>>221391797
Arnold got paid an insane amount for this. Reports say around $25 million for about six weeks of work. Basically showed up, said ice puns, secured the bag.
His casting apparently changed the whole vibe of Mr. Freeze. Instead of tragic science villain, they went full campy cartoon boss fight.
The ice puns were absolutely intentional. The movie basically pauses every two minutes so Arnold can say stuff like “chill,” “ice,” “cool,” etc. Peak 90s kino.
His costume was a nightmare. They even put a blue LED light in his mouth for close-ups. Supposedly the batteries got messed up by saliva and leaked battery acid into his mouth. Actual villain origin story.
The suit looks like a toy because, honestly, it kind of was. The whole movie was super toyetic. Mr. Freeze basically walks around looking like an action figure with DLC armor.
Chris O’Donnell said he never actually filmed with Arnold. Robin and Freeze interact on screen, but apparently Arnold mostly did close-ups and a double handled a lot of the physical stuff. Movie magic, aka fake as hell but it works.
Arnold doesn’t regret it. While Clooney keeps apologizing for the movie, Arnold is basically like “nah, it was fun.” Respect.
The movie cost a ton, made money, but still nuked the franchise for years. After this, Batman movies basically went into cooldown until Batman Begins.
Somehow, Arnold’s Mr. Freeze is still one of the most remembered parts of the movie. Not because it’s good exactly, but because it’s so ridiculous it became immortal.