James Gunn shuts down George Clooney DC return rumour

James Gunn and Peter Safran's new slate of DC films was recently announced, confirming that while Matt Reeves and Robert Pattinson's The Batman sequel is still coming, it will not be part of the new main shared universe.

Instead, we're getting The Brave and the Bold, a film that focuses on the character of Damian Wayne, Bruce's son and one of the many people to take up the mantle of Robin.

Given the recent trend of getting actors to reprise their superhero roles from back in the day, rumours have been spreading that George Clooney will come back to play the Dark Knight for the first time since 1997's much-maligned Batman & Robin.

Related: DC Viola Davis spin-off Waller details revealed

When asked by a fan on Twitter if Clooney would be the new DC shared universe's Batman, James Gunn responded with a simple yet concise: "Absolutely not."

Further quelling any rumours that a previous Bat-actor would be returning for another go, Gunn added that they are definitely going to cast a "new actor".

Of course, DC is bringing back a former Batman actor for The Flash – although the upcoming film is part of the outgoing cinematic universe rather than the incoming one and will actually show the continuity being reset.

A new trailer debuted at the Super Bowl, featuring a good look at Michael Keaton's returning Batman, alongside Ben Affleck's version.

Related: Why Henry Cavill isn't returning as Superman

Keaton was meant to be seen on screen as Batman in the Batgirl movie, which had been filmed and mostly edited, but it was unceremoniously cancelled last year following the merger between Warner Bros and Discovery.

"I found out like the rest of you. And then my phone just started blowing up," star Leslie Grace said this week.

"The film that I got to see – the scenes that were there – was incredible. There was definitely potential for a good film, in my opinion. Maybe we’ll get to see clips of it later on."

Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) [DVD] [2020]

£6 at Amazon

Wonder Woman 1984 [DVD] [2020]

£6 at Amazon

Zack Snyder's Justice League [DVD] [2021]

£5 at Amazon

Joker [DVD] [2019]

£5 at Amazon

Shazam! DVD [2019]

£4 at Amazon

Aquaman [Blu-ray] [2018]

Now 29% Off

£4 at Amazon

DC 5 Film Collection [DVD] [2018]

Now 18% Off

£7 at Amazon

Wonder Woman [Blu-ray + Digital Download] [2017] [Region Free]

£5 at Amazon

Justice League [4k Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital Download] [2017]

£10 at Amazon

The Dark Knight Trilogy [Blu-ray] [2013] [Region Free]

£16 at Amazon

The Superman 5 Film Collection 1978-2006 [Blu-ray] [1978] [Region Free]

£15 at Amazon

Superman Animated Movie Collection [DVD] [2013]

£13 at Amazon

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Ultimate Edition

£70 at Amazon

Joe Anderton

Joe Anderton is a freelance news writer and resident Welsh person at Digital Spy, having worked there since 2016. 

In his time he's covered a host of live events, interviewed celebrities big and small and crowbarred a countless amount of great/awful (delete as appropriate) puns into articles. 

A big fan of TV and movies both mainstream and obscure, Joe's main interest is in video gaming. Although particularly a PlayStation gamer, he plays across Xbox, Nintendo and PC/Steam Deck, and likes to keep tabs on many games he's not got the time to play.

Joe currently does not use Twitter, but he only ever used it to tell people to watch the film Help! I'm a Fish (which you really should do).