The 9 actors who’ve played Batman | Den of Geek Search The 9 actors who’ve played Batman We look at the nine actors who’ve graced Batman's cowl on the big screen, including Mr Ben Affleck… j Holy revolving door, Batman! The Caped Crusader has been portrayed by more actors than any other superhero in movie history – nine to be exact. Most have lasted for just one film, but with the release of The Dark Knight Rises, Christian Bale became the first man to have played Bruce Wayne and his alter-ego more than twice on the silver screen. He didn’t have much competition – Michael Keaton was the only prior actor to reprise the role. Will Arnett will also join that club when his LEGO Batman movie hits cinemas in 2017. Ben Affleck could well throw all these records out, of course, given the sprawling DC Extended Universe plans now afoot and his vital involvement in them. Here's the nine actor who've played Gotham's Dark Knight... 1. Lewis G Wilson Wilson was the first and youngest actor ever to play the adult Batman, and also the least successful.

At 23, the unknown thespian donned the cape and the cowl in the 15-part 1943 Columbia serial Batman. While he looked the part of the dashing playboy, his physique was more Danny DeVito as the Penguin. One critic described Wilson as “thick about the middle.” Maybe that was why he wore his utility belt just below his chest. Critics also complained that his voice was too high and that he had a Boston accent. That, of course, wouldn’t be the last time someone complained about Batman’s voice. After Batman, Wilson’s career went nowhere. Most of his roles went uncredited. His next biggest movie part was probably in the 1951 cult classic Bowanga Bowanga. A few years later he was out of showbiz altogether. His son, Michael G Wilson, however, fared better in Hollywood, becoming the executive producer of the James Bond series. Lewis G Wilson died in 2000. 2. Robert Lowrey Lowery took over the role in the follow-up serial, 1949’s Batman And Robin.

Unlike Lewis, Lowery, 36 at the time, was a veteran actor, having already appeared in The Mark Of Zorro (1940), The Mummy's Ghost (1944) and Dangerous Passage (1944). He also filled out the Batsuit better than Lewis, with his utility belt hanging where you would expect it on a non-octogenarian. Though Lowery never played Batman in another movie, he did get to wear the cape once more and make superhero history in the process. In 1956 he guest-starred on an episode of The Adventures Of Superman, marking the first time a Batman actor shared screen time with a Superman actor. (One for the fact fans: the two actors also appeared together in their pre-superhero days, in a WWII anti-VD propaganda film called Sex Hygiene). After Batman, Lowrey enjoyed another 20 years in movies and TV. He died in 1971. 3. Adam West The man logging the most hours in the Batcave, of course, was William West Anderson, whom you probably know better as Adam West.

Either you love him for his goofy charm or hate him for blemishing the Bat’s image for several decades. His campy, over-the-top portrayal of Gotham’s Guardian infiltrated nearly every medium, including a 1966 movie and several animated series. Legend has it producer William Dozier cast West after seeing him play a James Bond-like spy called Captain Q in a Nestlé Quik TV ad. He beat future Wonder Woman co-star Lyle Waggoner for the role. Dozier, who supposedly hated comic books, decided the only way the show would be successful was if they camped it up. So blame him. Things would almost come full circle when, in 1970, West was offered the role of James Bond in Diamonds Are Forever. West declined, later writing in his autobiography that he believed Bond should always be played by a Brit. Holy bad career moves, Batman! After the Batman series went off the air in 1968, West was resigned to typecast hell. At one point he was forced to make public appearances as the Caped Crusader to earn a living.

Then, in 1977, he returned to the tube as Batman, doing his voice in The New Adventures Of Batman, and then on such shows as Super Friends. West’s resurgence as a pop-culture icon began in the early 90s when he starred as a has-been TV action hero in the pilot episode of Lookwell, produced by Conan O'Brien and Robert Smigel. It wasn’t picked up but took on a cult following online. (Check it out here .) Since then his cult popularity has increased and he now makes regular appearances on the animated series Family Guy. He also did the Batman voice once again for the LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham videogame. 4. Michael Keaton It took more than 20 years for Adam West to lose his exclusivity on Batman. When director Tim Burton (who, like Dozier, was not a fan of comic books) and Michael Keaton were announced for 1989’s Batman, fans went bat-shit crazy, thinking their beloved superhero was going to get the Adam West treatment again. Keaton's casting caused such controversy that 50,000 protest letters were sent to Warner Bros’ offices.

In an effort to appease the naysayers, Batman co-creator Bob Kane was hired as the film’s creative consultant. Other Hollywood stars considered for the role of Batman included Mel Gibson, Kevin Costner, Charlie Sheen, Pierce Brosnan, Tom Selleck and Bill Murray. But producer Jon Peters said he cast Keaton because “The image of Batman is a big male model type, but I wanted a guy who's a real person who happens to put on this weird armor. A guy who's funny and scary. Keaton's both. He's got that explosive, insane side.'' This certainly showed in his portrayal of Bats ("Wanna get nuts?!"), which remains loved by critics and fans alike. Variety magazine gushed, “Michael Keaton captures the haunted intensity of the character, and seems particularly lonely and obsessive without Robin around to share his exploits.” Keaton was rewarded by being the first actor to reprise the role on the big screen. And in 1992’s Batman Returns, Keaton again garnered positive reviews. After Batman Returns, Keaton’s career slowed down, before resurging again in a big way.

