George Clooney has been many things in his career, an Oscar-winning actor and producer, a nominated director, and a humanitarian. However, one thing he could not pull off was being a successful Batman. While he was perfect on paper for the role of the vigilante, the odds were stacked against him as he was cast in Joel Schumacher’s Batman & Robin.
The film has received extremely negative reviews and led to the reboot of the franchise with Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins. However, the actor seems to have found one fan in Josh Brolin, who played Cable in Deadpool 2 and Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. He was reportedly also up for Batman in the DCEU, which Ben Affleck played.
Josh Brolin Defended George Clooney’s Portrayal Of Batman
On paper, George Clooney’s casting as Bruce Wayne a.k.a Batman was perfect. A billionaire orphan who plays the role of a playboy in public to hide his vigilantism in the dark. Clooney replaced Val Kilmer in Batman & Robin after the latter exited from the franchise after Batman Forever. Hence, Clooney had to build on Kilmer’s character instead of making it his own.
Batman & Robin has often been considered to be one of the worst films in the franchise. The campyness that made Tim Burton’s films classics seemed to have amped up in Joel Schumacher’s world and people were just not fans of that style. The film’s disappointing box office returns also led to the studio canceling a sequel and rebooting the franchise.
While the world is thankful for the reboot which gave Christian Bale’s more broody and serious Batman, George Clooney reportedly had one fan who approved of his portrayal. Josh Brolin mentioned in the Happy, Sad, and Confused podcast that he spoke to Clooney when Brolin was being tapped to play Batman in the DCEU. He said,
By the way, who I didn’t think was bad, but you know, you talk to Clooney and he’s still joking about it. It wasn’t his fault. He loves the nipple jokes and that was all Joel. But, you know, he didn’t do anything wrong.
While George Clooney has since apologized to the fans for ruining the character, he reprised his role in a cameo in last year’s The Flash. However, the actor-director mentioned that he would never return again and that there were not enough d*ugs in the world to make him (via ET).
Josh Brolin Hated The Backlash Ben Affleck Received As Batman
Before Ben Affleck became the Batman of the DCEU, Zack Snyder had reportedly spoken to Josh Brolin about donning the cape and cowl. Brolin confirmed the rumors on multiple occasions, despite clarifying that he was not sure how much of a chance he had in the running. He mentioned that Snyder had approached him as they were looking at an older Batman. Brolin revealed in the Happy, Sad, and Confused podcast,
Something that is set up to not work at all, or to work flyingly — I like those odds. I like playing with those odds. I’m like, ‘Am I the guy who’s gonna make it all fail?’…It would have been the older, more raspy, for lack of a better word. Honestly, that would have been a fun deal, and maybe I’ll do it when I’m 80.
However, he reportedly supported Snyder’s decision to go with Ben Affleck, who was only four years younger than him. Josh Brolin also mentioned that he was angry at the fans for the way they responded to Affleck’s casting as Batman. Ben Affleck’s selection was not met with the fanfare that anyone expected, especially due to his track record in Daredevil.
Fans reportedly created online petitions with thousands of signatures to persuade WB against casting Affleck. Josh Brolin mentioned to MTV News (via CBM) that he was angry for the Argo star as he received so much flack even before the film was released. He said,
Ben’s got so much flak from this, I actually got angry for him, not at him. Everyone else is angry at him! I’m really curious to see what he does and what Zack does. I’ll see the movie. I’ll be a fan to see whatever version they’re going to do. But how do you bring up a movie that Ben did 10 or 15 years ago and…I mean, c’mon, the guy has grown and matured, and just look at the work he’s doing now. I’m going to defend him literally until death!
Ben Affleck’s performance ended up receiving mostly positive responses after the release of Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Batman & Robin is streaming on Max.
