Ben Affleck says the reshoots for 2017’s Justice League marked the lowest point of his career. In an interview with Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, reported by Deadline, he described the production as painful for several reasons: his personal circumstances, a tragedy in director Zack Snyder’s family, and conflict between Warner Bros. and the filmmaker.
“The truth is, the experience of Justice League was so, so negative for lots of different reasons. Some of which having to do with where I was personally, some of which having to do with the tragedy that happened during the time, and also the fact that I really saw how not to make a movie like that when the studio is at odds with the filmmaker. You’re really making a mistake. That was what really doomed that.”
Affleck’s account points to the studio-director conflict as a central lesson from the experience. Snyder began making Justice League not long after Batman v. Superman opened. The film had a huge opening weekend, but its box-office run faltered after its reception turned toxic. Warner Bros. wanted a different tone for Justice League, and after Snyder’s daughter died, the studio replaced him with Joss Whedon.
According to accounts of the production, the changeover and reshoots went badly, and the director and cast failed to get along. Warner Bros. intended the film as its answer to Marvel’s Avengers, but it barely passed $200 million at the domestic box office in 2017, falling far short of the studio’s hopes for what could become the biggest superhero movie of all time.
Justice League also stalled the DCEU’s momentum and ended Affleck’s plans for a solo Batman film. Years later, cast members spoke out about Whedon and alleged abusive behavior during the reshoots, damaging his career. For Affleck, the production remains a bitter memory, not because of a single verdict on the finished film, but because it showed him what can happen when a studio and filmmaker pull in opposite directions.
