Being produced by a big studio can be both a boon and a bane for a movie, for its ultimate fate always remains stuck in their boardrooms, at the mercy of executives who care more about optics and profit than cinema or storytelling. The most recent example of this was Coyote vs. Acme being shelved as a tax write-off by Warner Bros., only to be revived by Ketchup Entertainment.

The movie proved the studio that tried to kill it wrong and went on to earn over $100 million. But this is not new for the studio, as the same studio tried something similar with Justice League, bending the final product to its will. 

Ben Affleck is now looking back at the chaos that surrounded the DCEU number and how the project was led astray from its original vision.

During a fun session with Variety, playing a game where an actor has to guess lines from their films, Ben Affleck got a line from his DC movie Justice League, and he immediately went back to those days. He praised Zack Snyder’s cut of the movie, especially commending the filmmaker for his understanding of the DC world and his vision for the extended universe. Then he suddenly shifted to the “tensions” around the movie because of a lack of synergy between the studio and Snyder’s vision for the movie.

“It’s a very bad way, in my opinion, to make a movie because it doesn’t work well by committee,” Affleck said about the way the studio handled things.  

He further told Variety that such studio friction heavily impacted the production, but praised director Zack Snyder for navigating the intense corporate pressures with skill and resilience. Observing Snyder ultimately reclaim and complete his original creative vision was, in Affleck's view, a deeply satisfying payoff, particularly given how punishingly difficult the overall shoot had been.

The Animals actor also reflected on the legendary lineage of actors who have donned the Dark Knight's cape; Affleck acknowledged a formidable roster that includes Christian Bale, Robert Pattinson, George Clooney, and Michael Keaton. Describing every previous iteration as a phenomenal talent, he noted that he would be genuinely flattered to have his own tenure as Batman viewed in such distinguished company.

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The mantle currently seems safe in the hands of Pattinson, but painfully, his Batman is not canon to the DC lore, and DC is currently looking for its own version of the Caped Crusader.

DC Studios is actively searching for a fresh face to portray the Caped Crusader within its unified cinematic universe (the DCU), while Robert Pattinson's iteration will remain safely compartmentalized within a separate "Elseworlds" banner. Co-CEO James Gunn has repeatedly clarified that Pattinson's Dark Knight will sit outside the primary DCU timeline, leaving room for a brand-new live-action Bruce Wayne.

That new incarnation is slated to debut in The Brave and the Bold, an upcoming feature centering on Bruce Wayne and his assassin-trained son, Damian Wayne, operating as Robin. Despite persistent internet chatter and fan-casting campaigns - including recent rumors surrounding actors like Jensen Ackles - Gunn has firmly pushed back against claims that a star has been locked in, noting that the project remains in early development without a finalized script.    

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What do you think of the Justice League fiasco back then? Could it have been handled better? Do let us know.