Look, we all know the story by now. The nipples on the suit. The bat-credit card. The endless, freezing-cold puns that Arnold Schwarzenegger delivered with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. For years, 1997’s Batman & Robin has been the ultimate cinematic punching bag. It’s the movie that supposedly killed a franchise until Christopher Nolan came along to perform CPR nearly a decade later. But when you actually sit down and look at the Batman and Robin movie cast, it’s kind of insane how much talent was packed into that neon-soaked disaster.
You had the biggest action star in the world, an Oscar winner in the making, and the "it" girl of the nineties. On paper, this should have been a billion-dollar slam dunk. Instead, it became a cautionary tale about what happens when a studio cares more about selling action figures than telling a story. George Clooney, who was still becoming George Clooney at the time, has spent the last thirty years basically apologizing to every fan he meets. Honestly, it’s a miracle anyone’s career survived this.
The Man in the Rubber Suit: George Clooney as Batman
George Clooney wasn’t the first choice. Or the second. Val Kilmer basically "quit/was fired" (depending on who you ask) after Batman Forever to go do The Island of Dr. Moreau. Joel Schumacher, the director, saw Clooney in From Dusk Till Dawn and thought he had the chin for the cowl.
He wasn't wrong. Clooney looks like Bruce Wayne. He has the charm. But the performance? It's... flat. Clooney himself has admitted he didn't know how to play the role because the script didn't give him anything to do. He once told Movieline that the whole film was "completely looped," meaning almost all the dialogue was re-recorded in a booth later (ADR). That sucks the life out of a performance. You can see it in his eyes; he’s a guy trying to find the "humanity" in a movie where his boots turn into ice skates for a hockey game against thugs.
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Arnold Schwarzenegger: The $25 Million Ice Man
If you want to know why this movie felt so lopsided, look at the paycheck. Arnold Schwarzenegger got paid roughly $25 million to play Mr. Freeze. To put that in perspective, Clooney—the actual star—made about $1 million. Arnold was the king of the world back then, and he knew it.
His Mr. Freeze isn't the tragic figure from the Emmy-winning Batman: The Animated Series episode "Heart of Ice," even though the movie tries to steal that backstory. Instead, he’s a pun-machine. "Ice to see you!" "Allow me to break the ice!" It goes on forever. Rumor has it he spent six hours a day in the makeup chair. You've gotta respect the hustle, even if the result was a villain who felt like a mascot for a themed restaurant.
The Rogues and the Sidekicks: Uma Thurman and Alicia Silverstone
Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy is actually the best part of the movie, and I will die on that hill. She knew exactly what kind of movie she was in. She played it like a 1940s drag queen, all camp and breathy whispers. While everyone else was struggling with the tone, Uma leaned into the neon madness.
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Then there’s Alicia Silverstone. Fresh off the massive success of Clueless, she was cast as Barbara Wilson (not Gordon, for some reason—she was Alfred’s niece in this version). Her experience was pretty miserable, actually. The tabloids were cruel, calling her "Fatgirl" and mocking her weight during production. It’s one of the darker chapters of the Batman and Robin movie cast history. She’s since said the experience made her stop loving acting for a long time.
Breaking Down the Main Players
- Chris O’Donnell (Robin): He was back from the previous movie, but the "Boy Wonder" was now a grumpy twenty-something. His chemistry with Clooney was weird because they rarely actually filmed together on the same days.
- Michael Gough (Alfred): The heart of the film. The subplot about Alfred being sick is the only part of the movie that feels real. Gough played Alfred in all four films of that era, and he’s consistently the best thing in them.
- Jeep Swenson (Bane): Poor Bane. One of Batman's most intellectual threats in the comics was turned into a mindless, grunting chauffeur for Poison Ivy.
- Elle Macpherson (Julie Madison): She played Bruce Wayne's girlfriend, but if you blink, you’ll miss her. She’s basically there to remind us that Bruce is a playboy.
Why the Casting Didn't Save the Film
The problem wasn't the actors. It was the "toyetic" mandate. Warner Bros. literally brought toy companies into production meetings. They wanted gadgets they could sell. Joel Schumacher, who had a background in fashion and window dressing, was told to make a "living cartoon."
He used to yell "Remember, everyone, this is a cartoon!" before takes. When your director tells you that, you don't go for the Oscar. You go for the paycheck. The Batman and Robin movie cast was essentially trapped in a $140 million commercial.
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The Aftermath: Where Are They Now?
Surprisingly, the movie didn't kill anyone's career permanently.
- George Clooney: Became an A-list titan and an Oscar winner. He uses this movie as a lesson in why you choose scripts over "star vehicles."
- Arnold Schwarzenegger: Went back to being the Terminator and eventually became the Governor of California.
- Uma Thurman: Reunited with Quentin Tarantino for Kill Bill and reminded everyone she’s a powerhouse.
- Chris O’Donnell: Found huge success in television, specifically NCIS: Los Angeles.
If you’re looking to revisit this era of DC cinema, don't go in expecting The Dark Knight. Go in with some friends, maybe a couple of drinks, and enjoy the sheer, unbridled insanity of it all. It’s a time capsule of a specific moment in Hollywood when "bigger" always meant "better," even when it clearly didn't.
To see the evolution of these characters, your next step should be comparing this lineup to the 1995 Batman Forever cast. You’ll notice how the shift from Val Kilmer to Clooney changed the dynamic of the "Bat-family" and why the franchise eventually needed a total reboot to survive. Check out the production notes on Schumacher’s original "darker" cut of the previous film—it explains a lot about how we ended up with the neon ice skates.