Best Live-Action Batman

Key Takeaways

• Batman is a beloved superhero with many portrayals, from campy classics to realistic detectives.
• Each actor brings something different to the role, impacting how fans view the Caped Crusader.
• From George Clooney’s missed potential to Robert Pattinson’s dark intensity, Batman’s legacy endures.

Batman is one of the most iconic of all superheroes from DC and Marvel combined. That’s why he, of all the heroes, has had more reboots and reimaginings both on the big screen and small screen. There is a Batman for each new generation of fans with different styles, looks, stories, and actors to carry the mantle.

What exactly makes for a good Batman? Several factors go into making Batman: the design of the suits, the portrayal of the multiple personas of Batman, the movie itself, and the actor’s overall performance across one or more movies, and even their presence on screen. Many actors have nailed most or even all of them, some better than others.

Updated August 28, 2024, by Melody MacReady: Matt Reeves is continuing his version of the Batman mythology with The Penguin series coming to HBO and Max on September 19, 2024. While the focus is going to be on Oswald Cobblepott’s rise to the top of the criminal underworld and fans are excited to see how that unfolds, there are some curious about whether Robert Pattinson will reprise his role as Batman or not. It is a testament to just how much people love the character of Batman, even when a story is simply about one of his villains, they anticipate the Caped Crusader making a cameo appearance and part of that is thanks to the long legacy of Batman portrayals across film and television.

12

Iain Glen

Never Felt Like Batman Or Bruce Wayne

• Appearances: Titans
• Universe: Earth-9
• Only ever seen as Bruce Wayne

The idea of an older Batman could have worked for Max’s Titans but sadly, Iain Glen was simply miscast, even as an Elseworld take on Batman. His American accent constantly faded back into his natural accent, his physique did not match the Batman that was shown in the first season, and fans never once saw Glen put on a Batsuit, allowing for zero payoffs for including the character.

It was one of many examples of Titans making questionable choices, especially since fans unanimously stated that Iain Glen more resembles Alfred Pennyworth throughout his appearances. He had the grit and the ability to pull off Batman’s dialogue, but other than that, the writers failed Iain Glen by giving him two polarizing seasons to work with.

11

George Clooney

Wasted Potential In A Giant Toy Commercial

• Appearances: Batman & Robin, The Flash
• Universe: Earth-97
• A sequel with Scarecrow titled Batman: Unchained was almost greenlit.

It’s far from George Clooney’s fault since he could have been a stellar Batman as shown by his Oscar-nominated roles afterward. Unfortunately, it’s Batman & Robin, a project intended to be a giant toy commercial for young audiences, which resulted in one of the worst Batman movies, often called so bad that it is good, as shown by awful writing and questionable production quality.

George Clooney’s Batman and Bruce Wayne personas are exactly the same. The amount of miraculously convenient gadgets in this Batman make for ironically hilarious sequences, and he has Batsuits that are either far too ridiculous or uninspired.

10

David Mazouz

Last Minute And Unsatisfying Pay Off

• Appearances: Gotham
• Universe: Undesignated
• The first television Batman since Adam West to wear a suit.

Across all seasons of Gotham, Mazouz’s version of Bruce Wayne went through many changes. In some cases, it made sense that Bruce Wayne became darker and lost during his transformation into Batman. However, Gotham went a little too far and made him into a proto-Batman way too early, but also made him one of the more unlikable versions.

Bruce Wayne treats Alfred very poorly and, while the characters have had tension in the comics, Gotham goes way further than most Batman portrayals. David Mazouz himself does his job of playing the character. It’s just an unfortunately rushed and uninspired version of Batman. Mazouz only wore the suit for the final episode and looked like a cheap Halloween costume.

9

Robert Lowery

Aged Product Of The Time

• Appearances: Batman And Robin
• Universe: Undesignated
• The first live-action Batman portrayal.

Before superheroes were the stars of movies, they were the leads in short serials that played before movies even started, such as 1949’s Batman And Robin. In it, Robert Lowery plays the Caped Crusader with the superhero style that readers would find in the comics of the time, but leaning more towards campy action-adventure.

Overall, Lowery is fine in the role, even if he often feels more like Superman than Batman. However, the costume department did not do Lowery any favors by giving him a lackluster suit featuring an ill-fitting cowl with flimsy ears and a symbol that looked as if it were stapled onto an average shirt at the last second.

8

Lewis Wilson

Straight Out Of The Golden Age

• Appearances: Batman (1943)
• Universe: Undesignated
• Vicki Vale was the only character aside from Batman and Robin from the comics to be featured in this series.

For 1943, Lewis Wilson’s take on the Gotham Guardian in the 1943 Batman serial was a surprisingly faithful portrayal that put more focus on the investigative side rather than punching thugs. As a result, Wilson’s Batman feels straight out of the golden age thanks to the classic noir atmosphere while maintaining that superhero charm serials had in that era.

In fact, Wilson spends more time as Bruce Wayne than Batman, which works well thanks to his natural chemistry with Douglas Croft as Dick Grayson, AKA the first Robin. Their dynamic helps keep the many scenes doing detective work in Wayne Manor and the Batcave from becoming tedious and their suits were somehow superior to their successor series.

7

Adam West

Campy But Classic TV Hero

• Appearances: Batman (1966), Batman: The Movie, Batman: The Caped Crusader, Batman Vs. Two-Face, The Flash
• Universe: Earth-66
• Adam West’s cowl was an inspiration for the cowl worn by Robert Pattinson.

Adam West is the perfect live-action translation of the campy Silver Age version of Batman. Many fans still look back fondly on Adam West’s portrayal in the 1966 Batman series as, he was their first live-action Batman, and he was also the first Caped Crusader to bounce from television to film. He’s charming, funny, and it’s impossible to watch Batman ’66 and not immediately grow a smile from seeing his version of Batman.