Comedy roles like the inadvertently-TLC-loving police chief in Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg’s The Other Guys helped him back towards the top, before his miraculous and self-referential turn in Birdman (Or The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance) cemented his position as a much-loved, Oscar-nominated talent. Even more recently, he was ace in Spotlight. 5. Val Kilmer When the Batman franchise was turned over to director Joel Schumacher, Keaton decided not to return. Daniel Day-Lewis, Ralph Fiennes, William Baldwin and Johnny Depp were reportedly considered as replacements. But the job was won by Val Kilmer – probably the most forgettable of the modern Batmen. Go ahead – try to remember. See? You can’t. Schumacher became interested in Kilmer for 1995’s Batman Forever after seeing him in Tombstone (in which he played Doc Holiday, who Adam West also portrayed in a movie before he did the Batman TV series, fact fans!). Kilmer allegedly accepted the role without even reading the script or knowing who the new director was. Schumacher quickly learned who Kilmer was, though, and the two clashed on the set.

Schumacher later described Kilmer as “childish and impossible,” claiming that he fought with various crewmen and refused to speak to him for two weeks after the director asked his star to stop behaving rudely. Kilmer’s performance got mixed reviews. As The New York Times put it, “The prime costume is now worn by Val Kilmer, who makes a good Batman but not a better one than Michael Keaton.” Bob Kane felt otherwise, saying he thought Kilmer did the best job of all the actors to have played Batman up to that point. The movie performed better than Batman Returns at the box office, but Kilmer was destined to be a one-term caped crusader. Between his bad attitude and his concern that the superhero wasn’t getting as much screen time as the villains, he left the Batcave for good. Instead of filming 1997’s Batman & Robin, he did The Saint. After Batman, Kilmer’s career headed downhill. Though it was probably 1996’s The Island Of Dr Moreau that had more to do with that than Batman Forever. 6.

George Clooney Clooney’s movie career was just taking off when he was cast in 1997’s Batman & Robin, with his breakthrough performance coming just the year before in Quentin Tarantino’s From Dusk Till Dawn. Producers probably felt they pulled off a major coup landing the soon-to-be mega-movie star. Those producers, along with Clooney, probably regret that decision now. Batman & Robin was a disaster, rife with homoeroticism, camp and those infamous Bat-nipples. Clooney once joked that he helped to kill the franchise. “Joel Schumacher told me we never made another Batman film because Batman was gay.” The actor also called the movie “a waste of money.” Critics and fans agreed. In 1997, Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, “George Clooney is the big zero of the film, and should go down in history as the George Lazenby of the series.” Batman & Robin received 11 nominations at the Razzie Awards and frequently ranks among the worst films of all time. It was also the worst box-office performer of the modern Batman movies. But all that did nothing to hurt Clooney’s career.

After Batman, he went on to super stardom, starring in Out Of Sight (with a cameo from Michael Keaton), Three Kings and O Brother, Where Art Thou? over the next three years. You don't need reminding of where he's gone since then, either. 7. Christian Bale Between Adam West and George Clooney, Batman seemed destined to remain a joke, at least when it came to live-action adaptations. Then came along Christopher Nolan. The Memento and Insomnia director was given the job of realising what became Batman Begins, and he planned to reinvent the franchise, finally making the Dark Knight dark. Among the early candidates for the Batman/Bruce Wayne roles were Billy Crudup, Jake Gyllenhaal, Joshua Jackson and Cillian Murphy. But Nolan ultimately chose Christian Bale, explaining that “he has exactly the balance of darkness and light that we were looking for.” Bale got generally favourable reviews for 2005’s Batman Begins, with several critics saying it reminded them of his brilliant turn in American Psycho. Not so brilliant, it seems, was his uber-husky Bat-voice.

One reviewer compared Bale's guttural utterances to a “10-year-old putting on an ‘adult’ voice to make prank phone calls.” It got even more gravelly in 2008’s The Dark Knight, with NPR’s David Edelstein describing it as “a voice that's deeper and hammier than ever.” Even Kevin Conroy, the man behind probably the most recognisable Batman voice, chimed in, saying at a C2E2 panel in 2010 that Bale’s voice was “ridiculous” and implored the actor to stop doing it. Bale ignored this advice in The Dark Knight Rises (a film in which he wears the Batsuit a lot less, to be fair), but it was Tom Hardy's Bane vocal noises that garnered more vocal criticism from Nolan's threequel. Regardless, Bale's Batman is fondly remembered, and always pops up during discussions of 'who's the best?', not least because of the stellar scripts, direction and cinematography which generally surrounded him.

