George Clooney Pokes Fun At Ben Affleck's Batman

To play the role of Bruce Wayne's Batman in any capacity during an actor's career, whether live-action or voiced in an animated series, is often life-changing. Batman is one of the most popular comic book characters to ever exist, and thanks to some actors and filmmakers, many fans have been able to grow up with at least one particular actor playing a version of Batman in a blockbuster film. For some, it's Michael Keaton's version of the character from the late '80s and early '90s in "Batman" and "Batman Returns." For others, Christian Bale is and always will be Batman because of director Christopher Nolan and his trilogy of "Batman Begins," "The Dark Knight," and "The Dark Knight Rises." Now, Robert Pattinson is taking his shot at making history with "The Batman" and its now-approved sequel (via Deadline).

Of course, these are the three versions of Batman that are relatively held with overall positivity among most fans of the character. Aside from Val Kilmer's short stint as Batman in 1995's "Batman Forever," it's no secret that the Batmen surrounded by the most controversy are George Clooney from 1997's "Batman & Robin" and Ben Affleck with "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," "Justice League" and other DCEU projects.

It's clear Clooney's Batman will not be returning anytime soon after the poor reviews and the bat-nipples. However, with Affleck's return in "The Flash" alongside Keaton, Clooney has taken the opportunity to poke fun at Affleck's version of the character.

During a recent event hosted by Roybal Film & TV Magnet that George Clooney attended, the actor jokingly claimed that he's the best to play Batman. The Hollywood Reporter's Chris Gardner was sitting in the crowd and took to Twitter as Clooney addressed his audience, saying, "When you think of me, you think, 'He's just the best Batman of all time.'" The crowd proceeded to laugh and comment. After Clooney looked to fellow celebrity attendee Don Cheadle for confirmation, Cheadle quickly remarked, "best available," and said his preference is Ben Affleck's version. Clooney continued, "Ben Affleck, really? No, he's got nothing on me." This isn't the first time Clooney has poked fun at himself or his portrayal in "Batman & Robin," as he has even gone as far as to say that the film physically hurts him (via "The Howard Stern Show").

For some fans, however, "Batman & Robin" is starting to age well as a sort of '90s cult classic with its vibrant and visual dystopian Gotham City (via Reddit). It is interesting that after "The Flash," there will be three current Batmen in Affleck, Michael Keaton, and Robert Pattinson. Val Kilmer is open to returning as well, leaving just Christian Bale, although he recently explained that he would only return if Christopher Nolan wanted to tell another story with him as the character (via Screen Rant).