George Clooney's 'Infamous' Batman Nipple Costume Up for Auction with Starting Bid of $40,000
Warner Bros/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock George Clooney
George Clooney's iconic Batman & Robin costume, complete with the "bat nipples," is going up for auction later this month.
The movie memorabilia, best known for its addition of very visible nipples, will be available as part of Heritage Auctions' Hollywood & Entertainment Signature Auction from July 22 through 23, with a starting bid of $40,000.
Heritage Auctions made the announcement on Wednesday, describing the 61-year-old actor's costume from 1997 in great detail. It is "constructed of cast foam latex, vinyl, resin components, leather, and other mixed media elements all expertly painted, finished and assembled on a life-size pose-able mannequin with a hyper-realistic George Clooney head with prosthetic grade false eyes."
"Costume pieces include hero signature cowl, full length superhero cape with 2-cape clips, muscle tunic with signature 'Batman' icon on the chest, muscled tights, peaked and finned gauntlet gloves, and knee-high character boots," the description continued.
Moviestore/Rex USA
Heritage Auction's executive vice president Joe Maddalena called the costume "easily the most famous and infamous Batman costume ever designed," largely due to the addition of the nipples, which first occurred when Val Kilmer took on the lead role in 1995's Batman Forever.
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Jose Fernandez, the costume designer on the Batman sequels who was responsible for the nipples idea, recently recalled the decision in an interview with MEL Magazine.
"With Val Kilmer's suit in Batman Forever, the nipples were one of those things that I added. It wasn't fetish to me, it was more informed by Roman armor, like Centurions," said Fernandez.
"And in the comic books the characters always looked like they were naked with spray paint on them — it was all about anatomy, and I like to push anatomy. I don't know exactly where my head was at back in the day, but that's what I remember. And so I added the nipples. I had no idea there was going to end up being all this buzz about it."
Fernandez said the nipples were "subtle" in the Kilmer movie but director Joel Schumacher, who died in 2020 at the age of 80, "loved the nipples" and wanted to "showcase them" in the Clooney sequel.
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One person who was not a fan of the nipples idea though is Tim Burton, who directed the two Michael Keaton Batman movies: 1989's Batman and 1992's Batman Returns.
Vanessa Carvalho/Brasil Photo Press/Splash
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Burton said he dealt with complaints about his tone being "too dark" for the Batman franchise. "[Back then] they went the other way," the 63-year-old told Empire magazine. "That's the funny thing about it. But then I was like, 'Wait a minute. Okay. Hold on a second here. You complain about me, I'm too weird, I'm too dark, and then you put nipples on the costume? Go f--- yourself.' "
"Seriously," he added. "So yeah, I think that's why I didn't end up [doing a third film]…."
In addition to Clooney's Batman suit, more iconic props from the franchise will be available to purchase, including Jim Carrey's Riddler cane from Batman Forever, which has a starting bid of $8,000, and Jack Nicholson's purple Joker suit from Burton's 1989 film Batman, which has an auction bid beginning at $65,000.
