Ben Affleck’s Extreme Transformation For ‘Batman v Superman’ Is Highly Underrated & Here’s Why

When Ben Affleck, arguably one of the best actors in Hollywood right now, became Bruce Wayne after the magnificent job done by Christian Bale in The Dark Knight trilogy, DC fans were excited to see what he had in store for them.

And even though Affleck’s unexpectedly short tenure as the caped crusader turned out to be underwhelming, it is safe to say that it wasn’t the actor who was to be blamed but the directors and screen-writers.

Probably, this is also the reason why not nearly enough credit was given to the then 44-year-old who turned around his life in terms of fitness and health, and made a phenomenal body transformation suitable for the brawny and brooding Batman that Zack Snyder always envisioned to have in his films.

Here’s why Ben Affleck’s Transformation for Batman v Superman deserves better recognition:

Table of Contents

1. Alcohol Addiction:

© Warner Bros.

According to Affleck’s own admission, addiction ran in his family. “My dad didn’t really get sober until I was 19,” he told The New York Times. “There’s a lot of alcoholism and mental illness in my family. The legacy of that is quite powerful and sometimes hard to shake.”

Suffering from severe alcoholism for decades, the actor went into rehab once in 2001 and then again in 2017 and 2018 which meant that at the time of shooting for the film, he was not only struggling with the strict diet but also with the urge to consume alcohol.

2. Multiple Relapses:

© Yahoo Entertainment

After his rehab in 2001, Affleck revealed that his alcohol consumption was normal for quite a while. “What happened was that I started drinking more and more when my marriage (with Jennifer Garner) was falling apart. This was 2015, 2016,” he said.

Alcohol abuse can lead to severe weight gain in three major ways: it stops your body from burning fat, it makes you feel more hungry, and it can lead to poor food choices, and Affleck felt every bit of it.

3. Over A Decade Of Antidepressants:

© Reuters

In an interview with ABC News Affleck relieved that he has been in a constant battle with depression since his early twenties and that he has been on antidepressants since he was 26.

“I get depressed. I take antidepressants. They’re very helpful for me,” Affleck said. “I’ve taken them since I was 26 years old, various different kinds. I’ve switched and tried this and tried that. Sometimes they won’t tell you about some awful side effect and you’ll come back and say, ‘Why am I 60 pounds heavier?’” he added. “And [the doctor says], ‘Oh, well you put on a little weight.’ And it’s like, ‘Oh, well thanks!’”

Even though no specific relation has been drawn between antidepressants and weight gain, a theory is that those pills affect the patient’s metabolism and hunger levels. According to Medical News Today, antidepressants interfere with serotonin, the neurotransmitter that controls your appetite amongst other parameters.

Despite all those issues, Affleck’s physique for Batman is simply unbelievable. If you think weight loss is difficult and making your abs visible feels like an impossible task, imagine going through all those problems and still being able to look like this:

Ben Affleck really got to 105kgs at 7% body fat holy fuck https://t.co/mHrex8Adkg

— ???? (@boomborks) February 16, 2020