Ben Affleck explains why he turned down Superman

After the success of Gone Baby Gone and The Town , Ben Affleck was rumoured to be in the running to helm the Superman reboot.

In an interview with Deadline, Affleck has shared his feelings on the movie, which is being overseen by 'godfather' Christopher Nolan.

He said: "The one benefit of having done all kinds of movies as an actor is, you learn the pros and cons of being tempted to do a really big movie because it costs a lot of money."

"With Superman , I think they're going to do a great version. Chris Nolan is brilliant and they've got a great director for it."

Affleck added: "I'd love to do something like Blade Runner , but a lesson I've learned is to not look at movies based on budget, how much they'll spend on effects, or where they will shoot. Story is what's important."

"Also there are a lot of guys ahead of me on the list to do epic effects movies."

Affleck would've no doubt brought some grit to the Man of Steel if he were at the helm, and if he hadn't already played the role (kind of) in Hollywoodland , he could've done worse than casting himself in the lead.

Superman: Man of Steel is currently in pre-production, aiming for a summer 2012 release. The most recent internet whispers have been linking Snyder's Watchmen star Matthew Goode to Supes, but there's been no official word yet.

Matt Maytum
Editor, Total Film

I'm the Editor at Total Film magazine, overseeing the running of the mag, and generally obsessing over all things Nolan, Kubrick and Pixar. Over the past decade I've worked in various roles for TF online and in print, including at GamesRadar+, and you can often hear me nattering on the Inside Total Film podcast. Bucket-list-ticking career highlights have included reporting from the set of Tenet and Avengers: Infinity War, as well as covering Comic-Con, TIFF and the Sundance Film Festival.