Ben Affleck’s tenure as Batman was interesting, if nothing else. He put on the cowl after Christian Bale stepped away, and it really seemed like Batfleck never quite had a chance to have his moment. Instead, he was the Batman required by the existence of Batman vs. Superman and Justice League. Now, we say “hello” to a new caped crusader, and “so long” to this version. Yet, Ben Affleck says he finally figured out how to play Batman while working on the Flash, and what made it work so well is because it his last appearance.
Ben Affleck Enjoyed Being Batman While Filming The Flash
There was a lot that happened around the filming of Justice League that made Affleck not want to continue in the role. His personal struggles, the mess with switching from Zach Snyder to Joss Whedon, and undoubtedly some of the fan reactions left a bad taste in his mouth. All that culminated with Affleck relinquishing the role and stepping down as director for the upcoming The Batman.
However, we’re getting one last appearance of Ben Affleck as Batman in The Flash, and reportedly he had a great time working on it. After so much strife surrounding a character that should be a fantastic time to play, it’s good to see some positive closure. Nobody should have a bad time playing Batman. Half of his whole deal is driving sexy tanks and punching people. That should be fun.
Image via DC Comics
Batman vs. Superman and Justice League were both doing their darndest to be Avengers-level movies without the years of structured buildup and experimentation. That’s a lot to put onto a first-movie Bruce Wayne. Nolan’s trilogy began with Liam Neeson and some ninjas whooping the dog-snot out of Bruce Wayne. It wasn’t until the third movie that they introduced the super nukes and multiple villains at once. Even though Affleck’s Bats was supposed to be older and jaded enough to ice some henchman with an actual gun, that doesn’t mean he can just hop in and go straight to the scale of movie BvS and Justice League wanted to be.
What Made Playing Batman in The Flash Fun
What makes The Flash work is that it sounds like it’s not trying to do everything at once. A whole lot of criticism has been directed at BvS and Justice League, and to an extent, rightly so. The movies were both busy. It’s telling that the biggest fans of the Snyder continuity swear by the extended editions of those movies. Any storyteller simply needed more time to do what Snyder and Warner Bros. wanted to do. They had to introduce characters we already knew, but they had to show how they were different this time. They had to allude to a greater DCEU, and they also had to be good movies on their own. It was a lot, and many might argue it didn’t pan out.
Image via HBO Max.
For The Flash, we know the main character, and it’s not Batman, Already, that’s a point. Batman does great in stories that aren’t about him because most of the best Batman moments are defined by who he’s fighting against. The Flash and Bats met in Justice League and their interactions were one of the best parts of both versions of that movie. There’s already all this setup for this to be a better time for Ben Affleck and this Batman, but then you get into the actual story.
Flashpoint has The Flash going back in time and doing all sorts of temporal goofery on the timeline he left behind. And maybe that’s why Michael Keaton Batman is coming back again after Batgirl. Recent film events seem to indicate it’s a great time playing off a version of your own character from another universe, so it makes sense the last ride of Batfleck will finally, finally be something all DC comics fans can appreciate.
The Batman is out this upcoming March 4th, and The Flash is coming to theaters November 4th, 2022+
With the last appearance of Ben Affleck as Batman coming in The Flash movie, what do you think of his time in the cowl? Do you think it is time to move one from the DCEU of old, or should Warner Bros. try to have their Snyderverse and standalone movies, too?
Featured image via HBO Max