The Batman rumor mill goes into overdrive as mind-blowing ‘The Brave and the Bold’ chatter emerges

Rebooting Batman has become one of DC’s favorite pastimes, with James Gunn’s The Brave and the Bold set to introduce the fifth different iteration of the Caped Crusader we’ve seen in little over a decade following Christian Bale, Ben Affleck, Robert Pattinson, and Michael Keaton’s impending return in The Flash. Or is it?

A juicy rumor has captured the imagination and attention of the internet after first being spouted by Grace Randolph. Of course, we should point out that the YouTube personality has never exactly been on the best of terms with DC Studios’ freshly-minted co-CEO, so it’s worth taking this one with a pinch of salt for the time being, even if Gunn has yet to directly address its accuracy.

Presuming that Randolph isn’t talking about either Affleck or Keaton – both of whom play pivotal roles in The Flash – by naming a “former” Batman, the field has become significantly narrower as a result. Val Kilmer has sadly lost the ability to speak after surviving a battle with throat cancer, which leaves only Christian Bale and George Clooney.

We’d be shocked if the star of Batman & Robin could be tempted back into signing a multi-picture deal to return as the most widely-detested character of his entire career, while Bale has reiterated on multiple occasions that he’d only be interested in donning the cape and cowl again if Christopher Nolan was directing.

As you can see, the evidence is clear as to why this shouldn’t be taken as gospel quite yet, but that doesn’t mean we wouldn’t love to see either Clooney or Bale show up at the end of The Flash, solely to watch the internet’s collective head explode.