Rumours after The Dark Knight Rises insisted that Mr Bale turned down a huge pay cheque to avoid reprising the role once more, a decision that remains a particularly tantalising 'what if?' moment in Batman's cinematic history. Between his turns as Bruce/Batman, Bale gained a reputation as being an interesting on-set presence thanks to his famous Terminator Salvation rant. That hasn't slowed his career down at all, though - working with Ridley Scott on Exodus: Gods And Kings is the latest in a long line of starring roles from the former Dark Knight. His turn in American Hustle is perhaps his best loved post-cowl effort. 8. Will Arnett With any other actor in the role, the presence of Batman in the 2013 cinematic smash The LEGO Movie could easily have become the sort of performance that gets neglected from lists like this. However, Arrested Development star Will Arnett brought some comedy magic to the role and landed his own spin-off movie as a result.

It helped that movie came at the perfect time in Batman’s busy cinema schedule – long enough after The Dark Knight Rises for lampooning of Bale’s gruff Batman to be entirely welcome, and far enough before Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice that Arnett’s new iteration didn’t get lost in all the hype for Ben Affleck’s debut. The result of this perfect casting and canny scheduling was a Batman who will go down in the history books as the funniest, freshest and downright fun-est take on the character. From penning ‘dark’ lyrics to helplessly attempting to hide his secret identity, Arnett’s Batman was a gag machine who The LEGO Movie’s primary younger audience really embraced. There were knowing winks in there for adult fans too, with such as dialogue as “I only work in black – and sometimes very very dark grey’ appealing to comic book fans and LEGO Batman’s painful attempts to hit a button with a Batarang surely connecting with anyone who’s ever got stuck for hours at a simple door-button in the Arkham Asylum games.

Arnett’s delivery, combined with Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s zingers, made this portrayal a quick favourite for many, and it’s telling that no-one is complaining about Arnett’s reprisal in an upcoming 2017 standalone story ( the first trailer is here , by the way). If you want more hilarious Arnett voice work in the meantime, check out BoJack Horseman on Netflix – you wont regret it, we promise . 9. Ben Affleck Ben Affleck donned the cinematic cape and cowl for the first time in Zack Snyder’s Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice. After initial scepticism, vast sections of the internet seemed to warm to the idea during the film's promotional period, perhaps thanks to Affleck’s unpredictable turn in David Fincher’s novel adaptation Gone Girl, as well as his impressive trailer brooding. Now, the reviews have been pretty kind to him. Only time will tell how Affleck will rank amongst the legion of Bat-actors to go before him, though, in terms of popular consensus. We don't have to collectively decide a favourite straight away, thankfully.

Judging by the fact that Warner Bros has already signed Affleck up for two Justice League movies and is said to be considering solo stories too, it seems like he'll be the incumbent wearer of the live-action cowl for quite some time. Snyder told the world that Batfleck will "bear the scars of a seasoned crime fighter, but retain the charm that the world sees in billionaire Bruce Wayne" a few months back. Having now seen the film, it's easy to agree. Affleck's take is as conflicted-yet-charismatic as any Batmen that have gone before. As Affleck's first Bat-movie sees him fight Supes (at least to start with), his take on Bruce Wayne had to work hard on his tech-building capabilities as well his gym regimen. The fight that eventually broke out between the two heroes was a brutal affair, recalling the iconic Frank Miller comic The Dark Knight Returns. The voices of Batman Outside of this live-action realm, plenty of talented actors have loaned their vocal chords to Gotham's caped crusader over the years. For the most part, though, the bulk of the animated Batman work over the years has gone to two actors.

In real life Olan Soule was a bespectacled pencil-necked geek, but that didn’t stop him from voicing the Dark Knight in six different animated series, beginning with 1968’s The Batman/Superman Hour. His run pretty much ended when Adam West took over voicing duties in the late 70s. Soule, who also appeared in such films as The Day The Earth Stood Still and North By Northwest, died in 1994. Unlike Soule, Kevin Conroy could probably pull off Batman in real life, but so far he’s been relegated to voice work – and quite a lot of it. Conroy began voicing the superhero in Batman: The Animated Series, which made its debut in 1992. Since then, he’s done three other Batman series, a bunch of animated movies and videogames.

Others to voice Batman are Will Friedle (Batman Beyond), Rino Romano (The Batman), Diedrich Bader (Batman: The Brave And The Bold), Jeremy Sisto (Justice League: The New Frontier), Bruce Thomas (who voiced Batman in commercials for GM’s OnStar service and portrayed the character briefly in the live-action TV series Birds Of Prey) and Roger Craig Smith (Arkham Origins). The number one Batman? It’s probably not a worthwhile question to ask which Batman actor is the best. Until Affleck hit the scene, many would have argued that Christian Bale was the top dog among the live-action crowd. But Adam West and Michael Keaton had their supporters, too. And now, with Batfleck in the mix, it's even harder to choose... The Late Movies: 7 Actors Who Played Batman Before Ben Affleck (And What Fans Had to Say About Them) | Mental Floss The Late Movies: 7 Actors Who Played Batman Before Ben Affleck (And What Fans Had to Say About Them) Getty Images Like us on Facebook News broke last night that Ben Affleck will be the next actor to portray Batman on the silver screen.

