knew he was done with Batman and the whole world of DC. At one point, he was slated to direct and star in a film about the DCEU’s Dark Knight, but the experience on Justice League was so negative, he changed his mind. “I was going to direct a Batman, and [Justice League] made me go, ‘I’m out. I never want to do any of this again. I’m not suited,'” he confessed.
Affleck isn’t the only actor in Justice League to complain about the experience. Both Ray Fisher and Gal Gadot, who played Cyborg and Wonder Woman, have accused Whedon of being verbally abusive on set.
The last time Affleck will likely ever don the cape of Gotham’s Dark Knight will be in the upcoming The Flash. An experience that he called “fun,” and “a really nice way to revisit” the character after a “difficult” prior experience. As for a possible return to the DCU now that James Gunn is calling the shots, Affleck is unshrinking in his answer.
“I would not direct something for the [James] Gunn DC. Absolutely not. I have nothing against James Gunn. Nice guy, sure he’s going to do a great job. I just wouldn’t want to go in and direct in the way they’re doing that. I’m not interested in that,” he told THR.
The Flash premieres June 16, 2023.