Former Batman villains Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito reunite at Oscars and tease Michael Keaton

The "Twins" actors ganged up on former Batman Michael Keaton, with Schwarzenegger declaring, "I hate him."

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Updated on March 10, 2024 11:24PM EDT

Former Batman villains Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito teamed up to give the caped crusader a real piece of their mind at the 2024 Oscars — with former Batman Michael Keaton taking the brunt of their hilarious jabs.

The actors, who starred opposite each other in the 1988 comedy Twins, reunited at the ceremony to present the awards for Visual Effects and Film Editing. But, before they did, DeVito took a moment to acknowledge the “very obvious” connection that viewers had likely picked up on between him and Schwarzenegger.

“We both tried to kill Batman,” Schwarzenegger revealed.

US actor Danny DeVito (R) and Austrian-US actor and former Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger present the award for Best Visual Effects onstage during the 96th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on March 10, 2024. — Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito at the 2024 Oscars.
PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty

It's true. A very blue Schwarzenegger played the evil Mr. Freeze in the 1997 film Batman & Robin, while DeVito went toe-to-toe with Keaton’s Batman as the Penguin in Tim Burton’s Batman Returns. If only the pair had brought Cillian Murphy — who played the Scarecrow in Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy — on stage with them, then it would've been a real villains meet-up.

“How did Batman beat you?” DeVito asked. Schwarzenegger then revealed that George Clooney’s iteration of the character defeated him by using his “one weakness” against him: “love.” In the film, Freeze helps Batman after the hero reveals that the villain's believed-to-be-dead wife, Nora (Vendela Kirsebom), is actually still alive.

“Oh,” DeVito bluntly replied, “He threw me out a window.”

“Batman, that son of a bitch,” a sympathetic Schwarzenegger said. “I hate him.”

“Yeah, really! That stupid... where is he?” DeVito asked. “He’s here? There he is! He’s right here! Look!”

The camera then cut to a stone-faced Keaton sitting in the crowd as laughter rang throughout the Dolby Theatre. “You’ve got a lot of nerve to show your face around here,” Schwarzenegger remarked. “Son of a bitch!”

Tapping into his Penguin instincts, DeVito slammed Keaton by calling him a "real beak breaker," adding, "We'll see you after the Governor's Ball! Pal!" In response, the stoic Keaton simply smirked and waved his hands toward him in a "bring it on" gesture.

Schwarzenegger and DeVito's reunion comes just one month after they joined forces for a State Farm ad at the Super Bowl. Keaton reprised his role as Gotham's guardian in The Flash last year, telling interviewer Jake's Takes that it felt "shockingly normal" to put the suit on again. "It was weird," he said. "And like I went, 'Oh! Oh yeah. That's right.' But also, then you start to play the scenes and a lot of memories, a lot of really interesting sense memories [come back]."

The 96th Academy Awards aired Sunday, March 10, on ABC. See the full list of 2024 Oscar winners here.

Check out more from EW's The Awardist, featuring exclusive interviews, analysis, and our podcast diving into all the highlights from the year's best in TV.

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