It’s been revealed that Ben Affleck was supposed to have a cameo in Barbie but it got scrapped, continuing a strange pattern among 2023 movies.

It was recently revealed that Ben Affleck was supposed to have a cameo in the Barbie movie but it was ultimately scrapped, creating a bizarre pattern between the actor and 2023 movies. Greta Gerwig’s Barbie was the biggest movie of 2023, and its success was in no small part due to its star-studded ensemble cast.

Believe it or not, several other famous actors were almost part of the Barbie cast, as well, but couldn’t make it work for one reason or another. In some instances, actors’ cameos in Barbie were cut, or they just didn’t end up happening at all.

Most recently, Michael Cera revealed that Ben Affleck had a scrapped cameo in Barbie. The A-list actor’s planned cameo was revealed while Cera was explaining that his character, Allan, was actually never supposed to fight the construction worker Kens in Barbie at all.

Instead, the scene was originally going to feature a cameo from Affleck, though it’s unclear what his role would’ve been or what was supposed to happen instead. It’s particularly bizarre that Affleck’s Barbie cameo didn’t happen, considering he was also set to have a cameo in a different 2023 movie that ended up getting cut.

Ben Affleck Was Meant To Cameo In Barbie & Aquaman 2 In 2023

Scenes of Affleck as Batman were cut from Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

In addition to Barbie, Affleck also had a cut cameo in the Aquaman sequel, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, to reprise his role as Batman in the DCEU one last time. Affleck’s final appearance as Batman in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom was actually going to replace Michael Keaton’s Batman cameo. Jason Momoa said he even filmed scenes with Affleck as Batman for Aquaman 2, but they never made it into the film.

After 16 movies, the DCEU officially ended with Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom as the final installment.

Both cameos were once intended to be in the final product of each movie, but ultimately never came to fruition.

Affleck’s cut Aquaman 2 cameo is a little different from his lack of appearance in Barbie, though, since Affleck dropped out of Barbie. “I think Ben wanted to do it,” Cera said, “but he was directing his movie, [Air],” which Affleck also starred in.

Not only did he make the decision not to appear in Barbie himself, but it also sounds like Affleck never actually filmed any scenes for Barbie to begin with. While the circumstances may have been different, both cameos were once intended to be in the final product of each movie, but ultimately never came to fruition.

Ben Affleck’s absence as Batman from Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is a good sign after a long tenure of disappointment for the DCEU character.

Ben Affleck’s Lost Cameos Left Him Out Of Two Major Box Office Hits

Barbie and Aquaman 2 both did well at the box office

By not appearing in either Barbie or Aquaman 2,Affleck ultimately missed out on being a part of two box office hits—one of which was the highest-grossing movie of the year. Barbie broke several box office records, earning more than $1.4 billion worldwide (via Box Office Mojo).

While no 2023 movie could beat Barbie at the box office, Aquaman 2 still did pretty well, especially considering its negative critical reviews (via Rotten Tomatoes). Since its release on December 22, 2023, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom has grossed $429 million worldwide, becoming one of the top 10 highest-grossing DCEU movies.