Ben Affleck Discusses JUSTICE LEAGUE’s “More Traditional” Portrayal of Batman

Ben Affleck’s Batman will return in this fall’s Justice League, following his debut in last year’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad. While the vast majority of fans love Affleck as Batman, there was also a lot of controversy surrounding the character’s more brutal and morally questionable actions in Dawn of Justice. Fortunately, fans who took issue with that will likely be happy with the Dark Knight in Justice League.

Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Affleck contrasts the Batman character in both Batman v Superman and Justice League. “Batman v Superman departed a little bit from the traditional Batman,” says Affleck, who reaffirms the character’s hatred of Superman in that movie. However, Justice League will embrace a more traditional Caped Crusader. “He was holding on to a lot of anger, in a little bit of an irrational way. Whereas this is a much more traditional Batman. He’s heroic. He does things in his own way, but he wants to save people, help people.”

Affleck elaborates, saying that Justice League‘s Batman is aligned more closely to how he’s typically depicted in the comics. “This is more in keeping with the canon of how Batman’s usually been portrayed, and how he’s portrayed vis a vis the Justice League in the comics. This is more the Batman you would find if you opened up your average Batman comic book.”

Honestly, this makes sense, given the character’s storyline in the DC Extended Universe. The whole point of his arc in Batman v Superman was to show a more broken, angry Bruce Wayne who’s lost his way as a hero. Of course he wouldn’t be identical to the Batman we see in other media. However, at the end of that movie, Bruce set out on a road to redemption, which is where we’ll see him in Justice League.

For Affleck’s comments on Batman forming the Justice League and working with other heroes, click HERE.

Justice League is scheduled to hit theaters November 17th. The fifth installment in the DC Extended Universe stars Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Gal Gadot, Ezra Miller, Jason Momoa, Ray Fisher, Ciarán Hinds, Amber Heard, Joe Morton, Willem Dafoe, Jeremy Irons, Jesse Eisenberg, and J.K. Simmons. Zack Snyder directs from a script by Chris Terrio.