Ben Affleck Reveals What He Hated About Being Batman
Ben Affleck has revealed what he hated about playing Batman in a new interview. Playing a superhero is pretty much par for the course for any big actor these days. Marvel, DC, and the various indie comic companies are looking to bring as many characters to the big and small screens as possible. However, heroes like Batman have a bit more weight to them given their importance in pop culture. To date, seven actors have played Batman in a theatrical film and Ben Affleck donned the cape and cowl more than any of them across his four (technically five, if you count additional scenes for Zack Snyderâs Justice League) DC films.
Videos by ComicBook.com
While Ben Affleck was praised for his take on Batman and Bruce Wayne, the movies he appeared in were far less well regarded. A lot of this comes down to corporate meddling on almost each DC project he was in. Suicide Squad was hacked up in the editing process and director David Ayer attests that the version that was released is not his cut, The Flash was the victim of different studio leadership looking for different things from the movie, and Justice League⊠well, that story is very well documented with Joss Whedon reshooting large amounts of Zack Snyderâs movie after he had to leave the production. Ben Affleck was supposed to make his own Batman movie, but plans fell apart as he looked to exit the DC universe.
Ben Affleck Hated Wearing the Batmanâs Suit
In a new interview with GQ, Ben Affleck was asked about his various Batman experiences. He noted that he had a great time making Batman v Superman, a movie that he found really compelling due to the idea of an aging Batman. Affleck noted he enjoyed working with the team behind the movie as well as filming in Detroit, but was disappointed that his son found his version of Batman to be a bit too scary. However, what really displeased him might surprise fans. When speaking about his experience on The Flash, Ben Affleck noted that the Batsuit is the worst part of being Batman, which is pretty interesting.
âI hated the Batsuits,â said Affleck. âThe Batsuits are horrendous to wear, theyâre incredibly hot, they donât breathe, theyâre made to look the way they want them to look. Thereâs no thought put into the human being [inside of it], so what happens is you just start sweating. I sweat, I get hot, in that thing, you just start pouring water because its got the cowl over it.
âItâs one thing to wear the suit, once you cover your head, I guess thatâs where all your heat escapes and you feel it. Even the most highly trained, much more fit stunt guys, they could do that for about 45, 50 minutes, and then theyâre going to get heat stroke. That was really the thing was that it made it difficult to make the movie because it was so hot. It also doesnât make you feel very heroic, because youâre instantly exhausted and really sweaty and trying to hide the sweat pouring down your face. Maybe Christian [Bale] or [Robert Pattinson] were just better at dealing with it, but I found it to be the least fun part of it.â
From the perspective of a fan, one has to imagine wearing a high quality Batman suit would be super empowering⊠but it doesnât sound all that glamorous. Affleck had previously revealed that Christian Bale had told him to request a zipper in his suit so that he could use the bathroom with ease, but it sounds like future Batman actors may want to request some sort of ventilation or cooling system!
With all of that said, itâs unlikely Affleck will ever deal with this again. It seems like his days of playing a superhero are behind him after having mixed results with both playing Daredevil and Batman over the years. Perhaps a big multiverse movie (whether it be Marvel or DC) will bring him back to one of these roles in the future, but it seems like Ben Affleck is more focused on making the kinds of mid-budget dramas that he was making before Batman.
What did you think of Ben Affleckâs Batman? Let me know in the comments!
