<\/p>\n
By David Betancourt<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n If the initial backlash to an actor\u2019s Batman casting is any measure of future success, then Robert Pattinson is in the best of company.<\/p>\n When it was announced in 2019 that Pattinson would inherit the Dark Knight\u2019s cape and cowl to star in a solo DC extended-universe movie, the online skepticism was predictable \u2013 at least as lobbed by those who hadn\u2019t been paying much attention to the actor\u2019s intriguing post-\u201cTwilight\u201d career.<\/p>\n The blowback was reminiscent, though, of how some Bat-fans responded three decades earlier, when Michael Keaton \u2013 whose \u201980s run as wiry comic actor included \u201cBeetlejuice\u201d and \u201cMr. Mom\u201d \u2013 was cast to be Tim Burton\u2019s strong-jawed crime-fighter. <\/p>\n Even in an era before social media, the pre-trailer casting criticism managed to spread like fear through Gotham.<\/p>\n In two films, of course, Keaton would set the standard for the role. <\/p>\n Now, the brooding \u201cBattinson\u201d acquits himself quite well in Matt Reeves\u2019s \u201cThe Batman,\u201d opening this weekend.<\/p>\n The comic-book Bat-world first created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane in the \u201930s has spawned an entire tireless industry of screen adaptations, from mid-century movie serials to \u201960s TV camp to animated titles \u2013 with Kevin Conroy and Will \u201cLego\u201d Arnett especially shining as the voice of Gotham\u2019s odd nocturnal knight. <\/p>\n But for the sake of fair comparison, let\u2019s rank the actors who have portrayed a live-action Batman in Warner Bros.\/DC\u2019s modern film franchise since 1989. <\/p>\n Without getting so serious, here is our freewheeling assessment of the Dirty Half-Dozen:<\/p>\n 6. Ben Affleck<\/strong><\/p>\n Films:<\/strong> \u201cBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justice\u201d (2016), \u201cSuicide Squad\u201d (2016), \u201cJustice League\u201d (2017)<\/p>\n Vibe: <\/strong>Can a human vigilante find his place among the superpowered?<\/p>\n Batsuits:<\/strong> Armoured for supernatural warfare. Long live the giant logo!<\/p>\n Oh, if only Affleck had first received a solo Batman movie like the other actors on this list. <\/p>\n But strapped to the storytelling of sometimes lumbering team-up flicks with his fellow superheroes, \u201cBat-fleck\u201d never quite got cinematic justice.<\/p>\n You couldn\u2019t fault the suit designs, in which Affleck looked the part. <\/p>\n But the actor, when not labouring to convey a world-weary Batman, always appeared more comfortable portraying Bruce Wayne \u2013 the self-assured, wealthy playboy side of the role. <\/p>\n Perhaps the takeaway was that big-screen Batman generally works better alone. Oh, well \u2013 we\u2019ll always have the Sad Affleck meme.<\/p>\n 5. George Clooney<\/strong><\/p>\n Film: <\/strong>\u201cBatman & Robin\u201d (1997)<\/p>\n Vibe:<\/strong> Slow-moving train wreck.<\/p>\n Batsuits:<\/strong> We\u2019re getting into a weird areola here.<\/p>\n The Caped Crusader might be narratively unkillable, but director Joel Schumacher\u2019s 1997 Batman \u2013 he of the infamous rubber nipples, more prominent than on Val Kilmer\u2019s 1995 suit \u2013 sure drove the big-screen franchise into dormancy till halfway into the next decade. <\/p>\n Clooney\u2019s Batman\/Bruce Wayne portrayal was too seamless for our tastes \u2013 the actor used virtually the same voice for both sides of the character \u2013 and his suave superhero never seemed too bent on the requisite sense of vengeance. <\/p>\n Exhibit A: Just how polished was Clooney\u2019s crime-fighter while in costume? <\/p>\n Well, to the best of fan knowledge, he\u2019s the only Batman to keep a credit card in his utility belt.<\/p>\n 4. Val Kilmer<\/strong><\/p>\n Film: <\/strong>\u201cBatman Forever\u201d (1995)<\/p>\n Vibe:<\/strong> Putting the \u201cdynamic\u201d in Dynamic Duo.<\/p>\n Batsuits: <\/strong>Masterful in their menace \u2013 despite the initial nipples.<\/p>\n The mid-\u201990s question was crucial: Who could take over the role after Keaton? For his first outing, Schumacher decided the Dark Knight should be inhabited by blond ambition. <\/p>\n Thankfully, Kilmer\u2019s Bruce Wayne was comfortable in his sophisticated skin, but the biggest franchise change-up was the inclusion of his sidekick: Chris O\u2019Donnell\u2019s Robin the Boy Wonder. <\/p>\n The father\/son dynamic clicked, as Robin was indoctrinated into an underworld of masked vengeance. <\/p>\n Kilmer was a one-and-done Wayne, but \u201cBatman Forever\u201d is highly rewatchable, largely because Kilmer fulfilled the studio mission of brightening Batman after Burton.