Ben Affleck, the most recent, and for some the most beloved, Batman admits that working with disgraced director Joss Whedon was “difficult” during a recent red carpet interview with Variety. While promoting his new film The Tender Bar, Batfleck touched briefly on his Flash and Justice League experiences.
“It was a really nice way to revisit that as the prior experience had been difficult,” Affleck told Variety about playing the Dark Knight in the upcoming The Flash movie, which is likely the last time he’ll don the cowl. “This was really lovely. Really fun.”
The “difficult” he was referring to was likely the previous time he played the role for 2017’s Justice League while working with the disgraced Joss Whedon after Zack Snyder had to leave the project after the sudden and heartbreaking death of his daughter.
After years of rumors from the set of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and an open letter written by his ex-wife, Kai Cole and posted by The Wrap in 2017 detailing Whedon’s hypocrisy, infidelity, and abuse, Ray Fisher, who played Cyborg in the film Justice League blew the whistle in 2020 about the abuse he suffered at the hands of Whedon and tweeted, “Joss Whedon’s on-set treatment of the cast and crew of Justice League was gross, abusive, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable,”
In support of Fisher, co-star Jason Momoa took to Instagram at the time and said, “This shit has to stop and needs to be looked at. Ray Fisher and everyone else who experienced what happened under the watch of Warner Bros. needs proper investigation. I just think it’s f**ked up that people released a fake frosty announcement without my permission to try to distract from Ray Fisher speaking up about the shitty way we were treated on Justice League reshoots.
Serious stuff went down. It needs to be investigated and people need to be held accountable.”
In December 2020, Wonder Woman’s Gal Gadot also shared that she too had issues with Whedon and told the Los Angeles Times that she had her own “experience” with the director, which was resolved to her satisfaction. “I’m happy for Ray to go out and speak his truth,” says Gadot. “I wasn’t there with the guys when they shot with Joss Whedon. I had my own experience with [him], which wasn’t the best one, but I took care of it there and when it happened. I took it to the higher-ups and they took care of it. But I’m happy for Ray to go up and say his truth.”
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While he didn’t offer any more details of how it was “difficult” to work with Whedon, Batfleck also went on to gush over Miller as well as being able to shoot in the U.K. “I love Ezra and I had a chance to see Jason (Momoa), who’s over there making Aquaman (and the Lost Kingdom),” Affleck said.
Affleck isn’t the only Caped Crusader featured in The Flash. Michael Keaton will also make an appearance in the film.
While at a screening for his upcoming film The Tender Bar, which stars Affleck and just so happens to be directed by another former Batman, George Clooney and slated for release in December on Amazon Prime, Affleck added he “had a great time” filming the DC Comics movie, but admitted he might’ve said too much.
“I’m probably under some gag order that I’m not even aware that I probably just violated and I’m now going to be sued,” he joked to Variety on the red carpet.
In The Flash, directed by It’s Andy Muschietti, which opens in November 2022, different versions of Batman, including the first actor to play the iconic comic character on the big screen, Michael Keaton, team up with Ezra Miller’s The Flash. In addition to Affleck, Miller, and Keaton, it stars Sasha Calle as Supergirl, Kiersey Clemons as Iris West, Ron Livington as Henry Allen, and many more!
Next up for the caped crusader will be Robert “Battinson” Pattinson in Matt Reeves’ The Batman, which Warner Bros has greenlit a sequel according to rumors.
