Ben Affleck Says “Justice League” Was the ‘Low Point of My Career’: ‘So Negative’

Lily BrownTue, October 13, 2026 at 7:52 PM UTC

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Ben Affleck in ‘Justice League’Credit: DC Entertainment/Warner Bros/Shutterstock -

Ben Affleck revealed in a recent interview that playing Batman in Justice League was the “low point” of his career

He said that, in addition to personal struggles, the switch-up in directors after Zack Snyder had to step away was tumultuous

Affleck praised Snyder’s 2021 cut and said he was glad the director shared his original vision

Ben Affleck once had plans to direct his own Batman movie, but his time playing the Caped Crusader in Justice League left him with some less-than-fond memories.

On an Oct. 12 episode of Happy Sad Confused, the actor, 54, reflected on making the 2017 DC superhero film, calling the experience the lowest point of his career and opening up about the personal and professional struggles he was facing at the time.

“The truth is that the experience of Justice League for me was so so negative for lots of different reasons,” Affleck told host Josh Horowitz. “Some of which having to do just with where I was personally, some of which having to do with some of the tragedy that happened during that time.”

Ben Affleck on ‘Happy Sad Confused’Credit: DC Entertainment/Warner Bros/Shutterstock

Affleck was likely referring to the film’s original director, Zack Snyder, who stepped away following the death of his daughter, Autumn Snyder, in 2017. Joss Whedon subsequently took over and oversaw extensive reshoots and changes to the movie.

“Boy, that was s----y: him being taken off that movie and the re-shoots that we did,” he said. “That was the low, if you want the low point of my career was that.”

“Also the fact that I really saw how not to make a movie like that, which is when the studio is at odds with the filmmaker. You’re really making a mistake,” he continued. “And you know that was what really doomed that.”

Released in 2017, Justice League brought together some of DC’s biggest superheroes, including Affleck as Batman, Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), Superman (Henry Cavill), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), the Flash (Ezra Miller) and Cyborg (Ray Fisher). The team joins forces to protect Earth from the threat of Steppenwolf and his army following Superman’s death in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

(L to R): Gal Gadot, Ray Fisher, Ben Affleck and Ezra Miller in ‘Justice League’Credit: DC Entertainment/Warner Bros/Shutterstock

In addition to turmoil in the direction of the movie, Affleck was also dealing with personal challenges during that period. He acknowledged that he was struggling with drinking, while his marriage to Jennifer Garner was coming to an end. The couple announced their separation in 2015 and finalized their divorce in 2018.

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“That’s when I started to feel like, ‘Boy, I’d like to quit drinking and I’m having a hard time not drinking. I’m coming up with… I’m just going to do this. I’m just going to do that,’ ” he said. “And I got divorced. I mean, you know, it was definitely like a very difficult time for me personally.”

He was careful, however, to distinguish his own struggles from the problems surrounding the film’s production.

“But I can imagine, having gone through and dealt with that, those things, while painful, were not what impacted that movie,” he said. “I mean, they just happened to be happening at the same time.”

Snyder ultimately was able to share his original vision with audiences. In 2021, Snyder’s version of Justice League was released on HBO Max as a four-hour film, restoring much of the material that had been cut or reworked for the theatrical release.

“I was really glad and gratified that Zach got to release, and he did it in a very kind of canny way, manipulated his way into getting his thing released which was f---ing great and I was really happy for him,” Affleck said.

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Justice League is available to stream on HBO Max.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”