Ben Affleck Calls Justice League the Low Point of His Career

Ben Affleck has described making Justice League as the lowest point of his career, while criticising Warner Bros. for the way Zack Snyder’s departure was handled after the death of Snyder’s daughter.

Speaking with Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Affleck was asked about the cancelled solo Batman film in which he had planned to reprise the role. The conversation led to a candid discussion of his work on the 2017 DC film.

Affleck said he enjoyed playing the DCEU’s Frank Miller-influenced version of Batman. However, he described the production of Justice League as so unpleasant that it taught him how not to make a film. He also objected to the treatment of director Zack Snyder during the project.

“The experience of Justice League was so negative,” Affleck said. He called the production “the low point of my career” and criticised the suggestion that Snyder’s family tragedy had been used as a reason for changing directors. The full remarks are reported by IGN.

Snyder’s daughter died while Justice League was in post-production. Snyder subsequently left the project, and Joss Whedon—known for The Avengers and Buffy the Vampire Slayer—was brought in. Whedon then oversaw extensive reshoots rather than making only minor changes.

The production’s troubled reputation later grew after Ray Fisher, who played Cyborg, accused Whedon of gross, abusive and unprofessional conduct during the reshoots. Fisher also criticised Warner Bros. executives Jon Berg and Geoff Johns for allegedly enabling the behaviour. Jason Momoa subsequently supported Fisher’s comments.

Gal Gadot, who played Wonder Woman, also stated that Whedon threatened her career after she declined to record certain lines.

Affleck clarified that some details about the experiences of Fisher, Gadot and other cast members reached him second-hand. Even so, he said the atmosphere sounded deeply troubling. He also acknowledged that he was drinking heavily at the time and had begun to recognise that he wanted to stop, but was struggling to do so.

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