Once upon a time, George Clooney played Batman in the infamous Batman and Robin in 1997, almost two decades before Ben Affleck played the Dark Knight in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. 25 years later, Clooney still remembers when he played Batman in a film that is considered the most damaging movie to Batman's reputation and almost killed the superhero genre.
In light of Affleck returning as Batman in Aquaman 2, Clooney joked that he was the better Batman compared to Affleck at the Roybal Film and Television Magnet down in Los Angeles. This was all in spite of Clooney being commonly recognized as the worst Batman on film.
"When you think of actors, you don't really think of education in general. You look at me, you think, 'Oh he's just the best Batman!'" Clooney joked to The Hollywood Reporter, leading the audience to roar in laughter. Clooney then brought up Affleck, who has recently agreed to come back to play Batman. "Ben Affleck's the best Batman? Maybe the best available? Ben Affleck, really? He's got nothing on me!" which led to more laughs in the crowd.
The irony here, besides the obvious, is that both of the films that Clooney and Affleck starred in as Batman were widely panned, though their performances as the DC icon were received differently by audiences. The consensus agreed that Affleck was the best part of an overstuffed film whose lack of quality had nothing to do with him, while Clooney was lambasted for not fitting his role as Batman, though audiences definitely believed his performance as Bruce Wayne. While Clooney rebounded from the flop that was Batman and Robin, Affleck was so highly praised as Batman despite the poor reception to Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice that Warner Brothers has brought him back for future installments.
Kudos to Clooney for having a sense of humor about how bad Batman and Robin was as a whole. Of course, it's easier to joke about your bad film roles when it didn't affect your career as a movie star in the slightest. Clooney still went on to be a movie star throughout the late 1990s and 2000s. The same could not be said about some of his co-stars like Chris O'Donnell and Alicia Silverstone. While the two remained in Hollywood, they were rising stars before Batman and Robin stopped all of that. While fans routinely blame the gone but not forgotten Joel Schumacher for how it turned, he was just a company guy. The movie did not work because Warner Bros. primarily focused on trying to promote its toy line rather than make an enjoyable movie for fans.
That also goes to show how much different the game has gotten with superhero movies. While yes, movie studios primarily focus on promoting toys for kids with their superhero movies, they make much more of an effort to create an enjoyable film for fans as well. Take the most recent iteration of Gotham's Caped Crusader, The Batman. That movie was excellent, and better yet, despite what's already been covered in previous Batman movies, they managed to find something new. Who knows, with all the actors who have played Batman since 1989, fans may very well get a Batman multiverse movie. If Andrew Garfield can redeem his Spider-Man movies with Spider-Man: No Way Home, maybe Clooney can do the same if he got the chance.
Batman and Robin and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice can currently be streamed on HBO Max.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter/Twitter