When George Clooney Took A Sarcastic Dig At Ben Affleck, “He Screwed Up The Batman Franchise…” Breaking Silence On Reuniting With Him For A Film After 9 Years! (Picture Credit: Wikimedia & IMDB)
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Multiple stars have portrayed the Batman character in DCU from Val Kilmer to Ben Affleck. They have brought us unforgettable moments, remarkable characters, and enduring movies. George Clooney was also another actor who played the role years ago in Batman & Robin.
The 1997 film fell short in terms of box office earnings and left fans with a bitter experience. Clooney has remained apologetic about the film’s outcome and even went so far as to compensate people monetarily for their displeasure with the movie.
George Clooney frequently employs sarcasm when discussing the film. On one occasion, he playfully teased his close friend and the current Batman, Ben Affleck. During an interview with Variety, the “Ocean’s Eleven” actor humorously questioned why he wasn’t invited to reprise his role as Batman in the standalone Flash movie, despite the fact that he knew it wasn’t the case.
Nine years later, in 2021, George Clooney and Ben Affleck reunited as a duo in the film “The Tender Bar,” with Clooney directing Affleck. Prior to this, their last collaboration was in “Argo” in 2012. During an interview with Variety, Clooney humorously detailed the reasons behind the nine-year gap before they joined forces for another project. Clooney said, “Ben Affleck screwed up the Batman franchise that I made so solid.”
Ben Affleck assumed the role of Batman in the 2016 movie Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the 2017 film Justice League, and the 2021 release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League. His portrayal as Batman garnered a mixed reception from audiences. George Clooney expressed his perspective on why he believed he wouldn’t be involved in Andy Muschietti’s DCEU standalone film, The Flash.
When inquired about his absence from the film, he humorously remarked to Variety, “They didn’t ask me. When you destroy a franchise the way I did, usually they look the other way when ‘The Flash’ comes by. Surprisingly, George Clooney made a cameo appearance in the 2023 DC film The Flash, revisiting his character as Bruce Wayne / Batman from the 1997 film Batman & Robin. Clooney’s cameo occurs towards the end of the film, following Barry Allen’s (Ezra Miller) resetting of the timeline and the creation of a new DC Universe. In this fresh universe, Clooney takes over the role of Bruce Wayne, which was originally portrayed by Ben Affleck.
In Batman & Robin, Clooney grappled with an inadequately written script and an overly campy tone that diverged from the tone of the entire franchise. The film proved to be a substantial box office letdown, generating a mere $238.2 million worldwide in contrast to its $160 million production budget.
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