Ben Affleck, who played Batman in the DCEU, recently appeared on "Happy Sad Confused" and discussed the standalone Batman movie he had planned to direct and star in, with Joe Manganiello playing Deathstroke. Although Affleck was initially excited about the project, his experience making "Justice League" ultimately changed his mind.
“The truth is that the experience of ‘Justice League’ for me was so, so negative for lots of different reasons,” Affleck said. “Some of which having to do just with where I was personally, some of which having to do with some of the tragedy that happened during that time. And also the fact that I really saw how not to make a movie like that, which is when the studio is at odds with the filmmaker. You’re really making a mistake. That was what really doomed that.”
After "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" fell short of expectations, Warner Bros. pushed director Zack Snyder to change the tone of "Justice League." Snyder later left during post-production following the death of his daughter, and the studio brought in Joss Whedon to oversee extensive reshoots. The new footage significantly altered the story, while allegations of mistreatment on set subsequently emerged from cast members.
Affleck believes Warner Bros. used Snyder’s family tragedy as an excuse to seize control of the film, describing the reshoots as the lowest point of his career.
“The way in which that was, I thought, frankly, used as an excuse, I just thought was one of the shittiest things I’d ever seen,” Affleck continued. “It was so gross. And then 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.’”
Affleck was also going through a divorce and struggling with alcohol addiction at the time, and he eventually walked away from directing the standalone Batman movie. Matt Reeves later took over and redeveloped the project with Robert Pattinson in the starring role. Affleck subsequently returned as Batman in "The Flash" and "Zack Snyder's Justice League."