George Clooney and Ben Affleck recently collaborated on upcoming literary adaptation The Tender Bar, with the former naming the latter as the best director he’s ever worked with. The two A-listers clearly struck up a bond, and you’d expect that their conversations may have turned to Batman on more than one occasion.
After all, Clooney famously warned Affleck about signing on to play the Caped Crusader in the first place, after his one-and-done outing in Batman & Robin went down in history as one of the worst comic book adaptations ever made. In fact, Joel Schumacher’s Bruce Wayne remains profusely apologetic about it to this day.
The DCEU’s canonical Dark Knight will make his hotly-anticipated return in The Flash, with Michael Keaton also along for the ride as the franchise doubles down on the multiverse. In a new interview with Variety, Clooney explained why he wasn’t asked to be part of the Scarlet Speedster’s standalone feature debut.
“They didn’t ask me. When you destroy a franchise the way I did, usually they look the other way when The Flash comes by. There are certain films I just go, ‘I want my wife to have some respect for me’.”
His only effort under the cape and cowl may have sucked, but fans would more than likely be thrilled if Clooney were to make a surprise cameo in The Flash, but this isn’t the first time he’s completely laughed it off. Affleck and Keaton are more than enough, but it’s incredible to think that next year marks the 25th anniversary of Batman & Robin, and Clooney still can’t escape being asked about it everywhere he goes despite all the success he’s enjoyed since.