--- title: Jimmy Kimmel Helped Ben Affleck Say Goodbye To Batman description: Ben Affleck retires his Batman suit with help from Jimmy Kimmel with a special appearance by Matt Damon's thong. canonical: https://time.com/5530424/jimmy-kimmel-batman/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-02-15T14:54:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:57:30.647Z og:title: Jimmy Kimmel Helped Ben Affleck Say Goodbye To Batman og:description: With a special appearance by Matt Damon's thong og:url: https://time.com/5530424/jimmy-kimmel-batman/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Jimmy Kimmel Helped Ben Affleck Say Goodbye To Batman twitter:description: With a special appearance by Matt Damon's thong twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Jimmy Kimmel Helps Ben Affleck Say Goodbye to His Batman Suit in the Most Spectacular Way by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Feb 15, 2019 2:54 PM UTC by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Feb 15, 2019 2:54 PM UTC Ben Affleck is officially retiring as the Batman. The actor stopped by _Jimmy Kimmel Live!_ on Thursday to bid farewell to the caped crusader—and Matt Damon’s thong. Affleck explained to Jimmy Kimmel that he was hanging up the mask, because he couldn’t figure out the next film for the famed DC Comics character. “I tried to direct a version of \[[Batman](http://time.com/4251611/batman-superman-1966-cover/)\], \[I\] worked with a really good screenwriter, but kinda just couldn’t come up with a version. Couldn’t crack it,” Affleck told Kimmel. “I thought it was time for someone else to take a shot at it. And they’ve got some really good people.” In January, the Oscar-winning actor confirmed he was leaving the beloved franchise, tweeting that he was “excited” to see the next iteration of the iconic character in the film _The Batman_, which will be directed by Matt Reeves. In an interview with [_The Hollywood Reporter_](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/passage-producer-netflixs-theatrical-plans-noir-batman-1180514), Reeves said that the new younger version of Bruce Wayne and The Batman would be “a point of view-driven, noir Batman tale” featuring more of “Batman in his detective mode.” To help Affleck say goodbye to the Dark Knight, Kimmel helped him “officially retire” Affleck’s Batsuit in a special ceremony that happens “whenever the [Bat torch is passed](http://time.com/41436/batman-actors-gallery/).” Kimmel’s long-time sidekick Guillermo Rodriguez, appeared on stage dressed as [Batman](http://time.com/4665019/the-lego-batman-movie-review/)’s longtime sidekick, Robin, although Guillermo’s version was called “Robert.” Then Affleck’s Batsuit was raised to the studio’s rafters, where it replaced another bit of Hollywood memorabilia, Matt Damon’s thong from _Behind the Candelabra_. Reeves’ take on _The Batman_ is expected to hit theaters in summer 2021. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5530424/jimmy-kimmel-batman/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5530424/jimmy-kimmel-batman/"},"headline":"Jimmy Kimmel Helps Ben Affleck Say Goodbye to His Batman Suit in the Most Spectacular Way","datePublished":"2019-02-15T14:54:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:57:30.647Z","description":"With a special appearance by Matt Damon's thong","url":"https://time.com/5530424/jimmy-kimmel-batman/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Late Night Television","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5530424/jimmy-kimmel-batman/","name":"Jimmy Kimmel Helps Ben Affleck Say Goodbye to His Batman Suit in the Most Spectacular Way"}}]}] ```