Although the announcement of Affleck's casting in Batman v Superman was initially met with intense fan backlash, his performance received positive reviews despite the film's generally unfavorable reception.

Eighteen months later at a gala held by Lex Luthor, Wayne encounters Clark Kent (Superman's secret identity), a young reporter who attempts to question the billionaire's position on Batman, whom he views as a brutal criminal.

In exchange for Wayne protecting her reputation and working to hide her involvement with Task Force X, Waller provides him classified government documents on metahumans such as Arthur Curry and Barry Allen.

Wayne and Allen join up with Prince and Victor Stone, also known as "Cyborg", as they receive intel from Gotham City Police commissioner James Gordon.

After the group rescues the employees and seizes the Mother Box to analyze it following a skirmish, Wayne decides to use the device to resurrect Superman after hearing from Stone that Silas had used it to revive him after a horrific accident.

After exhuming Kent's body, the team successfully revives Superman using the Mother Box and amniotic fluid in the Kryptonian scout ship that was used to create Doomsday.

Allen goes back in time nonetheless to save his mother, resulting in the world changing drastically, with Superman, Aquaman, and Wonder Woman not existing, Victor Stone not having had his accident yet, and an older, retired version of Wayne taking the original's place.

But once Zack [Snyder] showed [him] the concept, and that it would be both different from the great movies that Chris[topher Nolan] and Christian [Bale] made, but still in keeping with tradition, [he] was excited.

[8] Bale ultimately decided not to reprise the role out of respect for Christopher Nolan's creative direction and the fact that the Dark Knight trilogy provided a full arc for the character.

[9] Other actors considered to play the role included Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who would be cast as Thomas Wayne for the film, Jon Hamm, and Scott Adkins.

[20][21] According to the September 2015 issue of Empire Magazine, which promoted Batman v Superman, Ben Affleck chose to wear a wig to match Bruce Wayne's widow's peak as commonly depicted in the comics, a decision that was initially met with skepticism by producer Deborah Snyder.

[22] Affleck also bulked up to 231 pounds with 7.7 percent bodyfat for the role before "dialing back" to 225 in order to portray Batman as a physically imposing figure, as his personal trainer Walter Norton Jr. wanted the character to look like a "heavyweight MMA fighter" who had trained daily for the past 20 years.

He is noticeably older than Clark Kent when first meeting him in Batman v Superman and has witnessed not only the murders of his parents at a young age, but also that of his protégé Dick Grayson, who served as Robin until his capture and death at the hands of the Joker.

"[26] However, like previous iterations of the character, including that of Michael Keaton's and Christian Bale's portrayals, Affleck's Batman has also become the CEO of Wayne Enterprises and taken on protecting Gotham City from a wide variety of criminals, ranging from Floyd Lawton, Killer Croc and Digger Harkness, to The Joker and Harley Quinn.

Despite being described as caring and selfless, he is often ruthless and violent in his war on crime, incorporating intimidation tactics into his persona and fighting style, and his inner demons sometimes overwhelm his better judgement.

Bruce's characterization in the theatrical cut of Justice League is noticeably different from in the director's cut, as Joss Whedon's version suddenly made Batman sarcastic, bumbling, and indecisive while Snyder's version fleshes out how Superman's sacrifice restored his faith in humanity and gives him newfound resolve, going as far as to leave behind the isolation that has defined him in favor of taking a leadership role amongst the Justice League's "wildly different" members.

[28] Snyder notes that in his original vision for the character's arc, Batman would begin a period of redemption starting in Justice League, resulting in his sacrifice in future sequels.

[33] Bruce has also built several other vehicles capable of switching to remote control by Alfred, including a fighter jet used in Batman v Superman and several others in both versions of Justice League, namely the "Knightcrawler", a new four-legged tank-vehicle which was designed by his father during World War II.

He also utilizes a portable troop carrier called the "Flying Fox" carrying the new armored Batmobile, which the new team boards to battle Steppenwolf in Russia.

[35]However, Kofi Outlaw of ComicBook.com interpreted the allegory the other way around: that Batman represents "the right-wing hawk reaction to 9/11... an America that prefers security over civil liberties; the Bush-era mentality of stopping threats pro-actively before they can threaten close to home".

"[36] Outlaw suggests that the scene where Batman and Superman find common ground in their mothers is parallel to the notion that conflicting political ideologies still have similarities.

"[37] In addition, Ben Affleck said he liked the "idea of showing accountability and the consequences of violence and seeing that there are real people in those buildings," with the scene of Bruce Wayne at the battle of Metropolis.

In 2017, Wayne, having stopped Steppenwolf, has another "Knightmare" in the world ruled by Darkseid, joining forces with Stone, Allen, Mera, Deathstroke, and Joker, before confronting a brainwashed Superman.

In the reality Barry Allen creates after stopping his mother's murder, Bruce Wayne, played by Michael Keaton, is older, retired, and has made Gotham City one of the safest on Earth through his years of crime-fighting.

Allen, alongside his younger counterpart from that timeline, enlist the help of this version of Bruce Wayne and Kara Zor-El in order to stop the impending invasion of General Zod.

Ben Affleck appeared in-character as Bruce Wayne in a Turkish Airlines advertising campaign aired during Super Bowl 50, in which he promotes flying to Gotham City in a tie-in to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

[40] Upon the release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Affleck received considerable praise for his performance, despite the overall mixed reception of the film itself and the initial negative reaction to his casting.

[24] Affleck's performance in the director's cut of the film was much more warmly received, as Tom Jorgensen of IGN writes that Batman's motivations and character development are more comprehensive.

Zack Snyder's Justice League delivers the best version of Ben Affleck's Batman, and it's one of many reasons the new cut is superior to the original theatrical film.

[50] However, shortly following the release of Zack Snyder's Justice League, a #MakeTheBatfleckMovie campaign had started up all over social media seeking for Ben Affleck to reprise his role in a standalone Batman movie.