This... I thought Clooney was perfectly cast in the role. The problems with B&R were with over production and Ahhhnold's over the top one liner-based script.. Well and just the awful script in general... Clooney would be a great choice for an older, gritty Bruce Wayne/Bats, but it would never happen due to the bad taste in everyone's mouth from B&R...
It's a shame Clooney already played Bruce/Batman because he'd be great for the more serious toned older Batman.
And he could out-gravitas the hell out of Cavill, an obvious plus that perhaps not too many actors could pull off. Watch him in the excellent The American if ye doubt. Also, since Clooney's said he played Bruce as gay, they could honor that artistic choice by giving him a husband in a minor/cameo role. ... Played by Chris O'Donnell. ... Hey, who are all those people outside my office? And why are they carrying those torches and pitchforks?
I've liked Clooney in everything else I've seen him in and I do think he'd make a good Batman in the right film. But I found his performance in B&R smug and smirking. I didn't think he was doing the best with the material he got - I thought he was part of the problem. But that's only my 2c.
That's exactly what it was meant to be -- a campy comedy in the spirit of the Adam West sitcom. Its problem is that it didn't fully commit to that and inserted moments of awkward drama, so that it lacked a consistent tone.
^ Not to mention an overstuffed , mostly played-straight action finale. It's a mess, to be sure. But then, TDKR is a mess, too, and B&R is shorter. The former has better moments, but, given a choice (and forced to actually watch that choice), I'll take the latter any day. After all, sure, Hathaway looked fantastic, but Uma's vamping was a lot hotter.
Could Batman be a former Comedian? http://www.thinkmcflythink.com/movie-news/2013/8/6/could-jeffrey-dean-morgan-be-up-for-batman.html
I doubt it. Morgan and RDJ are pretty much the same age. Marvel will want to go for someone younger when they recast Stark.
^Yeah I know. He looks a little less weathered though, IMHO. But in general, it's likely they'll go for a younger man. The days of Sean Connery 'making way for an older man' (as he famously joked about Roger Moore) are long gone.