In the summer of 1997 Batman & Robin hit the screens, and throngs of Caped Crusader fans hustled to get their tickets. It boasted an all-star cast including George Clooney as our mysterious masked hero, Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze, Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy, Chris O’Donnell as Robin and Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl. Joel Schumacher would be wielding his talents as director. He would be teaming up with writer Akiva Goldsman once again, after their critically-acclaimed blockbuster A Time to Kill knocked audiences out the year before.
The fans and the franchise needed a win after the lackluster Batman Forever, starring Val Kilmer replacing Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne/Batman, alongside Tommy Lee Jones as Harvey Two-Face, Jim Carrey as Riddler, Nicole Kidman as Dr. Chase Meridian and Drew Barrymore as Sugar.
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Enter Batman & Robin. The premise was promising. The film finds Batman (George Clooney) and his partner, Robin (Chris O’Donnell), attempting to foil the sinister schemes of a deranged set of new villains, most notably the melancholy Mr. Freeze (Arnold Schwarzenegger), who wants to make Gotham into an arctic region, and the sultry Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman), a plant-loving femme fatale. As the Dynamic Duo contends with these bad guys, a third hero, Batgirl (Alicia Silverstone), joins the ranks of the city’s crime-fighters.
Its claim to fame in the franchise would be the lowest box office of all the Batman movies ever made. It also boasts a whopping 12% on Rotten Tomatoes. The reviews were too painful to read. So, when asked about returning to DC as Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton have returned for The Flash, he responded,”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.”
“He won’t let me watch it,” Clooney’s wife Amal chimes in. George explained, “There are certain films I just go, ‘I want my wife to have some respect for me.'” Amal says the children will one day want to watch it, George countered, “It’s bad when your four-year-old kid goes, ‘This sucks.’ That could be painful.”
Andy Muschietti is directing The Flash using a screenplay by Christina Hodson. The movie is a part of the DCEU, meaning it’s set in a universe where Ben Affleck has already been established as Batman. Michael Keaton’s appearance as Batman is set to happen in the same movie. Ezra Miller Will be our Barry Allen/The Flash. No plot details have been given, but a slew of rumors surround the project.
Now if Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton can be worked into The Flash, that leaves the whole thing wide open for others to pop in. Maybe they’ll squeeze in one of those mid-credit surprises, and there we’ll see Mr. Clooney all latex suited up? Tell me that wouldn’t be hysterical. The Flash is scheduled to be released in the United States on November 4, 2022. This news originated at Variety.
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