Fans immediately took to the internet to decry the decision, recalling his previous roles in the poor-performing Gigli and Daredevil. Here, a look back at previous actors who've donned the costume and how fans and critics received their performances. Lewis Wilson Wilson was the youngest person to play Batman. He appeared in the 15-part 1943 Columbia serial. Critics complained about everything from his weight to his accent. Robert Lowery Lowery took over the role in the 1949 follow-up serial, Batman And Robin. He was a forgettable actor in this role. Adam West West played the Caped Crusader from 1966 through 1968 in the Batman television series in addition to a film spin-off. Fans were torn: Either they loved his campy portrayal or hated it. Michael Keaton Keaton's casting in the 1989 Tim Burton Batman film caused such controversy that 50,000 protest letters were sent to Warner Bros’ offices. Val Kilmer Kilmer put on the suit in 1995 and received mixed reviews.

Director Joel Schumacher called the actor “childish and impossible." George Clooney It's safe to assume Clooney regrets his decision to star in Batman & Robin. It was the worst box-office performer of the modern Batman movies and Clooney once joked that he killed the series. Christian Bale Though Bale is largely favored as the best actor to play the Dark Knight, he was not without criticism. NPR’s David Edelstein described his husky voice as “a voice that's deeper and hammier than ever.” The Actors Who’ve Played Batman | Den of Geek Search The Actors Who’ve Played Batman We take a look back at the 8 crusading actors who’ve played Batman in TV and the movies, as well as his animated avatars! tumblr Holy revolving door, Batman! The Caped Crusader has been portrayed by more actors than any other superhero in movie history – eight to be exact. Most have lasted for just one film. But after The Dark Knight Rises, Christian Bale has become the first man to have played Bruce Wayne and his alter-ego more than twice on the silver screen. He didn’t have much competition – Michael Keaton was the only other actor to reprise the role.

And we imagine that with the kind of deals being shaken out at WB that Ben Affleck has a good shot at topping both of those numbers, especially if you count his Suicide Squad cameo, which makes 2017's Justice League his third film in the cape. But before anymore history is made next year, let’s take a look at the men who have been Batman. 1. Lewis G Wilson Wilson was the first and youngest actor ever to play the adult Batman, and also the least successful. At 23, the unknown thespian donned the cape and the cowl in the 15-part 1943 Columbia serial Batman. While he looked the part of the dashing playboy, his physique was more Danny DeVito as the Penguin. One critic described Wilson as “thick about the middle.” Maybe that was why he wore his utility belt just below his chest. Critics also complained that his voice was too high and that he had a Boston accent. That, of course, wouldn’t be the last time someone complained about Batman’s voice. After Batman, Wilson’s career went nowhere. Most of his roles went uncredited.

His next biggest movie part was probably in the 1951 cult classic Bowanga Bowanga. A few years later he was out of showbiz altogether. His son, Michael G. Wilson, however, fared better in Hollywood, becoming the executive producer of the James Bond series. Lewis G. Wilson died in 2000. Buy the 1943 Batman serial on Amazon 2. Robert Lowrey Lowery took over the role in the follow-up serial, 1949’s Batman And Robin. Unlike Lewis, Lowery, 36 at the time, was a veteran actor, having already appeared in The Mark Of Zorro (1940), The Mummy's Ghost (1944), and Dangerous Passage (1944). He also filled out the Batsuit better than Lewis, with his utility belt hanging where you would expect it on a non-octogenarian. Though Lowery never played Batman in another movie, he did get to wear the cape once more and make superhero history in the process. In 1956 he guest-starred on an episode of The Adventures Of Superman, marking the first time a Batman actor shared screen time with a Superman actor.

(The two also appeared together in their pre-superhero days, in a WWII anti-VD propaganda film called Sex Hygiene). After Batman, Lowrey enjoyed another 20 years in movies and TV. He died in 1971. Buy Batman & Robin (1949) on Amazon 3. Adam West The man logging the most hours in the Batcave, of course, was William West Anderson, whom you probably know better as Adam West. Either you love him for his goofy charm or hate him for blemishing the Bat’s image for several decades. His campy, over-the-top portrayal of Gotham’s Guardian infiltrated nearly every medium, including a 1966 movie and several animated series. [related article: Batman '66 - The Comic Book Origins] Legend has it producer William Dozier cast West after seeing him play a James Bond-like spy called Captain Q in a Nestlé Quik TV ad. He beat future Wonder Woman co-star Lyle Waggoner for the role. Dozier, who supposedly hated comic books, decided the only way the show would be successful was if they camped it up. So blame him.

