Are We Sure It’s a Good Idea for Ben Affleck to Play Batman Again?

Well, well, well…it looks like Ben Affleck hasn’t hung up his Batman cape and cowl after all. After suffering through the chaos that was Joss Whedon’s Justice League and a barrage of “Sadfleck” memes, Affleck seemed content to leave Bruce Wayne behind for good. He filmed one final cameo for the upcoming Flash film and that was supposed to be it. Except yesterday Jason Momoa revealed on Instagram that Affleck was on the studio lot to play Bruce Wayne, aka Batman, once more in Aquaman 2, aka Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. 

The Instagram post in question is a carousel of two pics of Momoa and Affleck palling around backstage followed by a video of Momoa laughing that fans on a Warner Brothers set tour spotted Affleck and ruined the surprise. Towards the end of the video, Momoa goes into a trailer labeled “B.A” and apologizes to Affleck, sitting on a couch. (Though, to be sure, the cameraman gets a better shot of Affleck’s stash of Diet Coke than the actor himself.) The caption reads: “REUNITED bruce and arthur. love u and miss u Ben WB studio tours just explored the backlot alright. busted on set all great things coming AQUAMAN 2 all my aloha j”

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So Ben Affleck will reprise the role of Bruce Wayne at least once more in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. Is this a good idea for Affleck? His take on Batman was a fascinating one, to be sure. Affleck portrayed the Caped Crusader in decline. He was a middle-aged man dogged by the guilt of his failures and haunted by the grief of those he could not save. Affleck’s Batman was a reluctant leader, bringing the Justice League together because someone had to do it. Not to mention he had great chemistry with Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman. Between the span of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Zack Snyder’s Justice League, it seemed like there was a bigger Batman story for Ben Affleck to tell. But after the chaos of that experience, would he even want to?

Affleck has been open about the fact that he was not happy during his Batman days, specifically telling the Los Angeles Times that filming Justice League was a personal “nadir” for him. “That was a bad experience because of a confluence of things: my own life, my divorce, being away too much, the competing agendas and then [director] Zack [Snyder]’s personal tragedy and the reshooting. It just was the worst experience. It was awful. It was everything that I didn’t like about this. That became the moment where I said, ‘I’m not doing this anymore.’ It’s not even about, like, Justice League was so bad,” Affleck said.

That said, Affleck did agree to play Batman one last time in 2023’s The Flash. And it seemed he had a much better time with that production than with Justice League. “It was a really nice way to revisit that as the prior experience had been difficult,” Affleck told Variety in October of last year. “This was really lovely. Really fun.”

Now it seems that Affleck has been coaxed back into his Bruce Wayne power suits (and perhaps the Batsuit?) for yet another DC movie. Assuming that Momoa’s Instagram posts aren’t a feint, Affleck will indeed appear in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. Is Affleck’s return to a world he considered the “nadir” for himself a good idea? Like, creatively, I’m down with more Batfleck, but is this wise for Ben Affleck the man himself? I say…yes?!

In the last few years, Ben Affleck has pulled off something of a miracle. He went from a divorce, rehab, and mocking jokes about his Dunkin addiction to a man reborn. He has become the phoenix garishly tattooed on his back. Nowhere is this triumphant rebirth more evident than in his personal life. Affleck reunited with Jennifer Lopez, a woman he so clearly worshiped that he literally kissed her derriere in a 2002 music video, after 20 years apart. Last week, they wed in a low key Las Vegas ceremony before spending a week in Paris with their children. Sure, folks made fun of the guy for falling asleep on a boat, but in every other photo papped, Affleck looked like a prince. He is in full Honeymoon mode: happy, healthy, and finally wed to the woman who is clearly the love of his life.

So even if returning to the role of Bruce Wayne wears on Affleck, he has a support system in place that he didn’t during Justice League‘s troubled days. Instead of being embroiled in a divorce, he is in the haze of a fairy tale romance. The man has J. Lo’s love, nothing can stop him! And while Affleck’s career has often had its ups and downs, right now he is coasting to an apex he hitherto hasn’t known.

Ben Affleck’s return as Batman is its own fantastic superhero story. Affleck has defeated his demons (for now) and this is his victory lap.