For director Matt Reeves' upcomingThe Batman,The Lighthouse’sRobert Pattinson will be taking on the mantle. But, as many will already know, that was not always the plan as Ben Affleck was supposed to continue wearing the cape and cowl and continue the work he had done as the character in bothBatman V Superman: Dawn of JusticeandJustice League. Many fans were disappointed when Affleck stepped away from the role, but over the last few days he has been giving his reasons, and now he has given another one.

“You know big blockbusters are cool and they’re great. Butthey’re not that fun to make, just on a very practical level, because they’re very long, they’re very compartmentalized, you’re doing one tiny piece at a time. Often times, you’re just feeling like you’re moving your foot a quarter of an inch.

They’re hard to continue to motivate yourself, and find your passion. Istepped away from The Batman movie, because I felt like it should be made by someone whose lifelong passion it was, you know what I mean? And if that wasn’t me, then I wasn’t the right guy.”

Ben Affleckis partly blaming blockbuster filmmaking for pushing him away fromThe Batman, stating that they just are not much fun to make, with actors often feeling like they aren’t getting anywhere. Though Affleck has starred in some big, tentpole movies over the years, his career more recently has mostly involved character-driven projects rather than explosive blockbusters so it does make sense that he, perhaps, was not enjoying starring in the DC movies very much.

Ultimately, it sounds like this, combined with the other, very personal reasons that Affleck has given, killed off his passion forThe Batman, and so he did the right thing and stepped away to make room for someone more eager to do it. This ties in with Ben Affleck’s previous comments about how his struggle with alcoholism also led to him leaving the role.

“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.”

TheJustice Leaguemovie had a famously problematic production which no doubt fueled both his problems at home and his slight disdain for blockbuster movie-making. Having made the role his own during his several appearances as the character in the DCEU, it is a shame that these issues behind the scenes sapped his desire to play the character, as we have no doubt thathe would have made an excellent solo Batman movie.

The Batmanmovie we are getting, which is also shaping up very nicely, opens in theaters on August 22, 2025. This comes to us fromCinemablend.