Ben Affleck opens up about why he left The Batman

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Production is well underway on Matt Reeves' THE BATMAN, which finds Robert Pattinson starring as the Dark Knight, but once upon a time, the film not only would have featured Ben Affleck in the title role, but it would have been directed and co-written by him as well. Affleck first played Batman in BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE and went on to appear in SUICIDE SQUAD and JUSTICE LEAGUE, but the actor never got the chance at a standalone film before he decided to step down from the role after several years of speculation.

While speaking with the New York Times, Ben Affleck opened up about why he decided to hang up the cowl and all those wonderful toys. While THE BATMAN was in development, Affleck's personal life wasn't in the best shape; not only was his marriage in the process of falling apart, but he was turning to alcohol more than ever before.

I drank relatively normally for a long time. What happened was that I started drinking more and more when my marriage was falling apart. This was 2015, 2016. My drinking, of course, created more marital problems.

The troubled production of JUSTICE LEAGUE certainly didn't help matters, and the resulting reshoots apparently sapped Ben Affleck's interest in continuing in the role. After showing the script for THE BATMAN to a friend, they cautioned Affleck against returning to the role for the sake of his health. "I showed somebody ‘The Batman’ script," Affleck said. "They said, 'I think the script is good. I also think you’ll drink yourself to death if you go through what you just went through again.'" While I certainly would have liked to have seen Affleck get a proper outing as the Dark Knight, I can't fault him for stepping down to concentrate on his health. No project is worth killing yourself over.

While Ben Affleck's time as the Dark Knight may have come to a premature end, THE BATMAN looks to be shaping up quite nicely in his absence, and just last week we got our first glimpse at Robert Pattinson (THE LIGHTHOUSE) in the Bat-suit. In addition to Pattinson, THE BATMAN also stars Zoë Kravitz (Big Little Lies) as Catwoman, Paul Dano (SWISS ARMY MAN) as The Riddler, Jeffrey Wright (NO TIME TO DIE) as Commissioner Gordon, Andy Serkis (STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI) as Alfred Pennyworth, Colin Farrell (DUMBO) as Penguin, and John Turturro (The Night Of) as Carmine Falcone.

THE BATMAN is already slated for a June 25, 2021 release, and we'll soon be seeing Ben Affleck in THE WAY BACK on March 6, 2020.