George Clooneymay have stepped back into Bruce Wayne’s shoes for a quick cameo inThe Flash, but don’t count on him to reprise The Dark Knight role on a grander scale. Before appearing in this year’s multiverse filmThe FlashasBatman, Clooney infamously portrayed the Caped Crusader in Joel Schumacher’s critically detested Batman & Robin. During a recent conversation with Entertainment Tonight during the premiere of his latest directorial effort, the sports biographical drama The Boys in the Boat, Clooney was asked how his briefThe Flashcameo transpired.
“There was such a clamor for me to come back as [Batman], as you know,” he joked. “I actually said, ‘Where are my rubber nipples?’ And they were like, ‘Can we do it without the rubber nipples?’ I was like, ‘Well, it’s not reallymyBatman, is it?'”
When the interviewer asked Clooney if he could be convinced to portrayBatmanfor a future film, he said:
“I don’t think there’s enough drugs in the world for me to go back there.”
Batman & Robinhas been a comical topic of conversation for the Academy Award-winning actor in recent years.Especially when it comes to the bat-nipples. Alongside Clooney, the 1997 film starred Chris O’Donnell as Robin, Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl, Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy, and Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze. Despite its talented cast, the Warner Bros. film failed to impress critics (it currently holds a lackluster 11% rating on Rotten Tomatoes), and didn’t fare much better with general audiences. In 2021, Clooney toldVarietythat he didn’t want his wife, Amal Clooney, to ever watch the film.
“There are certain films I just go, ‘I want my wife to have some respect for me,'” he said.
During the same interview, Clooney revealed that he had not been asked to appear inThe Flashas Bruce Wayne, adding:
“When you destroy a franchise the way I did, usually they look the other way.”
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George Clooney’s Role in the DC Multiverse
At some point following that interview, Clooney was invited to appear in the multiverse film; during the film’s closing scenes, he appearsalongside Adam West’s Batman, Christopher Reeve’s Superman, Helen Slater’s Supergirl, Nicolas Cage’s Superman, and others. The short cameo led to some speculation that maybe Clooney would make an attempt at redeeming his previous Dark Knight performance for the DCU’s upcoming Batman filmThe Brave and the Bold.While Clooney is very clear he does not want the role, another actor recently said he’d love to portray the character:Reacherstar Alan Ritchson.
Clooney will next star in Jon Watts’ psychological thrillerWolves, which follows two lone wolf fixers who are assigned to the same job. Clooney and Brad Pitt star in and co-produce the film. No release date has been announced.
The Boys in the Boat, directed and co-produced by Clooney, is a 1930s-set story centered on the University of Washington’s rowing team, from their Depression-era beginnings to winning gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. The film, starring Callum Turner and Joel Edgerton, will land in theaters on December 25. Check out the trailer below:
