Ben Affleck reveals why he stepped away from The Batman

Ben Affleck has addressed why he stepped away from The Batman, the upcoming DC superhero flick that the actor/director was initially due to helm and star in.

Batfleck was meant to lead a solo movie that would take place after the events of Justice League. However, following a lukewarm critical and box-office reception to that superhero team-up flick, plans were put on hold. Soon enough, Affleck stepped away from directing the movie, with Matt Reeves replacing him. Then, after a few more weeks, Affleck completely removed himself from the project.

Speaking to the New York Times in a candid profile interview, Affleck revealed that he had indeed written a script for The Batman, but decided not to continue with the movie after getting some advice from a friend. “I showed somebody The Batman script,” he said. "They said, 'I think the script is good. I also think you’ll drink yourself to death if you go through what you just went though again.'"

Affleck has had a storied history of issues with alcohol, telling the NYT: "I drank relatively normally for a long time. What happened was that I started drinking more and more when my marriage was falling apart. This was 2015, 2016. My drinking, of course, created more marital problems."

Production on The Batman continued post-Affleck, with Robert Pattinson being cast as the Dark Knight. The film is currently filming, and the cast includes a whole host of Batman villains. How exactly that movie will fit in with Justice League remains to be seen – though Reeves has remained adamant it's part of the DCEU.

Find out about the best iterations of Batman's arch-nemesis with our best Joker rankings. Plus, see how Bats' previous movies has fared previously in our newly-updated list of the best superhero movies.

Jack Shepherd is the former Senior Entertainment Editor of GamesRadar. Jack used to work at The Independent as a general culture writer before specializing in TV and film for the likes of GR+, Total Film, SFX, and others. You can now find Jack working as a freelance journalist and editor.