Over the decades of the character’s existence in pop culture, several actors have got the opportunity to don the mantle of the caped crusader on the big screen. Although it’s hard to pick who did Batman best, as most of them are great and iconic in their respective manners, it’s unanimously known that George Clooney’s iteration of the character onscreen was the weakest.
Although the failure behind Batman & Robin boils down to the writing and Joel Schumacher’s campy vision for the character, Clooney has once again registered himself in another box-office bomb as Batman.
George Clooney registers an unwanted record as Batman
Even though it can’t be said for sure whether a movie will always work if Batman is in it, one thing that is almost guaranteed is the film’s box-office success following the popularity of the character. However, in George Clooney‘s case, the formula didn’t sit well the first time and it appears history is repeating itself again. Following his comeback in the highly anticipated The Flash, unlike the early predictions, The Flash is having a hard time at the box office, which might be the result of the controversies behind the screen.
But unfortunately for Clooney, The Flash bombing at the box office, makes him the first Caped Crusader that has been attached to two box-office bombs, despite the inclusion of Batman. However, the situation isn’t as bad with The Flash as the film is still garnering rave reviews from many fans despite some of its flaws, but last time Clooney had to apologize to fans.
George Clooney kept on apologizing for Batman & Robin
Fortunately this time, George Clooney isn’t the center of attention when it comes to the major factors that lead to The Flash‘s struggling run at the box office, which is currently sitting at around $210.9M. But at the time of Batman & Robin‘s failure with $238M, which almost killed the IP for years, George Clooney took responsibility and apologized for the disastrous film. Considering Joel Schumacher took his campy approach with Batman & Robin to an extreme, which was widely different from Tim Burton’s take on the character, it’s reasonable to see why Clooney kept on apologizing. He stated,
“I always apologize. They say that I actually thought I destroyed the franchise until they brought it back. You know they’d somebody else brought it back years later and changed it”
Although it’s hard to see George Clooney’s return to the screen as Batman being overshadowed by the controversies surrounding Miller, on the bright side, it finally ended DCEU’s struggling run. But fans are happy after learning the reports of Christian Bale reportedly rejecting the offer to return in The Flash, which might’ve tarnished the legacy of Christopher Nolan’s TDK trilogy.
The Flash is currently running in theatres
