Robert Pattinson has received much praise for his performance in the latest iteration of the Caped Crusader in the movie, The Batman.
When news broke a couple of years ago that the British actor – who rose to fame as Edward Cullen, the pale vampire in the Twilight series – had been picked to star as the superhero, fans of Batman were up in arms with the casting.
“When that thing leaked, I was furious. Everyone was so upset. Everyone from my team was panicking. I sort of thought that had blown up the whole thing,” Pattinson told Variety in 2019 of his casting.
Looks like all is forgiven, now that Pattinson has proven himself worthy.
Of course, before Pattinson, there were many other actors who tried their hand at portraying the vigilante – some with great success, others not so much.
Here’s a look at some of the actors who have made a name playing the Dark Knight.
Most of us would probably not have heard of these two actors as they portrayed the superhero in the 1940s. Lewis G. Wilson, at 23, was the youngest actor to portray the character in the 15-episode TV series, Batman, while Robert Lowery portrayed the character in 1949’s Batman And Robin.
Adam West was responsible for introducing many people to Bruce Wayne/Batman when he starred in the campy TV show Batman which ran from 1966 to 1968. He also assumed the character in a film version in 1966.
“Playing Batman is an actor’s challenge,” West said in an interview in 1966. “First it’s different; then, you have to reach a multi-level audience. The kids take it straight, but for adults, we have to project it further... When Batman was a comic it wasn’t camp, but the show is.”
West died in 2017 at the age of 88 from leukemia.
Just like Pattinson, when Michael Keaton was cast in Tim Burton’s 1989 film, Batman, more than 50,000 letters were sent to the film company to protest the actor’s involvement.
Luckily for Keaton, and the fans, the movie was a success and he came back for the 1992 sequel, Batman Returns.The 70-year-old actor is set to play the Caped Crusader again – after a 30-year hiatus – in standalone The Flash movie later this year. He will also star as Batman in the Batgirl movie.
After Keaton turned down the opportunity to return as Batman for the third time (he didn’t like the tone director Joel Schumacher had set), the role went to Val Kilmer.
Kilmer brought his bad boy attitude to the set of Batman Forever, engaging in heated arguments with the director and crew members.
The actor revealed in a new documentary about his life, Val, that he had a tough time while shooting the 1995 film.
“By Hollywood standards, Batman is the ultimate leading role and a dream come true. I took the part without even reading the script.
“But whatever boyish excitement I had going in was crushed by the reality of the Batsuit. When you’re in it, you can barely move and people have to help you stand up and sit down. You also can’t hear anything and after a while people stop talking to you.
“It’s very isolating. It was a struggle for me to get a performance past the suit, and it was frustrating until I realised that my role in the film was just to show up and stand where I was told to,” the 61-year-old actor said.
Needless to say, Kilmer wasn’t interested in the fourth instalment of the movie, also directed by Schumacher.
George Clooney stepped in to fill up the Batsuit, which is widely ridiculed as it came complete with nipples!
Batman & Robin, released in 1997 which also co-starred Chris O’Donnell as Batman’s sidekick, was a disaster at the box office and was panned by critics. The movie also received 11 nominations at the Razzie Awards.
Clooney, in hindsight, agrees the movie was disastrous. So much so, he doesn’t allow his wife and children to watch it.
“There are certain films I just go, ‘I want my wife to have some respect for me.’
“It’s bad when your four-year-old kid goes, ‘This sucks.’ That could be painful,” Clooney, 60, said in an interview in 2021.
It would take eight years before another director attempted a new version of the hero from Gotham City.
In 2005, Christopher Nolan decided that the tone of his Batman movie would be the opposite of Schumacher’s colourful take.
Nolan picked method actor Christian Bale to be his Batman (other candidates included Jake Gyllenhaal, Joshua Jackson and Heath Ledger).
Bale appeared as Batman in three movies – Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012).
Though he received rave reviews for his portrayal of the brooding Bruce Wayne, Bale didn’t think he did a great job overall.
“I didn’t quite manage what I hoped I would throughout the trilogy. (Nolan) did, but my own sense of self is like, ‘I didn’t quite nail it’,” said the 48-year-old Oscar winner.
Well, Will Arnett didn’t exactly don a Batsuit but he did give a memorable performance voicing the Caped Crusader in three animated features – The Lego Movie (2013), The Lego Batman Movie (2017) and The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019).
When asked by The Guardian about his favourite roles in his acting career, Arnett named voicing Batman in the Lego movies as No.1.
The 51-year-old actor told the British paper: “I did not realise what an impact Batman was going to have on my life. The character comes loaded with a bunch of preconceived notions, because he is Batman.
“He is a superhero with no super powers, so he has got to be quite confident. He’s an orphan and an only child, with incredible financial resources to do whatever he wants, and that has got to make him quite selfish.
“I liked the idea that he does not know how to be part of a team. It was fun taking things further in The Lego Batman Movie, to really get into what drove him.”
Ben Affleck played Batman in two movies – 2016’s Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice and 2017’s Justice League.
While the 49-year-old Oscar winner enjoyed the experience working in the 2016 movie, he has said the 2017 film was the complete opposite.
“Justice League was unfortunately touched by some personal tragedy – a death in (director) Zack’s (Snyder) family.
“And like I say, sometimes things sort of work and gel and sometimes you seem to be having one problem after another,” Affleck told GQ in 2020.
The film was further plagued with problems after Snyder vacated the director’s seat and was replaced with Joss Whedon, who was later accused of being abusive to some cast members.
Affleck will return as Batman one more time in The Flash movie, starring opposite Ezra Miller. The Flash director Andy Muschietti said Affleck is able to deliver the vulnerability to Batman.
“His Batman has a dichotomy that is very strong, which is his masculinity – because of the way he looks, and the imposing figure that he has, and his jawline – but he’s also very vulnerable.
“He knows how to deliver from the inside out, that vulnerability,” Muschietti told Vanity Fair.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Get 20% OFF The Star Digital Access
Cancel anytime. Ad-free. Unlimited access with perks.
