What's your favorite Batman actor?

[SlamAdams]

Christian Bale

 

[BradenPickering]

I actually liked George Clooney a lot as Bruce Wayne, but not so much as Batman. Kind of the opposite for Keaton. Honestly I think we have yet to see absolute perfect casting for the role but Bale certainly comes the closest.

 

[shauner111]

Sometimes i think Bale was perfect. He had the obsessiveness in his eyes and as an actor. He looked like Bruce Wayne, had the acting chops to make you believe in him and sympathetic to Bruce when that was needed. Was a monster as Batman. Affleck looks even more like Bruce Wayne and Batman, and look at that suit. So he's on the track to becoming the closest thing to Batman. But if anything might stop him from beating Bale, it's going to be the acting ability. Which may include his bat-voice. But i mean "believability" in his performance, how he says his lines, do his facial expressions show the darkness etc.

And it's also how it's written. My perfect Batman needs to do classic batman things, like how he acts in Gotham City. Forget the aliens and Metropolis for a second. He's never dealt with that before so he may feel out of his element there. So i can't fully judge the Batfleck until i see him in his hometown interacting with the common criminal or nutjob.

 

[harryoscop]

My favorite Batman is Ben Affleck

No really I'm having a hard time with Bale and Keaton! I can't choose!

 

[Sandy2012]

My favourite Batman actor is Adam West.

But which actor do you think would be a great Batman?

 

[shauner111]

Simon Pegg.

 

[Tim007]

Bale - love his acting has a great career ahead of him tbh

 

[shauner111]

If Bale retired tomorrow he would go down as an acting legend even based on what he's done in the last dozen years or so. But he's now 40, and i feel like he could be just starting. He looks great in Exodus and who the hell knows what he can accomplish in the next 20 years if he remains healthy. Seriously one of my favorite actors of all time.

I think ill remember Keaton, Bale and Affleck the most when it's all said and done. And not the other three. Looking at Ben's suit, his height, his look in general for the role, it's going to be hard trying to match that in the 2020's or 2030's on film. If they nail a single solo film out of the park with Affleck, im not sure what they can really bring to the table after that in terms of "new". Soon enough ill be in my 30s saying to myself "I have no idea what they can do next that i haven't seen before or wished to see. The darkness, the serious, the suits, the batmobiles, the caves, my personal favorite villains...ive seen it all. Even the crap i didn't want to see". It'll be a sad day but also a satisfying one. Quite frankly i feel this way with the current comics of the last few years. I feel like it's all been done in its 75 year history. It took a long time to get here but what else they can supply that's new? It's now at a point where Joker's cutting his face off. They're doing things just to shock people because it's now hard to tell a fresh story and surprise the audience.

 

[Cain]

Adam West but since his name is not on the poll I voted for Keaton who's my second fave.

 

[Cain]

I think ill remember Keaton, Bale and Affleck the most when it's all said and done. And not the other three. Looking at Ben's suit, his height, his look in general for the role, it's going to be hard trying to match that in the 2020's or 2030's on film. If they nail a single solo film out of the park with Affleck, im not sure what they can really bring to the table after that in terms of "new".

I've been watching Batman's modern theatrical movies for 25 years of my life out of my 31 on this earth. One thing I could say is they haven't even come close to really scratching the surface when it comes to how "new" Batman movies could really feel. There will always be a lot of untapped potential leftover when it comes to adapting this IP. That's why every movie has brought something new to the table in the first place. Somehow I don't think Affleck's movie(s) will change that. Though I really do look forward to seeing them.

I think I'll be 60 and still be able to see new elements in the Batman movies that are being made in that day. It's almost like every movie era unintentionally has been a reflection of small segments pulled from all across the 75 years. The Burton movies have a lot of themes and tonal similarities with the 1939 - 1940 original golden age run as well as some bronze age, mid to late 80's and of course 90's stuff (especially in Returns).

