When Ben Affleck was announced as playing the role of Batman in the DCEU, it was one of those moments the world was simultaneously excited about, but scratching its head over. How the Academy Award winning triple threat would have landed on the decision to become one of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’s titular characters is just one of those scenarios that felt like an explanation was owed. Years after the fact, with Affleck set to reprise the role in a more limited capacity with The Flash, the actor has revealed the main reason he decided to play Batman for Zack Snyder’s grand vision: he did it so his kids could watch their father on the big screen.
Ben Affleck has told the story about his kids being able to see him in the Batsuit before. But he revealed more about why he put himself on the path that would lead him to also partake in the Justice League experience, as well as a potential solo outing that was scrapped in a recent profile, also revealing it was worth it. Talking with Variety’s Awards Chatter podcast, the man himself told the tale yet again about why Batman was such a going concern in his life:
I did Batman because I wanted to do it for my kids. I wanted to do something that my son would dig. I mean, my kids didn't see Argo. Zack [Snyder] wanted to do a version of the Frank Miller Dark Knight graphic novel series, which is a really good version of that. Unfortunately, there are a lot of reasons why things go the way they do in the movie business, and just because your face is on the poster doesn't mean that you're dictating all of those things — and even if you were, that they would go well. I wore the suit to my son's birthday party, which was worth every moment of suffering on Justice League.
That last bit about Ben Affleck wearing the Batsuit to his own son’s birthday party is all you need to know about why he would take a role that would eventually cause him a lot of pain. With the tumultuous experience on Justice League seeing the project changing rapidly, and Affleck being in a particularly bad spot in his personal life, suffering isn’t an exaggeration on his part. Eventually he would go on to star in last year’s early awards contender The Way Back, which would help with exorcising some of his own personal issues through his work; and the results seem to have left Ben Affleck in a good enough place to approach playing Bruce Wayne again in The Flash’s but multiversal crossover.
No matter how many more opportunities we’ll get to see Ben Affleck playing both Bruce Wayne and Batman in the future, the experience has been one to remember. And for the very personal reasons that led him to take the gig in the first place, Affleck himself has gotten some valuable memories to call his own. We’ll see what new moments will become memorable when The Flash brings the DC Multiverse back into play on November 4, 2022. Of course, we’ll see some new footage a lot sooner, when Zack Snyder’s Justice League takes the stage on HBO Max, at some point in the earlier part of this year.
