Ben Affleck has no interest in James Gunn’s DC cinematic universe
"I would not direct something for the [James] Gunn DC," Ben Affleck asserts in a new interview. "Absolutely not."
Aux News Ben Affleck
It’s pretty safe to say Ben Affleck didn’t rush to theaters to see Shazam! Fury Of The Gods. In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Affleck responds to a query about whether or not he would ever want to direct a film in the DC universe—currently masterminded by James Gunn—with a very definitive answer: “Absolutely not.”
“I would not direct something for the [James] Gunn DC,” Affleck tells THR’s Rebecca Keegan. “I have nothing against James Gunn. Nice guy, sure he’s going to do a great job. I just wouldn’t want to go in and direct in the way they’re doing that. I’m not interested in that.”
For Affleck, his disinterest in the DCEU has little to do with James Gunn specifically and everything to do with his experience filming Justice League, which he calls “the worst experience I’ve ever seen in a business which is full of some shitty experiences.” He’s not exaggerating—Justice League’s rollout is infamous for its chaos. The project passed hands from Zack Snyder to Joss Whedon in 2017 when Snyder stepped away in the wake of his daughter’s suicide; Whedon has since faced serious backlash for how he handled the reshoots, including allegations of abuse from multiple cast members. After a rabid push from fans (and quite a few bots) rallying behind the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut hashtag, Snyder released his four-hour version of the film in 2021.
Although Affleck highlights Snyder’s re-release of the film as a “silver lining,” his experience on Justice League was enough to convince him never to do the superhero thing again. Before the ordeal, he “was going to direct a Batman”; afterward, he couldn’t get away from the “miserable” day-to-day soon enough.
“You want to go to work and find something interesting to hang onto, rather than just wearing a rubber suit, and most of it you’re just standing against the computer screen going, ‘If this nuclear waste gets loose, we’ll …’” Affleck says. “That’s fine. I don’t condescend to that or put it down, but I got to a point where I found it creatively not satisfying… I thought, ‘I don’t want to participate in this in any way. And I don’t want to squander any more of my life, of which I have a limited amount.’”
26 Comments
I’ve got him attached to direct my new story:Sir Francis Fartsausage was a knight like no other. He was brave, he was daring, and he had a sense of humor that often got him into trouble. He was also known for his love of food, especially fried foods. One day, Sir Francis found himself in the middle of a peculiar situation that involved a feather, some French fries, and a group of angry Frenchmen.It all started when Sir Francis was traveling through France on a quest to find the perfect French fry. He had heard that the French were the masters of fried foods, and he was determined to find out for himself. As he was walking through a crowded marketplace, he spotted a feather that had fallen from a vendor’s cart.Being the jester that he was, Sir Francis picked up the feather and stuck it in his cap. As he continued on his way, he noticed a group of Frenchmen following him, their faces twisted in anger.“What do you think you are doing with that feather?” one of them demanded.Sir Francis, being the mischievous knight that he was, replied with a smirk, “I’m starting a new fashion trend.”The Frenchmen did not appreciate Sir Francis’s humor, and they began to shout and wave their fists at him. Sir Francis tried to defuse the situation by offering them some French fries, which he had purchased from a nearby vendor. However, the Frenchmen were not interested in his peace offering, and they continued to advance on him.Suddenly, Sir Francis had an idea. He took a deep breath and let out a thunderous fart. The Frenchmen were taken aback by the noise and the smell, and they quickly retreated in disgust. Sir Francis chuckled to himself and continued on his quest for the perfect French fry.From that day forward, Sir Francis Fartsausage was known throughout France as the knight who defeated his enemies with the power of his farts. And although he never did find the perfect French fry, he did discover that sometimes, a well-timed fart was all it took to get out of a sticky situation!
Ben Affleck: I don’t want to squander any more of my life, of which I have a limited amount. (Enter Satan)Satan: Here’s the deal, Ben – you can live forever, but you’re under contract to play Batman. Forever. Ben Affleck: Fine, I’m in. (Sign contract) Wait… Did you say “Batman, forever” or “Batman Forever?” Satan: Muah-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!
