George Clooney sparks debate after claiming he was a better Batman than Ben Affleck

Jack Peat

‘He’s got nothing on me’

George Clooney reignited an age-old debate over which actor played Batman the best at the launch of a new film and television production school in Los Angeles.

The 61-year-old was cast in 1997’s Batman & Robin, a movie dubbed a “disaster” by Den Of Geek owing to its “terrible puns and those infamous Bat-nipples” in reference to the bizarre Batman outfit.

Clooney himself once joked that he helped to kill the franchise after the film was released, saying that could be why he was overlooked for The Flash, which stars Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton.

“They didn’t ask me,” Clooney said.

“When you destroy a franchise the way I did, usually they look the other way when ‘The Flash’ comes by.”

The actor also admitted that he doesn’t let his wife Amal watch the 1997 film, because he wants her to have “some respect” for him.

But he seemed to be more confident about his contribution to the Batman franchise in a recent talk at the newly-opened Roybal School of Film and Television Production Magnet in LA.

He said: “When you think of me you just think he’s just the best Batman.”

Fellow star Don Cheadle, who was also at the event, quipped back that he was only the ‘best available’ caped crusader they had.

Clooney joked back: “Ben Affleck, really? He’s got nothing on me.”

And George Clooney knows his audience so he even throws in a Batman reference. “When you think of me, you think he’s just the best Batman,” to which Don Cheadle quips, “best available.” Then Clooney brings up Ben Affleck as Batman — “He’s got nothing on me.” Crowd loved it. pic.twitter.com/ntO4gLxc8X

— Chris Gardner (@chrissgardner) September 14, 2022

According to GQ reports, Keanu Reeves could be next in line to play Batman.

Interviewed by Extra for new animated kids’ flick DC League of Super Pets, in which Reeves portrays a cartoonified Batman, he called the notion of playing Batman in a live-action movie a “dream,” continuing: “I love Batman, as a character… I love him in the comic books, in the films, so to get the opportunity to voice, to play Batman was awesome.”

He will join a long-list of high-profile actors to take the role.

Here’s how Den of Geek ranked actor’s contributions so far.