Schumacher took a lot of tonal and family elements from the Batman Family era in the early 60's that ended up being a reflection of the 60's TV show due to it's popularity. The Nolan movies are more like bronze age and mid to late 80's stuff with some 90's sprinkled in every now and then as well as elements from the early 2000's.

There is still a lot more stuff that could be mined by creative people for decades to come. Specifically a lot of the more sci-fi and supernatural stuff from the 1950's or a lot of the mid 80's and early 90's stuff which is very different from the more popular and known today late 90's and early 2000 "Batgod" Batman works.

The truth is 75 years is a lot of stuff to fuel one's creativity if one is a creative person. That's not even factoring the additional years that will be coming ahead for Batman. It's just about finding your own way to use those elements you want to use from any incarnation however you'd like. Just like everybody who has taken on a Batman film has been able to do to date.

There will always be people in hollywood capable of doing that with Batman on film. Like Sherlock Holmes or Robin Hood. It will be here after both you and I are long gone. The material is just that rich, malleable and never ending. That's how Batman has managed to survive ups and downs throughout 75 years so far after all.

Quite frankly i feel this way with the current comics of the last few years. I feel like it's all been done in its 75 year history. It took a long time to get here but what else they can supply that's new? It's now at a point where Joker's cutting his face off. They're doing things just to shock people because it's now hard to tell a fresh story and surprise the audience.

No it isn't. Some people just aren't creative or imaginative enough to pull it off.

 

[migsblanco729]

Tier 1:
1 a) Robert Pattinson - Great

1 b) Michael Keaton - Very Good

Robert Pattinson just gave the best performance as the character ever by a longshot.

Michael Keaton for awhile gave the best in 89, but now second best performance as the character and was the standard for redefining the character for general audiences with dark psychological realism.

Robert Pattinson carries the entire weight of his movie with by far the most screen time ever as the character and in costume too for the majority of the film. Both the writing and acting performance from Robert for the first time make the titular character the most interesting, and frightening character in his own movie. Accurate to the modern take on the character from the source material, but the most believable realism of who this character would be in real life. Even more so than the “heightened realism” of the Christian Bale movies. Much more grounded and realistic, than even those films. All while feeling so believable, like he was actually threatening whenever on screen. The only times I’ve ever felt that from one of these actors in a Batman costume was in Batman 89, where Keaton splits screen time with Nicholson, but they keep the character intentionally mysterious to make him creepy. And then this The Batman where we follow him and his journey from his point of view, and he truly feels like a mentally disturbed person. He felt like an Incel shooter, but vigilantism. He felt like an altruistic Travis Bickel as Bruce Wayne and as Batman, a crime fighting Michael Myers.

I’m hesitant to put him over Keaton definitively because Michael was my first, even if he kind of phoned in his performance in Returns while being extremely sidelined in his own sequel, but was still engaging, interesting and charismatic in the scenes he was in, and he just gave a pretty motivated performance in the Flash movie for just an extended cameo … where he was the stand out. And totally outshined Ben Affleck as the same character in the same movie, at 70 years old. Keaton just has so much mystique, aura, and charisma along with presence. He makes his 5 foot 9 Batman more intimidating than Affleck’s 6 foot 3 iteration ever could. But if Robert gives another performance on the level of the one he just gave us, besides him probably already being the best now … with me only not definitively having him over Keaton due to love and nostalgia … another similar or better performance, and there is no argument. But these two give the most interesting, believable and scary (Pattinson) or creepy (Keaton) Batman performances. They both also have very unique looks to them and have the requisite weird quirky look that doesn’t make me question them wearing a bat suit. In fact I see why they need it and it also makes sense. Burton was on something with his casting originally. Also interesting because Robert Pattinson sites Michael Keaton as his favorite Batman, and it makes sense given his age. It would’ve been his first Batman as well, the influence is clear as day in his more fleshed out performance and you can clearly tell he’s actually a hard-core fan of the character, if the films and the source material. He’s the first actor to actively pursue the role and not just be requested to audition, and it shows in his love.

