Batman's Cowl Face

[theMan-Bat]

You know what really makes me laugh, Is the fact that when Keaton was annouced everyone had an ape**** about it...

Right. When Keaton was announced everyone, including Bob Kane and Michael Uslan, went ape**** about it, "Mr. Mom as Batman? Beetlejuice as Batman? A comedian as Batman? You gotta to be kidding!", but Keaton surprised everyone in '89 and pulled it off so well that many people like him best to this day.

now it seems that most people like him better and I am almost sure that it's because he was the "first" and I just feel that, that is weak...

Or maybe they actually like him best because he played Batman so dark and mysteriously and brooding and brutal. That's why I like Keaton best and Bale second best because Bale also plays Batman dark and mysteriously and brooding and badass but, to me, Keaton looks creepier in the cowl.

 

[theMan-Bat]

No offence but I completly dissagree, Neal Adams Batman has a thiner an least square-ish jaw in comparision to other versions, but that doesn't mean Keaton looks like that, even if Keaton had a thin jaw he was FAR from having that chiseled aspect anyway. Neal Adam's Batman is clearly Kilmer to me, I really can't see how Keaton would be more Neal Adam's Batman than Kilmer..at least IMO.

Kilmer looks a lot like Keaton in the cowl.

 

[theMan-Bat]

Eh. With that logic Bruce Wayne could be played by a donkey as long as it would look like Batman when it wears the costume?!

Well, and "Bruce Wayne died" is just one interpretation. That's the modern one, Batman just thinks of himself as "Batman". But especially in the 70s, the stories you seem to like so much, looking at the pictures you posted, it was always more like "Bruce Wayne needs his costume to transform into Batman" (influenced by the Marvel way).

In the original Bill Finger stories and the '70s Denny O'Neil stories the Bruce Wayne persona is just a role - a bored pleasure-loving playboy, and you see very little Bruce Wayne in the '70s Denny O'Neil stories, he's Batman almost all the time, and the closest to a Bruce Wayne love interest in the Denny O'Neil stories was Molly Post in Detective Comics #451 (1975). Talia was just a Batman love interest.

 

[Leto Atrides]

I've always thought the whole "he's really Batman all the time, Bruce Wayne is dead" thing was kind of lame. He is almost always shown to be still putting on an act, at some level, while being Batman. He's consciously being more intimidating and intense. He's not really some creepy sociopath with no personality who lives for scaring criminals. I've said it before, but I've always thought him on a rooftop doing some detective work, hanging around the Batcave with Alfred, etc is the real man. Yes, his public persona is false. But whenever he interacts with people while being Batman he's still being deceptive and putting up a front. If anything it's a hero like Superman who turned their everyday life into something false, and acts as they really feel in their hero persona.


As far as the topic at hand, as long as we're going strictly on appearance, I'd say George Clooney. He's got a distinctive, strong jaw, more than Keaton and Bale have but not to the really lean, over-defined extent that Kilmer does. Basically, he's handsome without a being a pretty-boy.

He loses in the "not recognizable" category though, more for his eyes than anything else. Keaton, being that the cowl makes him look much larger, and Bale, if only because it shows very little of his face, are both hardest to recognize in costume.

 

[Zig-Zag Man]

And on the other hand they will argue that Bale LOOKED most like Bruce Wayne, while I say he doesn't look like him at all. Or - well yes - somehow he does (like: both are caucasian).

And you'd be dead wrong. Christian Bale looks the most like Bruce Wayne out of any of the actors to don the cape and cowl. Similar facial structure, has the appropriate length hair and style. His swagger alone makes him more Bruce Wayne like than any of the others. He's a handsome man, with an edge and intimidating look to him.

 

[Zig-Zag Man]

And on the other hand they will argue that Bale LOOKED most like Bruce Wayne, while I say he doesn't look like him at all. Or - well yes - somehow he does (like: both are caucasian).

And you'd be dead wrong. Christian Bale absolutely personifies best the character and looks of Bruce Wayne. Young, rich, handsome, but with a deep edge in the recesses of his look where you could totally picture him as a dark guided vigilante. This isn't Bruce Wayne?

