Over the years, many actors have donned the dark bat cape of comic book avenger Batman. Christian Bale has become an integral part of the role in Christopher Nolan’s iconic Dark Knight trilogy, while Michael Keaton was in front of the camera for Tim Burton’s adaptation at the end of the 1980s and we saw Ben Affleck and Robert Pattinson in the role in more recent film adaptations.
But George Clooney also slipped into the role of the dark knight in 1997 under the direction of Joel Schumacher (Flatliners) and was alongside Uma Thurman and Arnold Schwarzenegger Batman & Robin to see – a decision that Clooney still speaks extremely badly about today. The Ocean’s 11 star revealed on The Graham Norton Show that for years he believed he had destroyed the franchise once and for all with his appearance.
George Clooney apologized to fans for Batman & Robin
As George Clooney explained in an interview, he had to interrupt his honeymoon in 2014 to make an appearance at ComicCon to promote his film Tomorrowland. There he promptly took advantage of the opportunity to apologize to the fans for Batman & Robin – which also has an underground score of 12 percent positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes:
I always apologize for Batman & Robin. […] Let me put it this way, I really thought I had destroyed the franchise until someone else brought it back in a completely different way years later. At the time, I thought it was a really good career decision. Well, it wasn’t.
Warner Bros.
Alicia Silverstone, George Clooney and Chris O’Donnell in Batman & Robin
In fact, George Clooney returned to the big screen as the dark knight a full 26 years after his Batman performance and had a guest appearance in the DC flop The Flash in 2023. However, this was a one-time thing for Clooney – he revealed last December that it was “not enough drugs in the world” would give to get him to make a bigger return as Batman.
Where can you watch Batman & Robin?
If you want to see for yourself George Clooney’s career slip-up, then you currently have the chance to do so on Amazon Prime Video. There you can find Batman & Robin for free with a streaming subscription.
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