Things would almost come full circle in 1970 when West was offered the role of James Bond in Diamonds Are Forever. West declined, later writing in his autobiography that he believed Bond should always be played by a Brit. Holy bad career moves, Batman! After the Batman series went off the air in 1968, West was resigned to typecast hell. At one point, he was forced to make public appearances as the Caped Crusader to earn a living. Then, in 1977, he returned to the tube as Batman, doing his voice in The New Adventures Of Batman, and then on such shows as Super Friends. Buy the Complete 1966 Batman TV Series on Amazon West’s resurgence as a pop-culture icon began in the early '90s when he starred as a has-been TV action hero in the pilot episode of Lookwell, produced by Conan O'Brien and Robert Smigel. It wasn’t picked up but took on a cult following online (check it out here ). Since then his cult popularity has increased and he now makes regular appearances on the animated series Family Guy. 4. Michael Keaton It took more than 20 years for Adam West to lose his exclusivity on Batman.

When director Tim Burton (who like Dozier was not a fan of comic books) and Michael Keaton were announced for 1989’s Batman, fans went bat-shit crazy, thinking their beloved superhero was going to get the Adam West treatment again. Keaton's casting caused such controversy that 50,000 protest letters were sent to Warner Bros.’ offices. In an effort to appease the naysayers, Batman co-creator Bob Kane was hired as the film’s creative consultant. And in case you're curious, here is Keaton, Affleck, and a long list of other great castings that fans initially thought would suck . Other Hollywood stars considered for the role of Batman included Mel Gibson, Kevin Costner, Charlie Sheen, Pierce Brosnan, Tom Selleck, and Bill Murray. But producer Jon Peters said he cast Keaton because “The image of Batman is a big male model type, but I wanted a guy who's a real person who happens to put on this weird armor. A guy who's funny and scary. Keaton's both. He's got that explosive, insane side.'' [related article: The Evolution of Batman Returns] The studio and the fans had nothing to worry about.

Keaton’s performance received favorable reviews, and Batman killed at the box office. Variety magazine gushed, “Michael Keaton captures the haunted intensity of the character, and seems particularly lonely and obsessive without Robin around to share his exploits.” Keaton was rewarded by being the first actor to reprise the role on the big screen. And in 1992’s Batman Returns, Keaton again garnered positive reviews. Of course, Keaton has now seen a career revival thanks to the spectacular Birdman, he's even suiting up again as the winged Vulture in Spider-Man: Homecoming! 5. Val Kilmer When the Batman franchise was turned over to director Joel Schumacher, Keaton decided not to return. Daniel Day-Lewis, Ralph Fiennes, William Baldwin, and Johnny Depp were reportedly considered as replacements. But the job was won by Val Kilmer – probably the most forgettable of the modern Batmen. Go ahead – try to remember. See? You can’t.

[related article: Why We Never Saw Tim Burton's Batman 3] Schumacher became interested in Kilmer for 1995’s Batman Forever after seeing him in Tombstone (in which he played Doc Holiday, who Adam West also portrayed in a movie before he did the Batman TV series). Kilmer allegedly accepted the role without even reading the script or knowing who the new director was. Schumacher quickly learned who Kilmer was, though, and the two clashed on the set. Schumacher later described Kilmer as “childish and impossible,” claiming that he fought with various crewmen and refused to speak to him for two weeks after the director asked his star to stop behaving rudely. Kilmer’s performance got mixed reviews. As The New York Times put it, “The prime costume is now worn by Val Kilmer, who makes a good Batman but not a better one than Michael Keaton.” Bob Kane felt otherwise, saying he thought Kilmer did the best job of all the actors to have played Batman up to that point. The movie performed better than Batman Returns at the box office, but Kilmer was destined to be a one-term Caped Crusader.

Between his bad attitude and his concern that the superhero wasn’t getting as much screen time as the villains, he left the Batcave for good. Instead of filming 1997’s Batman & Robin, he did The Saint. After Batman, Kilmer’s career headed downhill. Though it was probably 1996’s The Island of Dr. Moreau that had more to do with that than Batman Forever. Buy The Batman Collection on Amazon 6. George Clooney Clooney’s movie career was just taking off when he was cast in 1997’s Batman & Robin, with his breakthrough performance coming just the year before in Quentin Tarantino’s From Dusk Till Dawn. Producers probably felt they pulled off a major coup landing the soon-to-be mega-movie star. Those producers, along with Clooney, may regret that decision now. Batman & Robin was a disaster, rife with homoeroticism, camp, and those infamous Bat-nipples. Clooney once joked that he helped to kill the franchise. “Joel Schumacher told me we never made another Batman film because Batman was gay.” The actor also called the movie “a waste of money.” Critics and fans agreed.