LMAO

 

[Leto Atrides]

The only real problem with Christian Bale is that he looks very young. Bruce Wayne is supposed to be a good looking guy, but he is a good looking guy well into his 30s. Given, Begins is supposed to show a younger Bruce, but even if Bale still looks like he would have at 25 that's still a caveat to "looks the most like Batman".

 

[Zig-Zag Man]

Batman is a young man's character. He's a physical athlete. Like pro athletes his prime is late 20's, early 30's. For any Batman ... Bale looks well in that age range that a Batman would operate in at full strength. Not like he's a teenager in a bat-suit. Batman is a young to middle age adult. Batman also isn't supposed to look like an old man with balding hair. I don't know where you get Bruce Wayne is supposed to look "well into his 30's" ... In fact, in much of the comics his look is more akin to late 20's early 30's. Where you get "well into his 30's" ... I have no idea.

 

[theMan-Bat]

He is almost always shown to be still putting on an act, at some level, while being Batman. He's consciously being more intimidating and intense. He's not really some creepy sociopath with no personality who lives for scaring criminals. I've said it before, but I've always thought him on a rooftop doing some detective work, hanging around the Batcave with Alfred, etc is the real man. Yes, his public persona is false. But whenever he interacts with people while being Batman he's still being deceptive and putting up a front.

He does live for scaring criminals, he's dedicated his live to that, and as Paul Dini says, "there is the Bruce Wayne persona that the public sees at corporate meetings and social events, the Batman face that he allows criminals and superheroes to see, and then there's the private Batman at home with his guard down that few see, only Alfred and his Robin's - that's who Batman really is."

If anything it's a hero like Superman who turned their everyday life into something false, and acts as they really feel in their hero persona.

The premise of the original Golden Age Siegel and Shuster comics and the Fleischer cartoons and the George Reeves TV show was that Clark is not something false, he acts as he really feels as Clark, too, with glasses on. The glasses weren't to disguise the FACE, but to promote the image of the quiet, studious type of guy whom one wouldn't expect to be flying around the world battling criminals and monsters from outer space. George Reeves got it right by playing Clark Kent as more or less a quiet, everyday type of guy, but still quite competent at his job. I'm not a fan of the bumbling idiot version of Clark, which of course is a mask. Why would a bumbling idiot be a star reporter on a major paper? George Reeves played him realistically mild-mannered, while Christopher Reeve played him as an exaggerated buffoon. Chris Reeve's Kent went beyond "mild mannered" status and straight into "wimp" mode. It would make people more suspicious, not less, because he was overdoing it.

As far as the topic at hand, as long as we're going strictly on appearance, I'd say George Clooney. He's got a distinctive, strong jaw, more than Keaton and Bale have but not to the really lean, over-defined extent that Kilmer does. Basically, he's handsome without a being a pretty-boy.

He loses in the "not recognizable" category though, more for his eyes than anything else. Keaton, being that the cowl makes him look much larger, and Bale, if only because it shows very little of his face, are both hardest to recognize in costume.

Exactly.

 

[Leto Atrides]

Batman is a young man's character. He's a physical athlete. Like pro athletes his prime is late 20's, early 30's. For any Batman ... Bale looks well in that age range that a Batman would operate in at full strength. Not like he's a teenager in a bat-suit. Batman is a young to middle age adult. Batman also isn't supposed to look like an old man with balding hair. I don't know where you get Bruce Wayne is supposed to look "well into his 30's" ... In fact, in much of the comics his look is more akin to late 20's early 30's. Where you get "well into his 30's" ... I have no idea.

Considering Damian is a teenager, and he was already established as Batman when he got Talia pregnant, he's got to be pushing 40 currently in the comics. He's had to have been Batman for at least 13 or so years just for the logistics of it. Dick too, he started out as a teenager and is now past college age.

Even barring that going by Year One he didn't even come back to Gotham until he was 25, at the very earliest a story where he's totally settled in his role and really on his game he's got to be 30. I mean yeah, for physicality's sake you'd want to shift that down some, but I'm more thinking about experience.

 

[Leto Atrides]

He does live for scaring criminals, he's dedicated his live to that, and as Paul Dini says, "there is the Bruce Wayne persona that the public sees at corporate meetings and social events, the Batman face that he allows criminals and superheroes to see, and then there's the private Batman at home with his guard down that few see, only Alfred and his Robin's - that's who Batman really is."

