Ben Affleck says the Justice League reshoots marked the lowest point of his career, pointing to a toxic production environment that he says doomed the film before it reached theaters. Affleck made the comments during an appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, where he was asked about his canceled standalone Batman film.
“The experience of Justice League was so, so negative for lots of different reasons,” Affleck said on the podcast. The actor, who played Batman in 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and 2017’s Justice League, placed much of the blame on the clash between Warner Bros. and the film’s original director, Zack Snyder.
What Affleck Said About The Justice League Production
Affleck did not soften his assessment of how the studio handled the project. “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. That was what really doomed that,” he said.
He also took aim at how Warner Bros. framed Snyder’s exit to the public. “The way in which that was, I thought frankly, used as an excuse was one of the shittiest things I’d ever seen. It was so gross,” Affleck said, according to IGN.
The Switch From Zack Snyder To Joss Whedon
Snyder left Justice League during post-production after his daughter died by suicide, and Warner Bros. brought in Joss Whedon to oversee reshoots that changed the film’s tone and story in significant ways. The move came after Snyder’s previous film, Batman v Superman, drew poor reviews and underwhelmed audiences, and Warner Bros. had already pushed Snyder toward a lighter tone for Justice League before his departure, according to IGN.
Affleck said he was aware, secondhand, of allegations that actors were mistreated during the Whedon reshoots. “The whole environment and vibe, much of which I wasn’t privy to, but that I sort of heard about second hand in terms of Ray [Fisher] and Gal [Gadot] and other peoples’ experiences. It was just like ‘Wow, this is about as gross as it gets,'” he said.
Ray Fisher, who played Cyborg, and Gal Gadot, who played Wonder Woman, have both spoken publicly about negative experiences on set with Whedon, according to Polygon. Reports indicate Warner Bros. fired Snyder before he publicly announced his own departure.
What The Fallout Meant For Affleck’s Batman Plans
The Justice League shoot overlapped with Affleck’s divorce and his struggles with alcoholism, a period that helps explain why he has singled out this stretch of his career as uniquely difficult. Justice League went on to fall short of the $1 billion mark at the box office, a result Warner Bros. viewed as a disappointment given the film featured three of DC’s biggest heroes.
In the aftermath, Affleck stepped away from playing Batman and scrapped plans to direct, produce, co-write and star in his own solo Batman film, which would have featured Joe Manganiello as Deathstroke. Matt Reeves and Robert Pattinson later took over the character with The Batman. Affleck eventually returned to the role for a cameo in The Flash and for new scenes shot for Zack Snyder’s Justice League, the 2021 director’s cut that let Snyder finish the story on his own terms.
Affleck said he was pleased Snyder got that chance. He described himself as glad and gratified that Snyder was able to return and complete his original vision through the director’s cut.
For more on Affleck’s recent projects, read about his AI use on Animals and his comments on his parents and grief.
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