In 1997, Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, “George Clooney is the big zero of the film, and should go down in history as the George Lazenby of the series.” Batman & Robin received 11 nominations at the Razzie Awards and frequently ranks among the worst films of all time. It was also the worst box office performer of the modern Batman movies. However, despite its many, many, many flaws, we will stick up for it a little... [related article - Batman & Robin: The Judas Defense] But all that did nothing to hurt Clooney’s career. After Batman, he went on to super stardom, starring in Out of Sight (with a cameo from Michael Keaton), Three Kings, and O Brother, Where Art Thou? over the next three years. 7. Christian Bale Between Adam West and George Clooney, Batman seemed destined to remain a joke, at least when it came to live-action adaptations. Then came along Christopher Nolan. The Memento and Insomnia director was given the reins and he planned to reinvent the franchise, finally making the Dark Knight dark.

Among the early candidates for the Batman/Bruce Wayne roles were Billy Crudup, Jake Gyllenhaal, Joshua Jackson, Heath Ledger, and Cillian Murphy. But Nolan ultimately chose Christian Bale, explaining that “he has exactly the balance of darkness and light that we were looking for.” Bale got generally favorable reviews for 2005’s Batman Begins, with several critics saying it reminded them of his brilliant turn in American Psycho. Not so brilliant, it seems, was his uber-husky Bat-voice. One reviewer compared Bale's guttural utterances to a “10-year-old putting on an ‘adult’ voice to make prank phone calls.” It got even more gravelly in 2008’s The Dark Knight, with NPR’s David Edelstein describing it as “a voice that's deeper and hammier than ever.” Even Kevin Conroy, the man behind probably the most recognisable Batman voice, chimed in, saying at a C2E2 panel in 2010 that Bale’s voice was “ridiculous” and implored the actor to stop doing it. If The Dark Knight Rises trailer is any indication, Bale hasn’t taken the advice.

Still, while that film was not as well received as 2008's sterling The Dark Knight, especially in the fan community, we still will happily come to the defense of The Dark Knight Rises . Also, Bale was crucial to the alchemy in Nolan's second Batman feature, The Dark Knight. That film is generally considered the benchmark in the superhero genre that all other movies about caped do-gooders are compared to nearly a decade later. It is also the only superhero movie to win an acting Oscar, for Heath Ledger's iconic Joker, and is considered responsible for why the Academy now nominates 10 films instead of five for Best Picture. This occurred after The Dark Knight was egregiously snubbed in 2009. Buy the Complete Christopher Nolan Dark Knight Trilogy on Amazon 8. Ben Affleck It is often said that history repeats itself, and so it did when Ben Affleck was cast in the role of Batman for Zack Snyder's controversial Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Affleck was fresh off of seeing his third directorial effort, Argo, win Best Picture at the Academy Awards, cementing one of the most grandiose career comebacks in Hollywood history.

He also was in the midst of filming Gone Girl with legendary auteur David Fincher at the helm. Nevertheless, fans went epileptic that the star of notorious flops like Gigli and Jersey Girl was now the "Bat-Fleck." The fact he appeared in the mediocre Daredevil movie from 2003 likely did him no favors. Yet, ironically, Affleck is now generally considered the very best part in an otherwise tortured viewing experience. Like Michael Keaton before him, Affleck enjoys fan adulation only a few years after intense backlash. Of course, the actual depiction of his Dark Knight in director Snyder's hands is far less universally loved. For the record, Affleck offers a solid performance as the Batman. He is neither as haunted and emotionally elusive as Michael Keaton's Bruce Wayne, or as noble and psychologically broken as Christian Bale's take on the character. In fact, Affleck lacks the lived-in quality of either performer's interpretation. But what he does have is a picture-perfect physique for the role that no actor has showcased before them, and a sense of dashing charisma that all other Bat-actors have lacked or underplayed.

[related article: Batman v Superman and Batman & Robin: Two Sides of the Same Coin] Some fans even suggest he could be the perfect Batman due to his appearance and natural charm, but he was hampered in BvS with a voice modulator no less absurd than Bale's gravelly alternative, as well as a characterization of Batman that bordered on fascism, including as he ambivalently murdered many folks with direct gun shots, car collisions, grenades, knife stabs, and even crushing one's head in with a crate. This cruelty and totalitarian streak is in-keeping with Frank Miller's extreme vision of the character in The Dark Knight Returns graphic novel. But that story was always a major departure from mainstream interpretations of the character. In fact, for all the visual upgrades to Affleck's Batman, his characterization completely lacks the altrusitic heroism and sense of driven purpose enjoyed by the much more humanistic (read: flawed) take offered by Christian Bale. Nevertheless, WB has indicated Justice League will be a course correction for the DCEU and Affleck's take, and might allow the actor to give the definitive Batman fans want, assuming of course Snyder's most 'creative' flourishes are reined in.