He's dedicated to stopping criminals, and he's scaring them to that end. I just meant if his actions as Batman were his entire being it would be more of a compulsive thing, that he lives to scare criminals because that's just what he does. I think we agree and we're just saying it differently, since I agree with that quote completely.

Superman Stuff

I was more trying to get at how being Superman isn't an act.

 

[theMan-Bat]

He's dedicated to stopping criminals, and he's scaring them to that end. I just meant if his actions as Batman were his entire being it would be more of a compulsive thing, that he lives to scare criminals because that's just what he does. I think we agree and we're just saying it differently, since I agree with that quote completely.

Cool, we agree.

I was more trying to get at how being Superman isn't an act.

So again, we agree. I also agree with you about Batman's old age. He's got to be pushing 40.

 

[TruerToTheCore]

And you'd be dead wrong. Christian Bale absolutely personifies best the character and looks of Bruce Wayne. Young, rich, handsome, but with a deep edge in the recesses of his look where you could totally picture him as a dark guided vigilante. This isn't Bruce Wayne?

A lot of people are rich and handsome, but they don't look like the comic Bruce Wayne. Bruce Wayne is like Superman: manly, but handsome, square jawed and so on. Christian Bale is more a "pretty boy" not really some "high-testosterone guy".

 

[Kaizer]

The only real problem with Christian Bale is that he looks very young. Bruce Wayne is supposed to be a good looking guy, but he is a good looking guy well into his 30s. Given, Begins is supposed to show a younger Bruce, but even if Bale still looks like he would have at 25 that's still a caveat to "looks the most like Batman".

Well...these two movies are supposed to represent Batman early in his career (around 25-30) so Bale has the perfect look for that. And Batman in current continuity is around 35, so, yeah...

 

[TruerToTheCore]

Well...these two movies are supposed to represent Batman early in his career (around 25-30) so Bale has the perfect look for that. And Batman in current continuity is around 35, so, yeah...

Bale's Batman is 29/turns 30 in the movie. Some people look older than him with 25. Show me when Batman's ever had such a boyish face? The young Bruce Wayne (25) should look like Mel Gibson when he was about that age.

 

[Comics N' Toons]

i agree

 

[Zig-Zag Man]

A lot of people are rich and handsome, but they don't look like the comic Bruce Wayne. Bruce Wayne is like Superman: manly, but handsome, square jawed and so on. Christian Bale is more a "pretty boy" not really some "high-testosterone guy".

Pretty boy? Ummm, no. Christian Bale is a manly handsome. A "pretty boy" would be a Jake Gyllenhal, Tobey McGuire, Wes Bently, hell Val Kilmer from Forever. Meaning they are handsome good looking guys, but they have soft features. Bale is a pretty boy, yes but in an intimidating way. He's not "pretty" with soft features. It's his eyes mixed with his sharp cheek bones that give him a real mean, dark, and threatning look. Totally not pretty boy in a soft almost feminine type way. The whole dichotomy of Bruce Wayne being a young pretty boy just adds depth to the character. While on the surface he looks like he'd care so much about his looks, when in reality he lacks any vanity. Fighting crime, getting bruised and busted up every night. This theory of manly handsome is over exaggerated because the Bruce Wayne of the comics and animated series, is usually presented with a jaw that is so square it borderlines ridiculous. Is Jay Leno a handsome man? No skittles of course ...

You'd be hard pressed to find any man with a jaw like Bruce Wayne of the comics and how he's usually drawn. And the closest it comes? George Clooney. And George Clooney doesn't have that darkness and intensity a Bruce Wayne requires. And he also doesn't have the flowing hair that Bruce Wayne has.

 

[Zig-Zag Man]

Bale's Batman is 29/turns 30 in the movie. Some people look older than him with 25. Show me when Batman's ever had such a boyish face? The young Bruce Wayne (25) should look like Mel Gibson when he was about that age.