Tier 2 - Good
Christian Bale

His performance and take on the character is oddly both underrated and overrated. Up until The Batman, he was clearly in the best actual films about the character and the mythology as a whole. Gave a pretty motivated performance in Batman Begins, mainly as Bruce Wayne, and it carries the film for the first half of the movie before it turns into typical summer blockbuster fare. In the sequels, he gave two solid performances, and were the foundation for any of the films to work so he gets credit on those grounds alone. Definitely gets overshadowed (deservedly so) by two monolithic instantly iconic villain performances from Ledger and Hardy. Gets overrated due to the quality of the films he’s in, while looking less and less motivated in each subsequent film. Bale is oddly both a superficial fan of the character and also embarrassed about the character in discussions I see with him about Batman and his movies, which I always found very peculiar. Chris Nolan as well in ways TBH. Him getting the role always seemed like he was a casual fan of Batman, but also needed a big studio paycheck. Great actor, to me it doesn’t ring closest to who he is at his core so the performance isn’t the most believable. Over time I think I’ve taken an issue with the three dimensional approach to the character, which I think is far less interesting than the split personality more mentally disturbed and flawed Keaton and Pattinson versions (Let’s face it Batman is ****ing crazy, playing it like he’s just a super driven but rational person doesn’t make a lot of sense. It’s easier to buy when you just say this dude is ****ing nuts and that makes him more scary thus the Pattinson and Keaton versions) … plus making the Batman persona a theatrical tool also intentionally brings to light how weird it is, but also also how forced Bale makes it. Both in the writing and his performance. I think his voice is simultaneously overrated and underrated, yes, the growl is very try hard, but in reality, it’s only really bad in few select scenes throughout the trilogy where he uses it nonsensically or if he’s super out of breath and shouting. And there was other times where it worked beautifully. The swear to me scene etc. People lazily say it’s just good in Batman Begins and not in the sequels, it’s the same acting performance, in the sequels Nolan just gives it more bass and boom in the audio. It’s weird, his voice gets nitpicked and made fun of yet it has also become the most iconic take on the Batman voice that people try to replicate when they’re imitating Batman. All in all, I think he had much more potential as the character, but he still gave a good performance, and he was the foundation for three wildly successful and great films about our favorite character. His best performance and role in my opinion is still Patrick Bateman, because that’s who I feel he rings closest to in real life at his core. Not a serial killer or whatever just a vapid great but below the surface fake person or actor.

Tier 3 - Solid
Alec Baldwin

I’m not even joking when I say this, his Bruce Wayne and Batman performance as Lamont Cranston in 1994’s The Shadow, is the best Batman of the 90s after Michael Keaton. Huge missed casting opportunity there once Keaton hung up the cowl.

Tier 4 - Mid
4 a) Ben Affleck
4 b) Val Kilmer

For starters, Ben Affleck is now the most overrated rendition of the character now by far. The affinity for him is entirely based on dumb superficiality. His look primarily and his costume oh and a stunt doubles action scene. Not his performance as the character. Also, if we’re being technical, he wore a wig, and his body was digitally enhanced. His best performance was in Batman versus Superman and it’s mid. Literally no distinction between Bruce Wayne and Batman, just lackadaisical, mopey, and bland. And also monotone because of the voice synthesizer which required no energy of acting performance, no emotion and he gives the character no distinguishable mannerisms, or physical body language like the three actors above him accomplished. His performance in the Snyder Cut, forgettable. His performance in The Flash, forgettable. His performance in Josstice League, soft and terrible. He gets overrated due to literal accuracy of his costume to one particular story and a cool action scene done by his stunt double. And I’m not even talking about the characterization or writing of his version, I’m talking strictly performance.

Val Kilmer, and Batman Forever? Really, really good Batman voice, really boring phoned in and wooden performance as both Bruce and Bats.

Tier 5 - Trash
George Clooney

I don’t even think this one needs much explanation, but if there was any questions, I could provide.