But The Last Duel was not received at all, warmly or otherwise, by audiences since the film opened to less than $5 million in its opening weekend last October. And that meek number came despite Affleck ostensibly starring as the most recent and popular iteration of the Dark Knight in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and this year’s belated HBO Max release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League. (The Last Duel also starred Jason Bourne and Kylo Ren.) “You may have to adapt to the changing times,” Affleck said. “I mean, this business has changed, right? You had vaudeville, silent movies, talkies, color. Then there was television. It’s continued to evolve and change.” For Affleck that change has come again as adults are preferring to watch dramas—Affleck’s preferred genre as a director and now an actor—at home. In the same interview, Affleck muses that a handful of significant auteur directors—Affleck name checks Christopher Nolan, Quentin Tarantino, Kathryn Bigelow, and Paul Thomas Anderson as examples—will be able to still release major, original adult-oriented films in theaters and bring audiences out like it were an IP “event.” But by and large, he thinks those days are likely gone and it’s time to move to where the audience is if he doesn’t want to wear a rubber cape and eyeliner again. It’s not a surprise for Affleck to want to eventually retreat from the superhero genre. While everyone remembers his early days as a movie star in similarly gaudy spectacles (although not based on IP) like Armageddon (1998) and Pearl Harbor (2001), he did breakthrough in the indie world by co-writing and starring in Good Will Hunting (1997), as well as starring in Kevin Smith’s early more ambitious efforts like Chasing Amy (1997). After he transitioned to directing, all of his movies behind-the-camera have tended to be noirs or thrillers like Gone Baby Gone (2007), The Town (2010), and his Best Picture winner, Argo (2012). Yet to Affleck, the future of theatrical moviegoing isn’t those kind of memorable achievements—it’s mostly more superhero movies and similar IP-inspired products. He’s obviously not wholly against that kind of moviemaking, having starred in Daredevil (2003) and several Zack Snyder-directed DC movies. However, one cannot help if his interest was shaken by how brutal the reception was for both DC movies, as well as seeing Justice League tinkered into a bigger mess a few years ago. Perhaps like the vegan who works in the sausage factory, it’s possible to see too much? Either way, it’s likely bitter news for the most diehard fans of Snyder’s so-called “Snyderverse.” It already seemed nigh impossible for WarnerMedia to reverse course and “restore the Snyderverse,” as the social media hashtag demands, but with Affleck admitting he has no interest in doing those kind of movies anymore, it seems pretty safe to assume that the last we’ll see of the Snyderverse Batman will be from his role in next year’s The Flash.
