Amid criticism of his role and growing speculation of his continued involvement with the franchise, Ben Affleck has assured DC fans that his next portrayal of Batman in Justice League will be “more traditional”.

Justice League, released this November, will represent the third time that 44 year old Affleck has played the Caped Crusader on the big screen, following his central performance in Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice in early 2016 – which received lukewarm reviews – and the most fleeting of cameo appearances in Suicide Squad later that year.

“He’s put in this position of having to reach out, find other people, convincing them to do something,” Affleck explained to Entertainment Weekly in an interview published on Wednesday (August 16th). “Part of the drama of the movie is the question of whether or not the team is going to come together. It’s very different from the tenor of the last movie.”

Ben AffleckBen Affleck reprises Batman in 'Justice League' in November

“BvS:DoJ departed a little bit from the traditional Batman,” the star continued. “He started out with all this rage directed at Superman, because of his coworkers who had died in the fight Superman had with Zod.”

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Justice League will see Batman team up with Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman, Ezra Miller’s Flash and Jason Momoa’s Aquaman (and possibly Henry Cavill’s Superman) in a massive ensemble cast.

“He was holding on to a lot of anger, in a little bit of an irrational way,” Affleck reflected. “Whereas this is a much more traditional Batman. He’s heroic. He does things in his own way, but he wants to save people, help people.”

He reckons that this will see the Batman done in a more traditional way in keeping with the original comic books.

“This is more in keeping with the canon of how Batman’s usually been portrayed, and how he’s portrayed vis-a-vis the Justice League in the comics,” he explains. “This is more the Batman you would find if you opened up your average Batman comic book.”

Justice League is released in cinemas on November 17th, 2017.

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