One of the many things about The Flash that rubbed people the wrong way was the litany of cameos from actors both alive and dead, the majority of which would have meant somewhere between very little and nothing to modern audiences.
That being said, it makes total sense given that Andy Muschietti’s response to the deep cuts in question was a simple “we don’t care,” but it would be fascinating to discover just how many moviegoers are even aware of George Reeves’ Superman, or the fact Nicolas Cage was once attached to play Kal-El in an abandoned blockbuster.
There’s even at least one generation out there – if not two – that could have been left wondering who this George Clooney fellow is and what he’s got to do with the DCU, and the same sentiment can even be applied to Michael Keaton’s Batman considering he hadn’t suited up and reported for duty since 1992. Fan service for the sake of it is never ideal, but Kevin Smith has now sought to clarify a rumor of his own making.
On a recent episode of his Fatman Beyond podcast, the actor and filmmaker intimated that Warner Bros. had been trying to rope in Christian Bale for a guest appearance, which would have been a miracle seeing as he’s never made a cameo in anything ever in his life, not to mention his refusal to even consider a comeback as the Dark Knight unless Christopher Nolan is involved.
It gained massive traction as such salacious scuttlebutt tends to do, forcing Smith to hop onto Twitter and offer a clarification.
It sounds as though Bale was never in the running, then, or maybe he just flat-out refused. Clooney worked for those who recall the peak of Batman & Robin hatred, but misplaced nostalgia was hardly the biggest issue The Flash had to contend with.