Ben Affleck’s time as Batman in the now-defunct DCEU was tumultuous. Not because of anything the star did, but because the franchise itself was chaotic. I don’t have to remind fans about all that went down behind the scenes of Justice League between the Joss Whedon version and the later Snyder Cut version of the film from director Zack Snyder. Now that the DCEU has evolved into the DCU with James Gunn and Peter Safran at the top, Affleck is reflecting on his time as Batman and the broader landscape for superhero movies. It Wasn’t All Bad Within The DCEUAffleck spoke to Variety this week in anticipation of his latest movie, Animals, which hits the 2026 movie schedule on October 9 and will be available to stream with a Netflix account. In the conversation, Affleck touched on his time as the Caped Crusader and what he thought worked, and what he thought wasn’t as great. Affleck told Variety:I really liked doing Batman v Superman. That was really fun. Justice League had a lot of issues, and that wasn’t that much fun, frankly. I was glad that Zack [Snyder] was able to get his vision for how he wanted that movie to be out there. That was rewarding. Affleck added that the overall dark nature of the Justice League hurt the movie with younger audiences, and I agree with that. He added that it’s a struggle to find a balance between broad appeal and darker stories that have been so popular in comics over the last 30 years. He added:It seems to be an ongoing question, and I don’t know the answer: Do you go all the way to a hard-R rating like Joker? Or do it like Marvel, which does something broad, unless you’re talking about Deadpool & Wolverine?He then took some time to compliment the head of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, Kevin Feige, and his ability to seemingly always know what needs to be done in the MCU. Affleck said:I have to say, Kevin Feige is a kind of genius. I can’t think of any producer in the world who can say, ‘This is what the audience wants,’ and be right, except for him.In the wide-ranging interview, Affleck touched on a lot of issues surrounding Hollywood, from the dearth of true movie stars to the consolidation of movie studios. That obviously includes superhero movies, though he doesn’t get into the debate over whether audiences have superhero fatigue or not. As of now, there isn’t a Batman in the proper DCU, as Gunn and Safran seem content to let the Matt Reeves version of the character shine for now, before putting the focus on him in the flagship franchise. Who knows, maybe we’ll see Affleck again in the franchise, perhaps as an older, wiser version of the iconic superhero. He certainly seems wise about the state of Hollywood today.