The Flash is DC and WBD’s latest theatrical offering. The Ezra Miller-led and Andy Muschietti-directed film will be released soon in theaters, and hype for the film is high.
After all, the trailers have revealed the presence of two Barry Allens/ Flashs, one Supergirl, a faceless Superman, and two Batmen. The first trailer showed that apart from Michael Keaton’s Batman, Ben Affleck’s dark knight would also appear.
However, since then, multiple rumors and speculations have confirmed the presence of another Batman, although his version is less acclaimed than the other two- George Clooney’s Batman. It’s confirmed that Clooney’s dark knight, who first appeared in the Batman & Robin (1997) film directed by Joel Schumacher, will appear at the very end of The Flash.
So is Clooney’s Gotham Knight the new Batman of James Gunn’s DCU?
After all, before Gunn and Peter Safran took over the reins of the DC franchise, Michael Keaton would have been the new Batman after Ben Affleck. He was going to begin his tenure by mentoring Leslie Grace’s Batgirl. But obviously, that film got shelved. But is Gunn planning on doing something similar with Clooney?
Warning: The article contains spoilers for The Flash
No, George Clooney isn’t the new Batman of the DCU, even though he appears in The Flash. It’s just a cameo appearance meant to evoke nostalgia. It’s not an indication of James Gunn’s plans regarding the character. The DC Studios co-CEO has confirmed that a new actor will play Batman in the DCU.
Is George Clooney DCU’s New Batman?
In The Flash, Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen changes the timeline multiple times. Initially, he does it to save his mother, Nora Allen, but he repeatedly breaks the timeline to save his friends from death too. Ultimately, he runs one last time to set things right and almost puts everything back as it was. Almost. It turns out that not everything is as it was before.
The Ben Affleck version of Batman gets replaced with George Clooney’s version. Barry is shocked to see Clooney’s Batman because he hasn’t seen him before. As such, Miller’s Flash has technically altered the time or rebooted it and erased Ben Affleck’s and Michael Keaton’s Batmen. So the only Batman left is Clooney. As such, fans are asking online if he’s the Gotham knight who will appear in the DCU.
The answer is no. George Clooney and his version of Batman won’t have a place in the DCU beyond the cameo appearance. James Gunn himself confirmed this. One fan asked the DCU boss:
“Is it true you’re casting George Clooney as the new main DCU Batman?”
He replied, “Absolutely not” to this. Gunn further reiterated that a new actor would play the character, which he had clarified before. Here’s the tweet:
As such, it’s only a sweet cameo in a film that features a boatload of other nostalgic appearances. Even Christopher Reeve was animated to appear as Superman again, a decision that has drawn mixed reactions across the table.
George Clooney on Playing Batman
The 1997 Batman & Robin is almost unanimously considered one of the worst Batman films ever to grace the franchise. Much of the criticism has been directed towards the movie’s campiness, especially the suits with the infamous nipples on them. However, Clooney has taken all the complaints on the chin with self-deprecating humor.
In an interview with GQ, he said:
“Like, when I say Batman & Robin’s a terrible film, I always go, ‘I was terrible in it. Because I was number one.’ Having said I sucked in it, I can also say that none of these other elements worked, either.’ You know? Lines like ‘Freeze, Freeze!'”
So would Clooney like to have another shot at Batman? It doesn’t look like he would be interested in playing the character again because of how much the failure of Batman & Robin jeopardized his career. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he said:
“I was playing Batman and I wasn’t good in it, and it wasn’t a good film. What I learned from that failure was I had to rethink how I was working. Because now I wasn’t just an actor getting a role, I was being held responsible for the film itself.”
In fact, his career had almost stalled till Steven Soderbergh revived it with 1998’s Out of Sight. Clooney also stated that he even tried to dissuade the other actors from taking up the role because of how it could affect their careers if things went downhill. As such, the cameo is just a little wink to audiences and doesn’t mean anything more for the DCU’s future.
So what are your thought on George Clooney’s return as Batman?
Would you like to see him take on the role of Batman in the DCU? Or did James Gunn make the right decision by casting someone new?
Let us know in the comments below.
Source: James Gunn, THR, and GQ
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