Ben Affleck did not mince words when remembering the traumatic filming of The Justice League. The experience was simply shit for the actor and filmmaker, who in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter detailed everything that went wrong with the DC feature film, which subsequently had its redemption at the hands of Snyder Cut.
To some extent, it is not new that The Justice League was plagued with problems. However, Ben Affleck’s words give a different connotation to the dramas that surrounded the film. Not only because they magnified his personal problems —his alcoholism, for example—, but also because they led him to cut ties with superhero movies, despite the fact that he had more commitments in the pipeline related to Batman.
Consulted on the case of The Justice Leaguethe actor did not mince words. “That was the worst experience I’ve ever seen in a business that is full of shitty experiences”he explained. For Ben Affleck, the film was marked by a combination of decisions and catastrophic situations. From endless production problems, to the death of Zack Snyder’s daughter, who walked away from the project and was replaced by Joss Whedon.
According to the actor, a seminar could be taught on everything that should not be done in the cinema, using The Justice League as an example. And he assured that the final result left him “the most monstrous taste in the mouth”.
The trauma of The Justice LeagueIn the words of Ben Affleck
In case of The Justice League it’s one that has left a deep mark on Ben Affleck. Not for nothing, the artist made it clear that he will not participate in DC movies again, not even if James Gunn asks him to. And the memories around the filming of the film that was released in 2017 are far from happy:
“There was an idea that someone [Joss Whedon] come and say: ‘I will rescue them. We will do 60 days of shooting and I will write something from what they already have. I have the secret’. And it was not the secret. That was hard. And I started drinking too much. I was back at the hotel in London, and that was it. [beber] Or throw myself out a window. And I said, ‘This is not the life I want. My children are not here. I’m miserable’. You want to go to work and find something interesting to hold on to, instead of just wearing a rubber suit and standing in front of a computer most of the time thinking that if this crap gets out, we’re done for. […]. ‘I don’t want to be involved in this in any way. And I don’t want to waste any more of my life, of which I have a limited amount left,’ I thought.
The curious thing about The Justice League is that, as we said at the beginning, he had his redemption a handful of years later. This happened at the hands of Snyder Cut, the director’s cut that was released in 2021 on HBO Max. This version not only presented important changes in terms of production —especially in the special effects section—, but also plot improvements, cameos and an extended duration that required the filming of extra scenes. The final result achieved a very positive reception both from the public and from the specialized press, and it also had a curious effect on the filmography of Ben Affleck.
“One day [Zack Snyder] He says to me: ‘Do you want to come shoot in the patio of my house? And I was like, ‘Look, Zack, I think there are unions. We’d have to make a deal first,’ but I went and did it anyway. And now [el Snyder Cut] it’s my highest rated movie on IMDb. Let them say what they want, it is the highest rated film of my career, “he explained.
In any case, the success of Zack Snyder’s Justice League Didn’t Change Ben Affleck’s Opinion About Shooting For DC Tortuous. Let’s remember that, in addition to putting himself in the shoes of Batman, the actor and filmmaker was scheduled to direct a film of the character. However, he chose to give up on that plan. “I’m out. I don’t want to do anything like this again. I’m not made for it,” he said.