<\/p>\n 3. Robert Pattinson<\/strong><\/p>\n Film:<\/strong> \u201cThe Batman\u201d (2022)<\/p>\n Vibe: <\/strong>What brooding dudes do in the shadows.<\/p>\n Batsuit: <\/strong>Precisely built for function over form.<\/p>\n So can the actor who first gained global fame playing a tween-friendly vampire now bring the gravitas as a bare-knuckled Bat-freak skulking in the aesthetic of Nirvana-backed noir? <\/p>\n The good news: Pattinson and director Matt Reeves succeed in establishing a grim detective who\u2019s learning on the job in a case worthy of a David Fincher thriller. <\/p>\n This Batman is obsessed with his masked identity \u2013 and disinterested in being Bruce Wayne. Pattinson somehow conveys his pain \u2013 and his attraction to Zoe Kravitz\u2019s Selina Kyle \u2013 beneath the mask while also finding his voice (nodding to Sergio Leone\u2019s taciturn yet emotive gunslingers). <\/p>\n A rookie Bat-performance hasn\u2019t been this strong since Keaton in 1989.<\/p>\n Reeves told The Washington Post he cast Pattinson because he admired the actor\u2019s recent work: \u201cHe\u2019s got such a dangerous, out-of-control, driven, mad quality\u201d while also possessing \u201ca Montgomery Clift-Marlon Brando vulnerability under all of that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd so it was that combination that I thought, Well, that\u2019s perfect for this version of the character, as I see it, where he\u2019s still in the early days and is not quite in control of himself and is kind of like in turmoil,\u201d Reeves added. <\/p>\n \u201cAnd so I just I started writing the movie for him without knowing if he\u2019d ever want to play the role.\u201d<\/p>\n 2. Christian Bale<\/strong><\/p>\n Films:<\/strong> \u201cBatman Begins\u201d (2005), \u201cThe Dark Knight\u201d (2008), \u201cThe Dark Knight Rises\u201d (2012)<\/p>\n Vibe: <\/strong>True grit.<\/p>\n Batsuits:<\/strong> The mobility improved over time \u2013 the underwhelming logo did not.<\/p>\n The shape-shifting Bale \u2013 playing the only modern live-action Batman to complete a trilogy arc \u2013 helped bring the superhero into the \u201creal\u201d world of director Christopher Nolan\u2019s grounded approach. <\/p>\n A highlight: Bale delivered one of the best Batman movie lines ever \u2013 \u201cIt\u2019s not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me\u201d \u2013 with fitting dramatic flair. <\/p>\n A lowlight: Bale was saddled with the worst modern Batman suit. Still, even when Bale\u2019s low growl was almost unintelligible, this characterization was a tour de force.<\/p>\n 1. Michael Keaton<\/strong><\/p>\n Films: <\/strong>\u201cBatman\u201d (1989), \u201cBatman Returns\u201d (1992)<\/p>\n Vibe: <\/strong>Putting the \u201cgoth\u201d in Gotham.<\/p>\n Batsuits:<\/strong> A never-topped vision in dark rubber.<\/p>\n Christopher Reeve was a virtual unknown when cast as DC\u2019s Superman, yet by the time the studio needed a big-screen Batman about a decade later, an established actor was needed to hold his own opposite Jack Nicholson\u2019s over-the-top Joker within Burton\u2019s signature vision. <\/p>\n Keaton was more than up to the assignment, inhabiting a shadowy and often silent Batman who intimidated with imagery (those winged bat silhouettes!) and dark whispers. <\/p>\n Keaton conveyed some of the layered depth that has carried him throughout his varied illustrious career \u2013 including his Screen Actors Guild Award win last month for \u201cDopesick.\u201d Now, we look forward to Keaton\u2019s anticipated return as Batman in \u201cThe Flash\u201d film.<\/p>\n Source <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By David Betancourt If the initial backlash to an actor\u2019s Batman casting is any measure of future success, then Robert Pattinson is in the best of company. When it was announced in 2019 that Pattinson would inherit the Dark Knight\u2019s cape and cowl to star in a solo DC extended-universe movie, the online skepticism was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1016102,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1016101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrity-gossip"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1016101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1016101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1016101\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1016101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1016101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1016101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}