FROM 1989 to 2022, there have been several actors who have taken on the role as DC Comics’ Caped Crusader, Batman in feature length movies. That’s six actors in 11 films over 33 years. This is not accounting the actors who have played Bruce Wayne, Batman or both on television.
As the ominous silhouette of the upcoming The Batman looms over our collective heads, LYFE takes a look at all five previous Batmen and what to expect with the next Batman film.
Michael Keaton (1989-1992)
Debuting in Tim Burton’s Batman in 1989, and reprising the role again in the sequel, Batman Returns in 1992, Michael Keaton was the first actor to don the cowl in a feature length Batman film.
Like his successors, Keaton’s casting had it’s fair share of backlash due to him coming from a comedy background. Despite the white noise, Keaton rose to the task and under the finesse of Burton’s directing, the actor set a benchmark for those that would come after him.
In both films, Keaton’s portrayal of Bruce Wayne and Batman were subdued. His Bruce Wayne wasn’t exactly a playboy, while his Batman wasn’t exactly the “world’s greatest detective”, nor a martial artist that knows 127 styles of martial arts.
To put it simply, Keaton’s take on the character was fine in the constraints and expectations for the true first wave of big budget superhero films that began with Richard Donner’s Superman in 1978.
Val Kilmer (1995)
Due to how dark Batman Returns was, and how its box office underperformed compared to Batman, Burton was removed by Warner Bros.
Eventually, the late Joel Schumacher was chosen to replace Burton in the directorial seat. This in turn led to Keaton leaving the role due to Warner Bros.’ vision.
After a slate of potential actors were reviewed to take on the role, Val Kilmer was chosen. Like Keaton, Kilmer played a restrained Bruce Wayne/Batman, and even displayed a little more athleticism as the vigilante.
However, the entirety of Batman Forever plays out as though Kilmer was acting in a completely different movie to that of Jim Carrey and Tommy Lee Jones, each playing The Riddler and Two-Face respectively by completely hamming it up.
Imagine if Val Kilmer showed up dressed as Batman in any Ace Ventura scene where Carrey is being over-the-top, with Jones in the background cackling like a madman. That should sum up Batman Forever.
George Clooney (1997)
At the heart of Batman & Robin, lies the tragic tale of Mr. Freeze (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and his attempts to save his wife’s life, whose shortening lifespan is preserved cryogenically. Intertwined with his story, is Bruce Wayne/Batman’s (George Clooney) story in attempting to save Mr. Freeze’s soul from villainy and Alfred Pennyworth’s life.
Ultimately, the heart of the film is muddled by the filmmakers and studio’s intent on turning the film into a feature length advertisement to sell an arsenal of toys and merchandise.
Because that is what this film is; an advertisement. From the opening to the credits, every costume, vehicle, prop, set-piece was created to be merchandised as action figures.
For Clooney, despite all his charisma and charm as Bruce Wayne, his Batman was instead constantly dropping one-liners and puns. What happened to the comic-accurate brooding character that Burton and Keaton introduced?
No one knows, because Batman & Robin was the death knell for live action Batman movies (and superhero movies) for a long time.
Christian Bale (2005-2012)
Following the superhero film renaissance that began with Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man, relatively unknown (at the time) director Christopher Nolan followed the streak with Batman Begins.
The film not only propelled Nolan as a heavyweight director, it did the same with Christian Bale, turning him into an A-list actor, while the film as a whole set benchmarks from displaying superhero films as something that can be taken as serious pieces of art, to film scores and cinematography.
Unlike the initial Batman series that Burton started, each film in Nolan’s trilogy were deeply inspired by famous Batman comic arcs such as Batman: Year One, Batman: The Long Halloween, The Killing Joke, Knightfall and The Dark Knight Returns.
Nolan and Bale understood the core of Batman, the distinction between the duality of the Bat and Bruce Wayne, the unbreakable will and discipline of the character, and tragedy behind the Batman.
This belief and resolve led to the subsequent The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, which rounded up a more or less perfect Batman trilogy.
Ben Affleck (2016-2022)
With the fast-tracking of the DC Extended Universe, a new Batman was needed to star opposite Henry Cavill’s Superman in the sequel to Man of Steel.
Initial architect of the DCEU and the director of Man of Steel, Zack Snyder had one man in mind to next play the Bat: Ben Affleck.
Like Keaton, the announcement of Affleck’s casting opened the floodgates. The actor’s old roles served as ammunition of protest, while his recent roles such as in The Town and Argo were ignored.
And like Keaton, despite how Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice turned out, Affleck’s portrayal of a broken, vicious, older, and downright sociopathic Bruce Wayne and Batman that bent the rules to its absolute extreme was seen as one of the film’s few saving graces.
Following the film, Affleck stayed in the role for a brief appearance in the maligned Suicide Squad, and played a pivotal role in both the heavily reshot Joss Whedon and original Snyder versions of Justice League.
Affleck will reportedly return one last time as the Caped Crusader in the upcoming The Flash.
Robert Pattinson (2022-????)
Does it need to be said how Pattinson’s casting was just as scorned by fanboys as Keaton and Affleck due to the actor’s involvement in The Twilight Saga, while completely ignoring the great indie films he has been in?
In The Batman, Pattinson will be working with acclaimed blockbuster director Matt Reeves, who previously directed the final two Planet of the Apes movies in the rebooted trilogy.
While this film is said to be focusing more on the “World’s Greatest Detective” moniker more than any other Batman films have done, and at two hours and 55 minutes long, The Batman’s narrative is a mystery beyond Batman attempting to stop The Riddler’s crimes.
Speculation is rife that the film will secretly be adapting the famous Batman: Hush story arc. The Batman will also become a franchise of its own, and whether or not it will be part of the DCEU is unknown at this time.
