Ben Affleck Opens Up About His ‘Batman' Exit

A lot has been said and written about Ben Affleck’s exit from the “Batman” movies. After donning the iconic costume in Zack Snyder’s “Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice,” Affleck was poised to direct and star in the film based on the comic-book character. But then things took an ugly turn and in no time he was out of the project.

Not everyone knew what was the actual reason for his sudden exit. But now, it seems the actor is finally ready to reveal what prompted to him leave one of his passion projects.

Speaking in an interview with The New York Times, the 47-year-old actor got candid about various aspects of his life and also revealed why he chose to exit the “Batman” movies, even after writing the whole script for the next film. The “Accountant” star noted that all the struggles he was going through in his personal life were one of the main reasons that made him step back from the project.

The esteemed actor added that his addiction to alcohol, his divorce from ex-wife Jennifer Garner, and the problems he faced while shooting and promoting the “Justice League” movie forced him to leave the project and work on himself first.

“I showed somebody the ‘Batman’ script. They said, ‘I think the script is good. I also think you will drink yourself to death if you go through what you just went through again,” Affleck said.

Many reports, at the time, noted that Affleck was not able to handle both (directing and acting) responsibilities at the same time due to which he decided to step down from the director’s chair.

While making an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” last year, the “Argo” helmer shared that he wanted to direct a version that could have focused on Batman’s life after “Batman v Superman.” But after working for months on it, he could not “crack it” and thought of giving the responsibility to someone else.

In February 2017, Matt Reeves took over the directing responsibilities and by July, it was confirmed that Reeves has dropped the script written by Affleck because he wanted to make a film about a younger Batman.

Robert Pattinson will now be seen donning the cape and the first look at Pattinson in the Batsuit was shared recently. The first movie in the trilogy will be hitting theaters in 2021.

Later in the interview, the Academy Award-winning filmmaker revealed that his divorce from Garner is the “biggest” regret of his life. Affleck further stated he made some mistakes, and he is now doing everything to learn some valuable lessons from the mistakes he made.

“The biggest regret in my life is divorce. Shame is really toxic. I have certainly made mistakes. I have certainly done things that I regret. But you have got to pick yourself up, learn from it, and try to move forward,” Affleck said.

Affleck will next be seen playing a former Basketball player in “The Way Back” who has been struggling with alcoholism and is given an offer to the coach the team that he used to play for.

“The Way Back” hit theaters on March 6.