In the wake of Ben Affleck's split with Jennifer Garner this year, you might have been wondering if the actor did anything big to mark the occasion of his reemergence back into singledom.

And now we have the answer: Yes. Yes, he did.

And it's not just big. It's gigantic.

Ben was photographed this week on the set of his new movie, "Live by Night," wearing a hospital johnny -- which gapped open in the rear to reveal a freakin' enormous phoenix tattoo that goes the full length of his back, from scapula to... um, actually, we can't see the end of it. Which means that in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, we'll just assume that the design ends with a grand curlicue flourish on one of Ben's buttcheeks.

E! News has a pic of the tattoo in all its colorful glory, and a source has confirmed that the ink is real, and "not new," (although a quick image search for "Ben Affleck shirtless" reveals that it's certainly recent.)

Anyway, now you know: Ben Affleck is the proud owner of an absolutely ginormous technicolor back piece.

Obviously, this tattoo is meant to recall the classic myth of the phoenix -- who flamed out in the fierce fire of a highly publicized breakup, then rose again from the ashes and became... Batman.