The Voices of Batman Speaking of Batman voices, there have been about as many men to voice the Caped Crusader as have portrayed him in live-action. But the bulk of the animated Batman work over the years has gone to two actors. In real life Olan Soule was a bespectacled pencil-necked geek, but that didn’t stop him from voicing the Dark Knight in six different animated series, beginning with 1968’s The Batman/Superman Hour. His run pretty much ended when Adam West took over voicing duties in the late '70s. Soule, who also appeared in such films as The Day The Earth Stood Still and North By Northwest, died in 1994. Unlike Soule, Kevin Conroy could probably pull off Batman in real life, but so far he’s been relegated to voice work – and quite a lot of it. Conroy began voicing the superhero in Batman: The Animated Series, which made its debut in 1992. Since then, he’s done three other Batman series, a bunch of animated movies and videogames.

Others to voice Batman are Will Friedle (Batman Beyond), Rino Romano (The Batman), Diedrich Bader (Batman: The Brave And The Bold), Jeremy Sisto (Justice League: The New Frontier), and Bruce Thomas (who voiced Batman in commercials for GM’s OnStar service and portrayed the character briefly in the live-action TV series Birds Of Prey). But Will Arnett deserves special attention. With any other actor in the role, the presence of Batman in the 2014 cinematic smash The Lego Movie (which we reviewed here ) could easily have become the sort of performance that gets neglected from lists like this. However, Arrested Development star Will Arnett brought some comedy magic to the role and landed his own spin-off movie as a result. It helped that movie came at the perfect time in Batman’s busy cinema schedule – long enough after The Dark Knight Rises for lampooning of Bale’s gruff Batman to be entirely welcome, and far enough before Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice that Arnett’s new iteration didn’t get lost in all the hype for Ben Affleck’s debut.

The result of this perfect casting and canny scheduling was a Batman who will go down in the history books as the funniest, freshest and downright fun-est take on the character. From penning ‘dark’ lyrics to helplessly attempting to hide his secret identity, Arnett’s Batman was a gag machine who The Lego Movie’s primary younger audience really embraced. There were knowing winks in there for adult fans too, with such as dialogue as “I only work in black – and sometimes very, very dark grey’ appealing to comic book fans and LEGO Batman’s painful attempts to hit a button with a Batarang surely connecting with anyone who’s ever got stuck for hours at a simple door-button in the Arkham Asylum games. Arnett’s delivery, combined with Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s zingers, made this portrayal a quick favourite for many, and it’s telling that no-one is complaining about Arnett’s reprisal in an upcoming 2017 standalone story. If you want more hilarious Arnett voice work in the meantime, check out BoJack Horseman on Netflix – you wont regret it, we promise . The number one Batman? It’s probably not a worthwhile question to ask which Batman actor is the best.

It’s hard to argue that Christian Bale isn’t tops among the live-action crowd (Though I’m sure there are some Adam West Michael Keaton, and Ben Affleck fans out there who might take up the cause). Still, Bale is no Christopher Reeve, whose iconic portrayal of Superman has made replacing him a seemingly impossible task. Bale has been a respectable Bruce Wayne/Batman, but the franchise can and has moved on without him. And though another half-dozen actors have resided in Wayne Manor, we have not found the definitive Batman. Until then, Hollywood is sure to keep trying, and maybe Affleck will be able to do it all on his own when he's allowed to direct his own solo Batman movie following 2017's Justice League.

Ben Affleck Is Batman: 16 Actors Who Played the Dark Knight Before Him (Photos) Search Ben Affleck Is Batman: 16 Actors Who Played the Dark Knight Before Him (Photos) Christian Bale, George Clooney, Val Kilmer and Michael Keaton aren't the only other leading men who've played the caped crusader Greg Gilman | August 22, 2013 @ 9:31 PM View as Grid View as List Lewis G. Wilson:Â The first actor to play the Dark Knight in Columbia Pictures' 15-episode TV series, "Batman." As the United States had just entered the second World War, Batman's nemesis was a Japanese spy called Dr. Daka, whose plan was to take over the U.S. through a group of American traitors. Wilson died in 2000. Robert Lowery:Â In 1949, Lowery took over for Wilson in the sequel series, "Batman and Robin." Fun fact: he grew up on Wayne Avenue in Kansas City pursuing Hollywood stardom. He died in 1971.

Adam West: For an entire generation, West is Batman, thanks to his turn on the iconic TV series that ran from 1966 to 1968 and spawned a film. West's halting delivery and campy earnestness are a far cry from today's Dark Knight, but his Bruce Wayne stands as one of the most beloved portrayals. Olan Soule:Â The character actor, with hundreds of film credits to his name, was the main voice actor for the animated "Batman" from 1968 to 1984. He voiced the Dark Knight in several iterations of the character, from "Scooby Doo" to "Sesame Street" and several "Super Friends" cartoons. Michael Keaton:Â When cast as Batman in Tim Burton's 1989 film, fans wrote to Warner Bros. in protest. But to their surprise, his darkly comic portrayal clicked, and Keaton stayed on for "Batman Returns" and was supposed to be in a third -- but dropped out when Burton did.