Ummm, no. Seen Batman Year One? TLH / DV? Batman is a young man's character. He wouldn't be able to do the things he does without having a young capable body of athletic proportions. Just as Bruce Wayne says in TDKR ... Batman is a young man's idea and person. Batman doesn't look so young in the comics generally, because they draw him with a ridiculous square jaw that adds a ton of age to his face. His experience and intelligence doesn't come from his age, his look, or him being in his "late 30's" ... it comes from his 8 years of training as a young man. When he returns as a 28 year old, he is much older, worldly, and wiser then his peers of the same age.

BTW ...

This is pretty boy? Umm, no. Handsome, yes ... "pretty" ... NO. Hell, Heath Ledger was more pretty boy-esque than Christian Bale. Pretty requires a certain softness, almost feminine type quality. Christian Bale doesn't personify those characteristics. He's a very good looking guy with edge to him. That's why he's the perfect Bruce Wayne / Batman. He has the precense and edgy look to him of a Michael Keaton and his character, combined with the looks that would make him admired like a Kilmer or Clooney Bruce Wayne.

 

[Zig-Zag Man]

Christian Bale has all physical aspects and chops to totally represent what the Batman / Bruce Wayne character is in a definitive summary of what the character is all about and represents. He has the looks that make him physically the character from the face, plus the athletic physique, the intensity and edge. Christian Bale is the PERFECT STORM as Bruce Wayne / Batman. He was born for the role. Just as Robert Downey Jr. is Tony Stark and Christopher Reeve was Superman. You don't get perfect storms like that often. It's ashame Topher Grace never got to be Spider-man, cause I thought they could've had another perfect storm with him as Peter Parker. Someone who totally makes the person off the page leap on the screen given all his qualities and characteristics. When it comes to on screen Batman ... Bale so far is the ultimate. Bale / Downey Jr. / Reeve are the holy comic book movie triumverate of how great and accurate it's supposed to get.

 

[TruerToTheCore]

Sorry, for me Batman Begins is the best Batman movie, but sorry, CHristian Bale is NOT something I would call an "iconic movie Batman". Christopher Reeve nailed Superman, but not Kilmer/Clooney/Keaton/ Bale did anything like that for me. When close my eyes and think "Batman" it's definitely not Christian Bale I see. He doesn't have the look, he doesn't have the voice, he has his "cult following".

 

[MrQuinn]

this has become, without a doubt, the gayest topic I have yet to read on these forums.

No offense to those who are actually homosexual...

but really, the question was who looks the best under the mask, and who is the most unrecognizable?


Not, who is the cutest Bruce Wayne.




Now, obviously, we are talking about a character from comic books. Of course, this character is going to be built, ageless, have a chiseled square jaw, and basically be an Adonis in every aspect. However, that really has nothing to do with anything, and short of Brandon Routh in Superman Returns, (and pretty much everyone in 300) I have yet to see a superhero/comic movie really follow those characteristics.

 

[Lazlo Panaflex]

I remember as a kid I didn't like Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne because of his hairstyle fro he had going on in the movies and now I realize how 80s and 90s sometimes the movies reflect.

That's something I never liked, because in the comics Bruce has straight hair either wavy or slicked back, Kilmer and Bale at least have the straight hair, Clonney had that silly army buzz cut.

We all know that real macho men have straight hair.

 

[Lazlo Panaflex]

this has become, without a doubt, the gayest topic I have yet to read on these forums.

No offense to those who are actually homosexual...

but really, the question was who looks the best under the mask, and who is the most unrecognizable?


Not, who is the cutest Bruce Wayne.

LOL! maybe there should be a thread on which actor had the prettiest mouth?

 

[Nathan Petrelli]

Christian Bale IS Bruce Wayne, much like Christian Bale IS Patrick Batemen. He suits the Bruce Wayne look.

And come on, if your a multi billionaire, wouldnt you have the money for the best body care products? lol..

 

[Leto Atrides]

this has become, without a doubt, the gayest topic I have yet to read on these forums.

No offense to those who are actually homosexual...

but really, the question was who looks the best under the mask, and who is the most unrecognizable?

Not, who is the cutest Bruce Wayne.

No one is arguing about who is more attractive, they're talking about age and haircuts. And seriously, if feel the need to add "no offense" that should tell you something about what you're saying.