Last week, interested fans got to see the angst-ridden “vegetarian” vampire transform into a bat-motif dark knight, as Matt Reeves, director of “The Batman” for Warner Bros. Pictures, shared the first screen test of lead star Robert Pattinson (“Twilight” saga) in a new iteration of the bat-suit. Amid appreciation and commentary on how the British actor looks in costume, there has been speculation on how the pervious Batman actor, Ben Affleck, has been following his departure from starring and directing in the project, with his last appearance being in “Justice League” (2017). Recently the older movie star has made candid revelations regarding his time as Batman, and why he quit.
Entertainment Weekly tells us that Ben Affleck gave quite the insight about the somewhat complicated circumstances surrounding his initial involvement in the standalone DC superhero film “The Batman” for Warner Bros., and the reasons he decided to bow out in favor of Matt Reeves to direct and Robert Pattinson to star. As it turns out, Affleck was feeling the pressure on continuing as Batman since he debuted in the role back in “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” (2016). And that pressure was potentially exacerbating a personal struggle: staying sober.
Affleck opens up that he has been developing a drinking problem that began roughly in 2015, when he was first revealed as the new Batman and when his marriage with Jennifer Garner started hitting a downward spiral that would ultimately lead to their 2018 divorce. Even as he starred opposite Henry Cavill’s Superman in “Dawn of Justice” there were already plans to have Affleck take the lead, as well as co-write and direct, a solo “Batman” movie for the DC Extended Universe franchise. The veteran movie star knew he might not be in top shape to take on so many duties and thus relegated writing and directing to Matt Reeves.
But following his second outing as the Batman on “Justice League,” Ben Affleck realized he was not going to involve himself in “The Batman,” especially after a conversation with a family friend about the film. That friend commented, “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.” Come 2018 Affleck has left the bat costume behind and has had no further business with “The Batman,” now a non-DCEU franchise movie similar to Todd Phillips’ “Joker” starring Joaquin Phoenix last year.
That does not mean Affleck has not been busy. He stars in “The Way Back,” a Warner Bros. sports film about a recovering alcoholic basketball coach premiering March 6. He is also co-starring with Anne Hathaway in the British-American Netflix Original movie “The Last Thing He Wanted,” which will hit the streaming service February 21.
Image courtesy of Maxim
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