Ben Affleck Explains Why He Chose Not to Direct THE BATMAN

Before Matt Reeves was hired to direct The Batman for Warner Bros. and DC, Ben Affleck was developing his own version that he was going to helm. His version would have continued his own story arc in the DCEU, but after several months of developing the film, he chose to step away from the project.

So, why did he end up leaving it behind him? Well, he simply wasn’t going to be happy working on it. During an interview with the L.A. Times, he said:

"Directing Batman is a good example. I looked at it and thought, 'I'm not going to be happy doing this. The person who does this should love it.' You're supposed to always want these things, and I probably would have loved doing it at 32 or something. But it was the point where I started to realize it's not worth it. It's just a wonderful benefit of reorienting and recalibrating your priorities that once it started being more about the experience, I felt more at ease."

When previously talking about Affleck’s The Batman, Joe Manganiello, who plays DC assassin Slade Wilson, a.k.a. Deathstroke in the DCEU, compared the film to David Fincher’s 1997 film The Game. The original pitch for the film saw Deathstroke systematically destroying Bruce Wayne’s life, his public status as Gotham City’s leading citizen, and his private existence as Batman. Manganiello also said:

“It was a really dark story in which Deathstroke was like a shark or a horror movie villain that was dismantling Bruce’s life from the inside out. It was this systemic thing: He killed everyone close to Bruce and destroyed his life to try and make him suffer because he felt that Bruce was responsible for something that happened to him.”

I would have really liked to see that, it would have been interesting to see Affleck’s vision brought to life. I liked Affleck as Batman and I think he would have done something pretty cool. But, I guess it just wasn’t meant to be and now a whole new and different version of Batman is coming.