Depending on your thoughts on Zack Snyder’s “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” and “Justice League,” you might either think Ben Affleck’s run as the Caped Crusader was a huge success, bringing to life the character as he was intended to be from the pages of the comic books, or you might look back at those films and think about all the wasted potential. Either way, the fairly short fun of Ben Affleck as Batman appears to really be over, as the actor is ready to just move on from the whole capes and tights thing.
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While promoting “The Way Back,” his new drama where he plays a recovering alcoholic trying to get his life back on track while doing something he truly loves (judging by a recent interview with the New York Times, the film is probably more timely for Affleck than fans might think), the actor was still unable to escape questions about his time as Batman. And when he was being interviewed by DeWayne Hamby, Affleck was asked point-blank—are his days as Batman really, truly over?
“Yeah,” replied Affleck. “I had the opportunity to write and direct and star in a standalone ‘Batman.’ It just happened at a point in my life when I lost interest in those stories. I’ll go see [‘The Batman’]. I think it’s going to be great. I think [Robert Pattinson] is great. But [‘The Way Back’] is the kind of story I’m interested in telling now…”
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While it has been known for a long time now that Affleck wasn’t going to star in his own standalone ‘Batman’ film, there has still been hope that director Matt Reeves would somehow tie in his upcoming film with the Zack Snyder version of the character with some sort of bookend featuring an older Bruce Wayne, played by Affleck. But even that seems to be completely out of the picture, as the actor is ready to move on from his superhero past.
“The Way Back” arrives in theaters this week, and Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” will drop on June 25, 2021.
