George Clooney Finally Clarifies Batman Suit Nipples

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Jason is an award-winning journalist whose writing career dates back to when he developed the ability to use a crayon. He, most notably, worked previously as a "professional fan," as he likes to call it, at CinemaBlend, for which he wrote about anything and everything under the pop culture umbrella... especially Batman. His passion for the art of cinema began even earlier, stemming from repeat viewings of The Wizard of Oz.
This initially led him to pursue a career in filmmaking -- and even work briefly in the industry as an extra in the straight-to-video family film, Alice Upside Down -- before deciding that his talents would be better served discussing and showing appreciation for the various forms of entertainment he is passionate about.

There are many reasons why Batman & Robin is among the most reviled superhero movies of all time. Yet, the one detail that has caused the most controversy would have to be the fake nipples included on George Clooney's Batsuit.

However, Clooney has offered a long-awaited explanation regarding the purpose of the maligned Batnipples.

You know, Batman has nipples, dude. He has nipples. How do you think he feeds the children? The little bats. So, I don't want to hear any more bulls---.

This gut-busting address to the many people who have ranked director Joel Schumacher's 1997 DC Comics adaptation at the bottom of their live-action Batman movies list comes from Clooney's episode of Variety's popular "Do They Know Their Lines?" series on YouTube. After intentionally incorrectly guessing that the quote "This is why Superman works alone" originates from Fantastic Mr. Fox, the actor then goes on a pro-Batman & Robin rant, in which he even touts that he is the best live-action Batman actor.

Of course, the Academy Award winner is clearly making this claim purely in jest, based on the many disparaging comments he has made about his superhero movie before. Just this past November, Clooney recalled telling his son, who went trick-or-treating as The Dark Knight for Halloween, that he used to be Batman. When the boy replied, "Not really," the actor told him, "You have no idea how right you are."

Clooney has also admitted that he believed he was making the right choice for his career when he agreed to don the cape and cowl, alongside Chris O'Donnell as Robin, Alicia Silverstone's Batgirl, Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze and Uma Thurman's Poison Ivy. Unfortunately, the overwhelmingly negative reception to the campy, cartoonish and nonsensical Batman & Robin proved otherwise.

George Clooney Hated Wearing His Batman Costume

George Clooney in costume from Batman and Robin

Apparently, the nipples were not even the worst thing about the Batsuit for George Clooney. The actor also reveals in that same video for Variety that wearing his Batman & Robin costume was a "painful" experience in the literal sense of the phrase.

It was not the most fun shoot, because of the suit. It was a very painful suit, and you couldn't move.

The star of Netflix's Jay Kelly goes on to describe a moment from behind the scenes when, while in full costume, he was being laid down on a board and then propped up to speak one line before Schumacher said, "Cut." From that point, he had to be carried away from the set on the board.

Clooney then mentions that, looking back, said moment should have been enough to help him realize that Batman & Robin was destined to earn a reputation as one of the most unwatchable comic book movies of the 1990s.

Then again, the live-action Batman suits have a history of being particularly challenging for the actors inside of them. For instance, Michael Keaton, in addition to being visibly unable to turn his head, recalls being forced to communicate non-verbally with director Tim Burton and others on the set of 1989's Batman, as the cowl left him unable to hear.

Clooney's friend and collaborator Ben Affleck, whose own portrayal of The Dark Knight in the DC Extended Universe was met with a polarizing reception, was also very outspoken about how there was "no thought put into the human being" for the design of his "horrendous" Batsuit. His successor, The Batman star Robert Pattinson, is one of the first actors to find some actual comfort in his costume, which was designed with maneuverability in mind, and thankfully so, with how often the Good Time actor is seen wearing it.

Of course, the fact that Pattinson's Batsuit design does not include fake nipples is certainly a plus. Batman & Robin is streaming on HBO Max.