George Clooney and Matt Damon on Ben Affleck as Batman

George Clooney as Batman

As reported in Empire Magazine via Hollywood Backwash George Clooney was asked to comment on Ben Affleck's casting as Batman saying...

"I am the least qualified person to comment on anyone playing the role of Batman since I so terribly destroyed the part. I tend to look at it like this — let’s just see what the movie is before everyone starts beating him up, he is a smart man, he knows what he is doing."

Anyone who own's the DVD of Batman and Robin will have seen the included documentary, with George's humorously self depreciating reflections on how he ruined the Batman franchise, however, in my opinion, of all the things wrong with the film, George really wasn't one of them.

In a 2011 interview with Total Film Clooney had this to say about his turn as the Batman...

"Batman is still the biggest break I ever had and it completely changed my career, even if it was weak and I was weak in it. It was a difficult film to be good in. I don’t know what I could have done differently. But if I am going to be Batman in the film Batman & Robin, I can’t say it didn’t work and then not take some of the blame for that."

I'd have to agree with him (except about him being weak in the movie). His career certainly didn't tank after doing the film. If I remember rightly it was a real stepping stone for him from TV fame to Movie Star fame. Not to mention, after years of Christian Bale's Batman, it's so nice to revisit a Batman who you don't need a translator to understand what he's saying.

Also according to his Total Film interview George was really excited to land the role of Batman. It's kind of a shame the film's legacy means he's remembered as the worst Batman when really he wasn't. Kind of like how Ryan Reynolds gets a bad rap for Green Lantern even though he wasn't the reason for that movie's failure.

Ben Affleck's long time friend Matt Damon some time ago also commented about Ben's casting to the Times of India saying:

"I think it will be great. It will be terrific. I know there are a lot of people grousing on the internet. I just think it’s kind of funny. You know, he’s not playing King Lear. It’s Batman! [That's] certainly within his skill set. If anybody saw ‘Argo’ or ‘The Town,’ and all the work he’s been doing lately, it’s way more nuanced and interesting and way more difficult than Batman! Batman just sits there with his cowl over his head and whispers in a kinda gruff voice at people. Bruce Wayne is the more challenging part of the role, and Ben will be great at that."

One thing that puzzles me is that many die hard Batman fans also share the same sentiment... Bruce Wayne is the more challenging part of the role. I have to disagree.

What's difficult about playing a millionaire playboy with a tragic upbringing and a dark secret? I'm not saying it's a walk in the park to play but it's hardly the stretch from reality that Batman is.

Not only do you have to convince everyone that dressing as a giant bat is a valid crime fighting outfit that's going to scare criminals, you then have to come across as a force of nature and a brilliant detective... brains and the brawn all in one person.

On top of that, no one is going to see the movie to see how Ben play's Bruce Wayne. Something as inconsequential as 'nipples on the Batsuit', or a gravelly, almost unintelligible voice can kill anything else that was really good about that version of Batman.

You know, the first time Ben's on screen as Batman everyone is going to be dialed right in waiting to hear him speak. I really hope he's been getting advice from Kevin Conroy, a fan favorite Batman voice from many animated incarnations of Batman. Listen to what Kevin had to say about Christian Bale's Batman voice in the video below.

Kevin Smith

Kevin Smith recently commented in one of his podcasts that he'd seen the Bat suit that Ben will be wearing (with Ben in it) and, knowing what a Batman fan he is, praised it highly saying it's like nothing you've ever seen in a movie yet.

It's said that Kevin elaborated further by saying the suit was inspired by comic book artist, Jim Lee's version of the suit (however this was bleeped out on the podcast recording). Which I take to mean it's probably a grey and black suit more like the comics and not likely the blue and grey suit (which looks great in a comic but a little cheesy in live action).

Anyway, getting back on track, if the suit's as good as Kevin says it is, all the pressure on Ben will be for the voice. Get that right and it'll all be down to the script and Ben's acting ability.

I suspect this article has become something of a ramble that's lost much of it's focus so I'll finish with this...

I liked George Clooney's Batman. Of all the Batman films so far, Batman and Robin is the one that is most friendly to a younger audience who didn't get to grow up with Adam West's Batman like I did. It's silly and over the top but it's also a lot of fun. However it's still not Batman.

Christian Bale wasn't even my Batman, though everything around him was very much how a Batman movie should be in my head.

After a few months of absorbing Ben's casting as Batman I'm no longer nervously optimistic. I'm just looking forward to seeing a new Batman that hopefully is different to any on screen Batman I've seen thus far.

Comments

James Gunn's Social Media Monkeys Joke Was a Highlight of His Superman Movie For Me

B efore James Gunn's Superman Movie was released there was a whole rumor going around that the movie would feature monkeys on computers trolling Superman's social media, sparking much outrage. #supersh*t. I didn't know this was even a thing until just prior to writing this article. I did a search to see if anyone had posted a clip of the monkeys scene from the movie and got pages of discourse featuring videos and articles prior to the film. Most of it from Gunn detractors (let's say) seeing it as some kind of childish swipe at them... well not them specifically but, you know, those other people who have every right to hate on anything sight unseen. Anyway, I'm not going to give even one such example a link or air because it's kind of sad watching someone devote so much commentary to a throw away gag that is absolutely a nod to James Gunn's Superman trolls. The whole reason this post exists, is to say I loved the joke, because fourteen years ago, and I...

