Credit: DC / Warner Bros.George Clooney has finally commented on whether he’ll ever return as Batman.
George Clooney’s acting resume is probably as long as the list of thugs Batman has put in Arkham over the years. But despite starring in many critically acclaimed films, from O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) to Gravity (2013), there isn’t one particular film he’s best known for.
But there is one he’ll be forever associated with for all the wrong reasons. In the late ’90s, the ER (1994 — 1999) star famously slipped into the iconic cape and cowl for Joel Schumacher’s Batman and Robin (1997), the fourth installment in the original film series.
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However, despite a decent run at the box office, Batman and Robin was torn apart by critics and is now widely considered one of the worst superhero movies ever, which is why we were surprised to see Clooney reprise his role in the DC Multiverse movie The Flash (2023) earlier this year (minus the “rubber Bat-nipples”), which also featured the Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck versions of the character.
Though it’s a very brief cameo (although, oddly, it feels more like one of the actor’s Nespresso ads than an actual scene), Clooney’s reprisal led many fans to speculate that he’d be returning as Bruce Wayne/Batman in a full-time capacity for a future DC Universe film. But now, the world-famous actor, who will never live down those rubber Bat-nipples, has finally put those rumors to bed.
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In a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight, the From Dusk till Dawn (1996) star was asked how his return in The Flash came about.
Clooney responded, saying, “Well, I thought there was such a clamor for me to come back,” before referencing the iconic rubber Bat-nipples, adding, “They [the filmmakers] were like, Can we do it without the rubber nipples?’ I was like, ‘Well, it’s not really my Batman, is it?'”
“Could they convince you again?” the interviewer asked him, to which Clooney bluntly (and jokingly) responded, “I don’t think there’s enough drugs in the world for me to go back there.”
You can watch the interview with Entertainment Tonight below:
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The Oscar-winning actor and director also discussed his tenure as Gotham’s crime-fighter on last week’s Jimmy Kimmel Live, during which he explained that his son is a big Batman fan. “How do you tell your six-year-old son that Batman had nipples?” he jokingly asked the host.
Clooney has apologized numerous times over the years for his involvement with Batman and Robin, which is widely hated mostly due to its cheesy, family-friendly tone, a jarring shift from Tim Burton’s quasi-gothic Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992).
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That said, the 1997 sequel has garnered something of a cult following over the years, with some viewing the film as an inoffensive flashy reboot of Adam West’s Batman. Either way, despite his brief return in The Flash, it looks like we’ll never Clooney respond to the Bat signal again.
It remains to be seen who will play Bruce Wayne/Batman in the upcoming DCU reboot, The Brave and the Bold (TBA), which is being helmed by The Flash director Andi Muschietti.
Would you like to see George Clooney reprise his role as Batman in a future DCU movie? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!