Nope, Clooney was not asked back to reprise his role as the caped crusader in 'The Flash', and he says its because he "destroyed" the franchise.

George Clooney, unsurprisingly, is rather embarrassed about his time as Batman. 'Batman & Robin', though it has a cult following, is far and wide known as the worst iteration of the comic book character on screen. Even Adam West's flamboyant version from the '60s holds up better against him.

Having said that, Cloney's portrayal from 1997 didn't run the character into the ground, nor did it stop his movie career (but we'll never forget those nipples).

The 60-year-old actor has recently turned his attention to directing, and his latest film 'The Tender Bar' stars Ben Affleck, who has taken up the caped crusader role in DC's Extended Universe.

When asked by Variety journalist and host Marc Malkin why it took Clooney so long to team up with again Ben Affleck (the pair worked together on 'Argo'), he joked it was because: "He screwed up the 'Batman' franchise that I made so solid. [Looking to camera] Yes I did."

Asked if that's why we won't be seeing Clooney's nippled-armour Batman in the upcoming DC movie 'The Flash', which will see Michael Keaton reprise his 'Batman' and 'Batman Returns' role and Affleck's recent version too, the actor said: "I didn't want to do it!

"No, 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.

"I did have great nipples. It was winter all the time with me."

Clooney's wife, Amal, then told Malkin that her husband won't let her watch the film ("it's on the banned list") and that their twin daughters will probably want to see it at some point in the future. This then prompted George Clooney to retort about his Batman era: "There are certain films I just go, 'I want my wife to have some respect for me'. It’s bad when your four-year-old kid goes, 'This sucks'. That could be painful."

'The Tender Bar' will hit cinemas later this year ahead of its debut on Amazon Prime in January. 'The Flash' will release in cinemas in November 2022.