How to Transfer Any Line Art to Your Griptape - Easy Skateboard Griptape Art Tutorial

Dog Star Griptape Art by TET Griptape art is once again gaining popularity amongst modern skateboarders. For those of us who have tried to create our own griptape art, using paint pens, you'll know reproducing your design onto the grip, without making any mistakes is incredibly challenging. Mostly because you just have to go for it and draw the design freehand, with paint pens, directly onto the griptape. You can make the odd mistake here or there but if you get the proportions of the design completely wrong, it can be very difficult to fix. Often you just have to live with the mistake. To address the problem I've come up with an easy way anyone can transfer a line art design to their griptape, removing almost all the anxiety of getting the proportions wrong. In fact, you could do this with any line art design, even if you have no drawing skill at all. Watch the video below to see my technique in action and/or skip past the video where I highlight the basic steps to get your de...

Is AI Art 'Art'? The Say NO to AI Art Movement, and Why Human Artists Will Adapt

AI Art No T-Shirt by TET Also available on other items . Right now there is a big debate over not just whether AI art is 'art' but whether AI's are actually ripping off the work of actual human artists, without their consent, to create their images - particularly images 'in the style of' specific artists. From my own observations this debate started to get more traction when artist's signatures began appearing in the output of AI Art image generators. Is It Art? Cool Froyd the Cat Sketch by TET. My style is very much influenced by classic Disney and WB character styles. To get some clarity on how real human artists work (of which I am one)... we, that is all of us... take influences from the art that has come before. i.e. whatever artists we like, have studied, seen etc. we are influenced by. It shows up in our work, intentionally or not. If you really study my own cartoony art style you'll see I'm heavily influenced by early Disney and Warner Bros cart...

I'm Joining the Illuminati Brotherhood By Personal Invitation of Hiltom Rothschild... Wait, What?

How special am I to have finally come of age (53 years young) and am now eligible to participate in building the world alongside other members of the Illuminati Brotherhood... Yes I've received the call by way of an email, which I'm sure is real because I had to translate it from the Dutch language and it was personally written by Hiltom Rothschild, one of the non-existent members of the Rothschild family (or perhaps deep undercover because Google has never heard of them?). A Transcript of the email below: To: etourist From: Illuminati Brotherhood Subject: Illuminati Broederschap (Illuminati Brotherhood) I am Hiltom Rothschild, a member of the Rothschild family, one of the 13 families of the Illuminati brotherhood. I'm here to let you know that you've come of age and are eligible to participate in building the 🌎 world. It is a calling and a privilege to honor him with pride and gratitude as not everyone will ever be chosen by the LIGHT, many are called but few are ch...

Skateboarders Who Ever Dreamed of Dropping In on a City Building - Sandro Dias Just Lived Your Dream

Dias's drop-in from one of the lower platforms for practice. Image: © Marcelo Maragni/Red Bull I f you're a skateboarder living in a city you've probably looked at a building that has skate ramp vibes and imagined dropping in on it... well Professional Skateboarder, Sandro Dias didn't just imagine. The Perth Telstra Building as depicted in this fantasy poster print, Forbidden Skate Ramp by Harry Young. If you lived in Perth, Western Australia, any skateboarder who saw the top of the Telstra Building likely had the same thought about the ramp like quarter pipe at the top. Also, back in the day there was a classic skateboarding poster going the rounds that depicted Sydney as a literal skatepark with ramps built up, down, and over numerous buildings. Sandro Dias, who broke the record for the world's tallest drop-in on the 26th September 2025 by dropping in on a mega ramp built on the side of the curved façade of the 22-storey Centro Administrativo Fernando Ferrari (C...

The Worst Book I Have Ever Read - Gulp: Travels Around the Gut by Mary Roach

TET and Mary Roach's Book, Gulp . I 'm the kind of person who only reads one physical book at a time. For context I consider a 'book' to be anything over 100 pages of mostly text. Basically your typical work of fiction novel or factual biography. It's not that I can't read more than one book at a time, I just choose not to because I don't set a lot of time aside for reading. Maybe 30 minutes a day when I'm on a good run with a really engaging text. Little did I know that Mary Roach's Gulp: Travels Around the Gut *, a book of 317 pages (minus the Acknowledgments and Bibliography) would become a bottle neck for my reading for the next three and a half years. As such, I'm calling it the worst book I have ever read. Despite how long it took me to read, it is not a bad book in the slightest, and is in fact, quite light, somewhat entertaining, reading for a book that explores the science, and the resilience of the human digestive system. I'm no st...

LEIF Tech ESnowboard - It's an Electric RipStik with Training Wheels... and I want one!

The LEIF Tech ESnowboard , whilst it moves a lot like a snowboard, is really more related to a RipStik combined with an Electric Skateboard . Granted the hooks for your feet on the top are very snowboard like, they're not entirely essential (and it's recommended beginners remove them until they're used to general riding around). That said, watching someone fully proficient with riding a LEIF ESnowboard is kind of like watching a snowboarder riding on concrete in the Summertime... and it looks like so much fun.

TET.Life (The Extraordinary Tourist Life)

Search This Blog