Everyone has their favourite Batman, and most of it is determined by which star fans grew up with.
The old school heads will look back at the comedic performances of Adam West, the 90s kids will be more likely to go for Val Kilmer and Michael Keaton, millennials for Christian Bale and Gen-Z might well have Robert Pattinson or Ben Affleck as their favourite.
When it comes to picking the worst Batman, though, people seem less divided.
Retiring Sen. Patrick Leahy seems to have summed up widespread opinion when he chose his least favourite depiction of the Dark Knight.
Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter
His choice for the worst Bruce Wayne? George Clooney.
Leahy appeared in several Batman films himself, having made cameos in Batman Forever, Batman & Robin, The Dark Knight, the Dark Knight Rises and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, so he’s pretty well placed to pass judgement.
Clooney appeared in the ill-fated Batman & RobinDC
He’s good pals with Clooney, too, as he explained in an interview with the Hill.
“George would be the first one to say he was not the best Batman,” he said, referring to 1997’s Batman & Robin.
“His wife once told me this,” he said of Amal Clooney. “He didn’t want her to see that Batman movie.”
The senator picked Clooney despite being friends with the actorAmanda Andrade-Rhoades-Pool/Getty Images
He told a story about Clooney telling a joke to Leahy’s wife, Macelle, saying the actor once told her: “You know that Batman movie that Patrick was in? He almost ruined the franchise.”
“I said, ‘Wait a minute — I was on the screen for one minute. You played Batman’.
“[Clooney] said, ‘It’s all your fault. It would’ve gone great, except for you being in the movie.’”
Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.