There is so obviously going to be a Crisis on Infinite Earths event where all previous iterations of DC characters will be involved.
Someday–maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday–we will finally have run out of things to say about that stupid Justice League movie.
People still bang on about Phantom Menace.
Just sayin, don’t hold your breath.
TPM was a rad children’s space fantasy film.
Headline: implies some specific hostility towards Gunn or Gunn’s DC plans from AffleckArticle: explains that Affleck just got fed up with superhero moviemaking in the wake of the Justice League fiasco.Even by AV Club standards, that’s really clickbaity.(And obviously it worked, sigh.)
I think Gizmodo, out of all news sources, explains the situation a little better, but people are going to take this out of context because no one reads anymore.
Sure they do. They read just enough so they can respond with anger at something. They don’t care that they only understand 1/4 of it as long as they get their rage fix.
It’s sad that AV Club has gone this way when they really didn’t need to. There’s already plenty of clickbaity entertainment gossip sites.
They could have modeled themselves after something like animenewsnetwork.com, still posted lots of content, and also be seen as a credible resource.
Turns out it’s hard to run these sites and make a profit
Without specifics it’s even harder to argue that
That’s OK, James Gunn has no interest in Ben Affleck.
What an absurd attempt to make drama out of one dude just deciding he doesn’t want to direct some movies, and everyone involved being better off for it.
DC gets to use a better director, Affleck gets to direct films more suited to his abilities, and the fans get a better movie.
You’ve seen the movies DC has put out, right? Based on their track record, the odds are against them actually finding someone better.
Yeah, they suck, it’s almost like they should put someone else in charge…….oh wait, they did!
Two brothers is one of the oldest stories known to man, Marvel/DC.One does nearly everything well, always succeeding in life, nearly perfect, yet….missing something. The other is all over the place, constantly screwing up, yet is still special in its own way. Marvel essentially has everything, everything they touch is gold, nearly every movie they put out does well financially, yet…. is (increasingly) vapid. DC… is the f’d up kid, he is either brilliant, or an absolute screw up. Regardless… DC has Batman, which is, and has proven to be, the most compelling and interesting comic book character ever. Hands. Down.I don’t blame Affleck for not wanting anything to do with this current iteration of DC/WB, every 5 years they blow everything up. Marvel, does not… it’s a constant push towards… blah. The absolute middle.
Regardless, Marvel/Disney will buy DC/WB in less than 10 years, bet. Because….Batman and Joker.
It’s not really true marvel turned everything they touch to gold anymore, though. Phase 4 was mostly a shit show, and phase 5 is off to an incredibly mediocre start.
If by gold, they mean literal money, then it all still pretty much turns into gold, even if the recent movies have been more blah since End Game.
By “gold” in this context, I mean “A pretty good movie”, which Marvel has failed utterly to produce since pretty much Spiderman: No Way Home (which might even be Marvel’s *best* movie). I thought Shang Chi was pretty good, but that’s because it fell back on the origin story formula, which pretty much always works if you’re even halfway competent at filmmaking. Black Widow I thought was okay, but anticlimactic in that it came out in Phase 4 when it really should’ve been in Phase 3. If you slot it in right after Civil War, it’s pretty decent, but when you’re hanging out with a character you already know dies—and exactly when, where and how—it’s hard to get really invested in the stakes of a movie.As for gold in the sense of money, I dunno man. Marvel’s really been off the numbers this past couple of years, again excepting Spiderman and to some extent Black Panther 2.
Why do you write like a mental patient’s rich-daughter-kidnapping note
Go on? We gonna exchange pics?
what
“I won’t direct for loads of cash!I won’t direct for James Gunn’s ‘Flash’!”
Good, Affleck(!) sucks.
Why do all the headlines sound like shitty TMZ articles lately?