Hollywood elitist George Clooney turned down the role of Nick Fury from the Marvel universe over a graphic scene in one of the comic books, Business Insider has learned (graphic images in link). To sum up the comic for those who chose not to click, Nick Fury is choking out another soldier with his own intestines that have been cut out of him... Yikes..
Unfortunately for Clooney, however, this is hypocrisy at its finest. The A-list actor has had his share of movies where he stars front and center of a violent, blood-thirsty plot. The following excerpts are in no particular order:
Several gunshot deaths, not gory but harsh and premeditated. In the opening few minutes, George Clooney's character shoots a would-be attacker but then also shoots his innocent girlfriend in the back of the head after directing her to run to the cabin and call the police. He then finds another attacker and shoots him. There is a chase scene involving the main character and another man. Numerous gunshots are fired, an innocent bystander is shot... In the end, one man is killed by having his neck broken... A woman is about to fire a rifle but it explodes in her face. We later see a close up of her burned and bloody face seconds afterward. She is alive for a few moments and the scene can be quite gruesome for some viewers. George Clooney's character is shot at the end in a shootout with his boss. He kills his boss with a shot to the head, but his boss unfortunately shoots him, too.
-IMDb Parental Guide to 'The American' (2010)
A man is dragged into the back of a car and strangled (his legs flail around until he dies). A man shoots two men then drags another man out of a car and shoots him (there is blood all over him). A man is shot a few times and we see bloody holes in his clothing. Two men hold guns on a man, then we see the man dead on the ground with blood on his head and sleeve... A man shoots a man and leaves him dead on the ground, and a woman is shot in the back. A man gags and falls on the floor unable to move, and a woman gags and falls to the floor gasping and trembling... We see that a man is imagining a studio filled with people dead and covered with blood... A man receives instructions and training on how to kill a man: one example shows a man being hit in the throat and he goes down gasping for air (presumably, he dies from his injuries although we don't see his demise) and another shows people preparing nitroglycerine... A man talks about enjoying the act of killing, people talk about a man having committed suicide, people talk about a man blowing his brains out...
-IMDb Parental Guide to 'Confessions of a Dangerous Mind' (2002)
Men are shot, and blood sprays out of the wounds. We see bloody bullet holes. A few times blood splatters onto the camera lens. Lots of explosions from artillery and mortars, and soldiers are blown through the air in violent ways. Several soldiers have shrapnel ripped into them from mortars. A very gory and graphic scene is shown when soldiers come across two dead soldiers. One of them has no legs, while the other one's arm and head have sustained severe bloody trauma. This is shown for a while: it is very bloody and graphic. A soldier screams on the ground while holding his extremely bloody torso... This scene is disturbing and bloody, and happens in the middle of a big battle scene. A soldier accidentally blows up his rear end with a grenade. No blood, but he screams in pain and slowly dies. Very disturbing. Men are bayoneted very graphically, blood splatters out of wounds, a man blows himself up with a grenade off screen. A man is shot in the chest, blood is seen spurting out his back. In one scene, American soldiers overwhelm a Japanese position in a village. We see several Japanese corpses, many of them bloody, and vultures are seen flying overhead. An angry soldier shoots two Japanese in anger. Bloodless but disturbing.
-IMDb Parental Guide to 'The Thin Red Line' (1998)
Keep in mind the film is in construction-paper cutout animation style, so detail is limited. During a war, lots of people carry guns and knives. Some people are shot with brief spurts of blood. At one point, two men shoot at opposing soldiers, much more blood in this scene than the other war scenes. A man is attacked with a chainsaw, lots of blood. Bombs are dropped on people, though not very graphic... A man falls from a cliff and lands on a spike, lots of blood, we see some of his intestine. A child dies because he lit himself on fire by accident. The doctors "accidentally" replace his heart with a potato, which leads his chest to explode in a gory spray. While this scene is meant to be comical, still very graphic. A man jumps off of a building and lands on a car. Lots of blood.
-IMDb Parental Guide to 'South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut' (1999)
A man is shot at long range, we later see him shot in the throat, (some blood). The effects of a gunshot are seen from within the body. The bullet travels through organs and spills green bile over the organs. Very graphic and disgusting. A cow explodes, blood and gore flies everywhere... Birds are seen dying, covered in oil... A man is seen tied up on a fence used as a conductor for electric torture... A mother is shot in the head, point blank (blood spurts) in front of her husband and young daughter the daughter runs to the body but is pulled away by the hair. This is a disturbing scene. A man shoots himself in the leg (blood trickles down his leg). There is a small shootout in which men are killed (small amount of blood)... A young boy is killed by a tank shell... A man is tortured he is hit and electrocuted. A baby is seen in his crib when concrete is dropped on it. Disturbing scene. A mother and baby are standing in a house when a explosion goes off behind them, they are engulfed in flame and debris, non graphic but disturbing. A man has is CD case forced into his mouth and oil poured down his throat... A man has an air valve pushed into his lung to keep him alive. We see the inside of his lungs, including a couple close-ups of the hole in his organ. Graphic and very gross.
-IMDb Parental Guide to 'Three Kings' (1999)
A man is shot in the shoulder, we see a bloody burst and a large splash of blood spill from the wound and then after throwing an object at the shooter he runs outside and is hacked to death with an ax, seen from a distance, we clearly see the ax strike his head, cutting a large bloody wound into it which gushes with blood and we again see the ax strike him in the neck, also blood pours from the wounds, you hear his screaming. The scene, though very brief, is realistic and brutal. A man is shot in the head, with lots of blood and matter spurting onto the wall. You then see another shot of his lifeless body, with parts of his bloodied face visible...
-IMDb Parental Guide to 'Burn After Reading' (2008)
Now, the only animated film of these six examples is South Park (obviously). The other five movies are meant to be dramatic and violent. Clooney's feelings towards a comic book seemed to be misplaced since many of his larger films seem to revolve around large amounts of violence and gore.