DC Films Superman is always an unknown actor while Batman is an established one

[PunyGod]

Why do you think this is?

 

[Frodo]

Well there are several reasons I think .

But among those reasons , With Superman , bigger named actors tend not to want to be the one in blue tights and cape.

Nic Cage of course is an exception.
Other than Cape though, the bigger named actors who have been chased for the role , going back to the 70s, have all tended not to want to take the role.

I tend to doubt there's going to be an instance when a big name actor will agree to playing Superman in live action.

At the same time, having a lesser known act makes the believability factor stronger.

In other words, it's easier to put Corenswet , who the vast majority of people have never seen or heard of, in a suit and get them to believe he's Superman, than it is to cast Zac Efron, and try to convince people that he's Superman, as opposed to " Zac Efron in a Superman suit " .

For Batman, under WB at least, The studio and the filmmakers have always pushed for bigger names .
Bale was probably the least known of the bigger names, but he wasn't an unknown, actor since he'd been acting in Hollywood since he was a child .

And unlike Superman, I think bigger named actors are more receptive to putting on the cape and cowl than they are to putting on the Superman suit.
The Batman role doesn't come with the same baggage as the Superman role does .

Now ,when The Batman serials and the 60s show were under Columbia Studios and 20th Century Fox , they casted relatively unknown actors in the lead role .

 

[DarkKnight88]

Think of the characters themselves.

Superman is all encompassing good, what we thrive to be. Innocence and strength. Someone not of this Earth. Putting in a well established actor, we're brining in all these pre-conceived notions of that actor into the role. They're onscreen career as well as their off screen history. A new actor doesn't have any of that baggage and it's easier for us to "believe" them playing a character like that.

Batman is a darker character, so we're ok brining in our views of the actor that way, but also Bruce Wayne is a famous billionaire. So already it needs to be a "movie star" that's hiding under a mask. It works sometimes better to have someone already famous that might be hiding some darkness.

 

[Primal Slayer]

Was Keaton and Bale really THAT WELL known when they were cast?

 

[SwordOfMorning]

Was Keaton and Bale really THAT WELL known when they were cast?

Compared to Christopher Reeve, Brandon Routh or David Corenswet? Yes. Keaton, a very established comedic actor, was also for sure more well known than Cavill, probably Bale was too unless you were a big The Tudors fan.

 

[Sawyer]

Was Keaton and Bale really THAT WELL known when they were cast?

That’s what I was about to ask.

Keaton was sort of in the game up to the point that he was cast, but I think being Batman did an awful lot to elevate him, and then Bale, I think he was on the rise, but The Dark Knight Trilogy absolutely is what made him the name that he is today. Remember, Nolan and co. deliberately referenced Superman: The Movie as a key inspiration when it came to casting a pseudo-unknown in the lead role and surrounding him with a well-known supporting cast.

Comparative to Superman, yeah, they’re still probably better known going in, but I still wouldn’t say the role has always gone to someone “established.”

 

[PunyGod]

Was Keaton and Bale really THAT WELL known when they were cast?

Yes. Keaton was an established comedic actor. He was Mr. Mom and he was just coming off of Beetlejuice. Why do you think there was a backlash over his casting.

Bale was probably the lowest profile Batman actor but he was still very recognizable for American Psycho which was a hugely talked about movie.

 

[DKDetective]

That’s what I was about to ask.

Keaton was sort of in the game up to the point that he was cast, but I think being Batman did an awful lot to elevate him, and then Bale, I think he was on the rise, but The Dark Knight Trilogy absolutely is what made him the name that he is today. Remember, Nolan and co. deliberately referenced Superman: The Movie as a key inspiration when it came to casting a pseudo-unknown in the lead role and surrounding him with a well-known supporting cast.

Comparative to Superman, yeah, they’re still probably better known going in, but I still wouldn’t say the role has always gone to someone “established.”

Yes. Keaton was an established comedic actor. He was Mr. Mom and he was just coming off of Beetlejuice. Why do you think there was a backlash over his casting.

Bale was probably the lowest profile Batman actor but he was still very recognizable for American Psycho which was a hugely talked about movie.

Bale was definitely not a mainstream star at the time of being cast in Begins. He was known to cinephiles and film buffs (which was American Psycho's audience, not the general public) but his attempts at leading mainstream films had largely fizzled. I highly doubt many in the general public recognized him or knew his name after American Psycho.

Bale credits Batman Begins with saving his house. That is the rough financial shape he was in at the time.

 

[Frodo]

Keaton was well known, hence the fan outrage at his casting .

Kilmer , Clooney, Affleck, and Pattinson were, of course, high profile and household names when they were cast.

 

[Drizzle]

Bale was definitely not a mainstream star at the time of being cast in Begins. He was known to cinephiles and film buffs (which was American Psycho's audience, not the general public) but his attempts at leading mainstream films had largely fizzled. I highly doubt many in the general public recognized him or knew his name after American Psycho.

Bale credits Batman Begins with saving his house. That is the rough financial shape he was in at the time.

Piggybacking on that, I'd even go so far as to say that more people went back and watched American Psycho AFTER seeing Bale as Batman.

 

[DKDetective]

Piggybacking on that, I'd even go so far as to say that more people went back and watched American Psycho AFTER seeing Bale as Batman.

No, exactly. It was very much a cult film before and really has grown in re-appraisal since Bale hit it big.

 

[ClarkKentSV]

Henry Cavill wasn't unknown. He was the lead in a hit immortal film and was on a hit show, the Tudors!


Tyler Hoechlin was on 7th Heaven and Teen Wolf before playing Superman!





Christian Bale was in some hit indie films but was unknown globally before Nolan took the Richard Donner approach with Batman Begins!

 

[Babillygunn]

Christian Bale was in some hit indie films but was unknown globally before Nolan took the Richard Donner approach with Batman Begins!

Bale was the slimy villain in Shaft with Samuel L. Jackson and Jeffrey Wright. He was also a child actor who had acclaim in Empire of the Sun, which was a Spielberg movie as well as Newsies, which was a Disney film. He was in A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Michelle Pfeiffer, Kevin Kline, Calista Flockhart and Stanley Tucci. And then there was American Psycho, which I remember being a film that had everyone talking and going to see it when it came out when I was in grad school.

He may not have been A-list at the time, but he was more than simply a guy who had been in a few indie films. And he was probably more well known than Cavill at the time.

 

[Spider-Fan83]

I think Superman more so, then Batman requires an certain level of suspension of disbelief...

an it's much easier to fully immerse yourself into believing the actor as Superman if their an unknown

if their too recognizable as a different character it takes you out of the story

 

[migsblanco729]

It’s funny. Pattinson was a huge name and had a lot of success from teenage girl audience films I never remotely would have interest in watching. Knew his name but hadn’t seen any of his indie stuff just yet that he was getting raved about. So he was simultaneously a well known name star with box office power, but I knew very minimal of his work, so it was almost like he was a well-known unknown to me. Which really helps the investment, especially given his quality as an actor currently post twilight series, and still rapidly improving and looks to be a generational caliber actor.