Andy Muschietti’s upcoming DCEU movie The Flash, is set to see multiple Batman actors collide on screen. The likes of Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton are set to reprise their role as Bruce Wayne. However, one Caped Crusader alumnus won’t be appearing in the superhero movie – George Clooney.
In an interview with People, while promoting his drama movie The Tender Bar, Clooney confirmed that he wouldn’t be joining the cast of The Flash, admitting that the choice was likely due to his performance in the 1997 movie Batman and Robin. “I did one superhero movie, and I fucked it up so bad they won’t let me near the set,” he explained.
The ’90s action movie revolves around the hero and his sidekick Robin (Chris O’Donnell) battling against the classic Batman villains Mr Freeze (Arnold Schwarzenegger), Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman), and Bane (Robert Swenson). But despite sporting some of Gotham’s favourite characters, the flick was a massive failure and still holds the title of the worst-grossing Batman movie in the hero’s history.
While the film was a bomb all around, the experience did manage to give Clooney some perspective about his career, as he admits that his mistakes in the superhero film helped him in picking future roles.
“It had been a year, I’d gotten killed for doing Batman and Robin, and I understood for the first time,” he said to The Hollywood Reporter. “Because quite honestly, when I got Batman and Robin, I was just an actor getting an acting job, and I was excited to play Batman.”
“What I realised after that was that I was going to be held responsible for the movie itself, not just my performance or what I was doing,” Clooney continued. “So I knew I needed to focus on better scripts; the script was the most important thing.”
“You can’t make a good film out of a bad script; it’s impossible. You can make a bad film out of a good script.”
Clooney’s philosophy from Batman and Robin has seemingly worked. Since his blunder as Gotham’s hero, the star has gone on to win multiple Academy Awards and Golden Globes for his acting gigs such as Argo, and Syriana.
Still, we can’t help but think that it may be time that Clooney gets a crack at his Batman redemption story too, but that is just wishful thinking on our part!