The love for Adam West’s Batman is so strong that his series was referenced in Matt Reeves’ The Batman and throughout the Batman: Arkham games. Of all the hundreds of Batman designs over the years, Adam West’s version was also one of many skins for the hero in the games, signifying its iconic status.

6

Kevin Conroy

From Animated Hero To Live-Action Villain

• Appearances: The CW’s Crisis On Infinite Earths
• Universe: Earth-99
• Kevin Conroy has played Batman more times than any other actor.

For many fans, Kevin Conroy is the ultimate Batman to the point that when they read the comics, they imagine his voice coming from the pages due to their love for his work with Batman: The Animated Series and many other projects. Therefore, when it was revealed that Kevin Conroy would play Batman in live-action for the CW’s Crisis On Infinite Earths special, fans were hyped.

The result is a short but sweet role in which Kevin Conroy plays a villainous Batman from an alternate Earth. Similar to Ben Affleck’s portrayal, Conroy explored the darker side of Batman that became unhinged and a killer, resulting in him wearing an exo-suit to walk à la Kingdom Come. Though it wasn’t what fans were expecting, Conroy still nailed the voice and brought the darker character to life surprisingly well.

5

Val Kilmer

A Strong Batman Reduced By The Studio

• Appearances: Batman Forever
• Universe: Earth-97
• Originally, Batman Forever was a sequel to Batman Returns but was retconned into its own timeline after Crisis On Infinite Earths.

It can be argued that Val Kilmer is one of the more underrated Batman actors. Like George Clooney, Kilmer was let down by the movie he was given. Batman Forever was originally supposed to be three hours long and darker, but it was trimmed down to be a shorter popcorn flick. However, in the version that fans got, Val Kilmer still did his part rather well.

Kilmer’s Bruce Wayne is charming and likable, and there is a proper distinction between him and Batman. As Batman, he had the closest voice to someone like Kevin Conroy, his combat was less stiff, and he had a proper presence in the Batsuit with plenty of Bat-Gadgets in his arsenal that were given an H.R. Giger-esque redesign.

4

Christian Bale

The Realistic Take On The Dark Knight

• Appearances: Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises
• Universe: Undesignated (often referred to by fans as the Nolan-Verse)
• Cillian Murphy auditioned to play Batman which led to him becoming Scarecrow.

Most fans can agree about the one common detractor from Bale’s performance in The Dark Knight trilogy: his Batman voice. There are memes and parodies all over the internet because of how infamously grating it became across three movies. With that said, Bale still gives a strong performance as Christopher Nolan’s more grounded and realistic take on the Caped Crusader.

Whenever Bale is out of the suit as either version of Bruce Wayne, it is nothing short of stellar and arguably the strongest side of the performance. Even with the Batman voice, Bale still manages to pull off the look and feel of Batman, despite featuring rather stiff action sequences due to the Batsuit.

3

Ben Affleck

Redemption Of The Caped Crusader

• Appearances: Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice, Suicide Squad, Zack Snyder’s Justice League, The Flash
• Universe: Earth-1 (Also known as The DC Extended Universe)
• Ben Affleck almost got a solo DCEU movie that would have been about him fighting Deathstroke.

Where most actors start with Batman in his early days, Ben Affleck began his era as a veteran version of The Dark Knight who had been operating for twenty years. As a result of his PTSD from losing Robin and seeing the destruction at the hands of Kryptonians, he’s also a Batman that starts unhinged in Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice.

While controversial at first, Affleck’s Batman goes through quite a transformation from a brutal killer back into the hero that he used to be, with Affleck portraying the tormented Bruce Wayne, celebrity Bruce Wayne, and Batman brilliantly. Affleck’s Batman also features great combat, which looks like combat straight from the games, and he has easily the most comic-accurate appearance.

2

Robert Pattinson

The Scariest Version Of Batman

• Appearances: The Batman, The Batman Sequel
• Universe: Earth-2 (The Batman Epic Crime Saga)
• Originally, The Batman was going to star Ben Affleck, but when he quit, director Matt Reeves created his own universe instead.

Robert Pattinson knocked it out of the park, with fans praising The Batman for bringing the character to life. Matt Reeves and Pattinson bring Batman back to his roots as a grounded noir detective solving crimes in Gotham City, while keeping enough superhero elements to make him an effective Batman. This is a young and broken Batman who has not created his Bruce Wayne for the public eye yet.

He’s a Batman that most criminals fear like a monster of the night; he only cares about using that fear to fight crime and pummel thugs to a pulp. At the same time, he truly cares about Gotham and justice, which makes his character arc much more effective as he evolves from a vigilante to a superhero. Many are excited to see how his universe continues with The Penguin and a sequel.

1

Michael Keaton

The Batman The Changed Comic Book Movies

• Appearances: Batman (1989), Batman Returns, The Flash
• Universe: Earth-89
• Michael Keaton was going to reprise his role as Batman in the Batgirl movie, but it was canceled near the end of production.

Without Michael Keaton, the likes of Robert Pattinson or Kevin Conroy might not have stepped into Batman’s boots. Tim Burton’s Batman forever changed the comic book movie genre and Keaton was a big part of that. It was Keaton’s idea to change his voice when in the Batman suit, proving that he was the best actor for the role at the time, even if it was unexpected.

Michael Keaton only improved as he went on, proving to be an effective Batman, even with suits that keep him from turning his head. Even over three decades after leaving the role, Michael Keaton proved to still have what it takes to play Batman, as he was considered the best aspect of The Flash where he played a Batman coming out of retirement.