Batman & Robin: George Clooney’s Batman nipple suit goes up for auction with a starting bid of $40,000

Last Updated on July 7, 2022

George Clooney’s infamous Batman nipple suit from Batman & Robin can be all yours if you’re willing to significantly empty your wallet. Heritage Auctions has put the suit up for auction and the starting bid is set at $40,000, per Variety.

The sale of the costume from the maligned 1997 Joel Schumacher Batman installment is a part of Heritage’s Hollywood & Entertainment Signature Auction which will take place July 22-23. Heritage Auction’s Executive Vice President Joe Maddalena had this to say about putting the costume up for auction:

“This is easily the most famous – and infamous – Batman costume ever designed, as evidenced by the fact that all these years later, it continues to make headlines every time Tim Burton and George Clooney get asked about it. But to his credit, Joel Schumacher never apologized for the ‘Bat-nipples.’ In fact, he once told Vice, ‘I’m still glad we did it.’ And I am just as glad we have the chance now to offer this piece of cinema history to someone who can appreciate the costume as much as Schumacher clearly did.”

For those curious about the design of the Batman nipple costume, Heritage Auctions says that Clooney’s suit 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.” If you bought this at auction I’m not sure if you try this on once just for fun or just have it standing in your room in all its glory.

Batman nipple costume isn’t the only item up for auction from the world of The Dark Knight. Jim Carrey’s Riddler walking cane from Batman Forever is up for grabs with an opening bid of $8,000 while Jack Nicholson’s purple Joker suit from 1989’s Batman is beginning with an opening bid of $65,000.

The Batman nipple costume has come back into the headlines a bit thanks to a recent Empire interview with Tim Burton. He somewhat slammed Warner Bros. for approving the nipple suit after coming down so hard on his Batman Returns because of its darker tone. The studio went a different direction with Joel Schumacher taking over helming duties beginning with 1995’s Batman Forever due to the complaints about Batman Returns and Burton didn’t seem to understand why they were so bent out of shape. Burton said, “[Back then] they went the other way. That’s the funny thing about it. But 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 you put nipples on the costume? Go f*ck yourself.’ Seriously. So yeah, I think that’s why I didn’t end up [doing a third.]”

Would YOU want a shot to own George Clooney’s Batman nipple suit from Batman & Robin?