While many fans were disappointed when Ben Affleck announced his short-lived tenure as Batman had come to an end, it seems the star’s 7-year-old son, Samuel, has come to terms with the news already.
ET’s Nischelle Turner spoke with Affleck at the premiere of his new crime thriller, Triple Frontier, in New York City on Sunday, and the actor opened up about how his Batman-loving little boy dealt with the fact that his famous father had hung up his cape and cowl.
“He took the news okay. He kind of understands that there’s time for everything,” Affleck said.
The actor was originally set to direct a standalone Batman film in the future, which he would also star in, but he admitted recently that he wasn’t able to make it work, from a creative standpoint.
“[Samuel] is not quite old enough to understand that I was gonna direct [a Batman movie], but I couldn’t figure out how to do it,” the 46-year-old Oscar winner shared, adding, “I didn’t love it enough.”
In terms of how he explained the situation to his little boy, the star said he broke it down in terms his young son would easily grasp.
“I just kinda stuck with like, you know, ‘It was my turn and now it somebody else’s turn.’ Because he understands turn taking,” Affleck quipped.
Samuel is a huge fan of the DC comics superhero, and the adoring dad once famously borrowed the official batsuit to show up to his son’s fourth birthday back in 2016. So the father and son have a lot of shared history with the iconic costume.
Affleck — who played the Caped Crusader in 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and 2017’s Justice League, and had a brief, batsuited cameo as the Dark Knight in 2016’s Suicide Squad — confirmed that he wouldn’t be returning as the iconic hero while sitting down on Jimmy Kimmel Live! last month.
“I tried to direct a version of it and worked with a really good screenwriter, but just couldn’t come up with a version, I couldn’t crack it,” Affleck said. “So I thought it was time to let someone else take a shot at it. They got some really good people so I’m excited.”
Director Matt Reeves was later tapped to helm the standalone project, slated for release in June 25, 2021, with Affleck expected to reprise the role until he announced his departure from the franchise.
For more on the latest Batman news, check out the video below.
Affleck’s new thriller, Triple Frontier, hits theaters March 6 and is available for streaming on Netflix March 13.
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