Kevin Conroy: Although they never saw his face, Conroy is regarded by fans as one of the finest voices Batman and Bruce Wayne ever had during his tenure as the DC superhero, which began in 1992 with "Batman: The Animated Series." He also lent his voice to Batman in a number of animated movies and video games. Val Kilmer: Kilmer took over for Keaton in Joel Schumacher's "Batman Forever," a box office hit that received mixed reviews. He opted not to return for the next sequel, "Batman and Robin," because he believed his heroic character was marginalized in favor of the villains. Looking back on Arnold Schwarzenegger's Mr. Freeze, he may have been right. George Clooney: The then TV-star stepped up to the plate when Kilmer backed out and has regretted it ever since. "Batman and Robin" was critically panned and didn't do nearly as well at the box office as its predecessor did. Also? Nipples.

Bruce Thomas: This actor first portrayed the Dark Knight in a series of OnStar commercials that aired between 2000 and 2002, then reprised the role for WB's short-lived TV series, "Birds of Prey." Rino Romano: The voice actor, who has also voiced Spider-Man, provided Bruce Wayne and Batman's chatter in animated series, "The Batman," which ran from 2004 to 2008 on Cartoon Network. Christian Bale: Christopher Nolan cast Bale as the vigilante in 2005's "Batman Begins," a welcome reboot to the franchise that lead to spectacular sequel, "The Dark Knight," and another massive hit, "The Dark Knight Rises." William Baldwin: He was on the shortlist to play the billionaire-turned-superhero in "Batman Forever," but lost the role to Kilmer.

Over a decade later, he voiced the character in 2010 animated movie "Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths." Bruce Greenwood: The veteran actor, who most recently appeared on the big screen in "Star Trek Into Darkness," voiced Batman in 2010 animated feature "Batman: Under the Red Hood," as well as animated television series "Young Justice." Ben McKenzie:Â The "Southland" and "The O.C." star voiced Batman for "Batman: Year One," a 2011 animated film based on the four-issue comics run of the same name from 1987. It was released on DVD, Blu-ray and digital download. Peter Weller: The 66-year-old "RoboCop" actor voiced an aging Batman in "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns," a two-part animated movie released in December, and then January. Based on a 1986 comic book story arc by Frank Miller, the film followed Bruce Wayne returning to Gotham to after a 10-year hiatus. Anthony Ruivivar: The "Southland" star is the latest actor to voice Batman in the newest animated series, "Beware the Batman," which began airing on Cartoon Network earlier this summer.

Unlike earlier cartoon incarnations of the Dark Knight, "Beware the Batman" is entirely computer animated. Ben Affleck to play Batman in next Superman movie - CNN.com Ben Affleck to play Batman in next Superman movie By Melissa Gray, CNN updated 8:03 AM EDT, Wed September 18, 2013 "Holy smokes, Batman!" Adam West might be the best-known of the Batmen. His campy, over-the-top portrayal of the Worlds Greatest Detective led to the popularity of the 1966 to 1968 Batman television series and the first full-length feature film, "Batman: The Movie" in 1966. Later West would voice the character in "The New Adventures of Batman" and "Super Friends." Click through to see other actors who have played the Caped Crusader of Gotham City. Lewis Wilson is famous for being the first actor to play Batman in live action in 1943's "Batman." He was the youngest and the least successful of all the Batmen.

Robert Lowery became the second person to portray the character in the 1949 movie serial, "Batman and Robin." Although he never played the character in another movie, he did guest star on an episode of "The Adventures of Superman." This was the first time a Batman actor and a Superman actor shared the screen. Twenty years after Adam West's Batman came Michael Keaton in Tim Burton's 1989 "Batman." He played more of a dark, explosive Batman, the opposite of West's goofy type. Keaton's performance in the Tim Burton movie received favorable reviews, and he became the first actor to reprise the role in 1992's "Batman Returns" with Danny DeVito as the Penguin. When the franchise changed directors, it also changed actors. Val Kilmer became one of the more forgettable Batmen in 1995's "Batman Forever." Director Joel Schumacher called Kilmer "childish and impossible" to work with.

He was destined to be a one-term superhero and left the Batcave for good rather than filming "Batman & Robin." Handsome, up-and-coming actor George Clooney was cast as the Caped Crusader in 1997's "Batman & Robin." The film received some of the worst reviews, and Clooney once joked that he helped to kill the franchise. Although the film did nothing to hurt Clooney's career, it frequently is cited among one of the worst films of all time. Chris O'Donnell, left, portrayed Robin. After the disaster of "Batman & Robin," the franchise was destined to remain a joke until director Christopher Nolan came along to reinvent the role and finally make the Dark Knight, well, dark. Christian Bale became the new Batman in 2005's "Batman Begins," 2008's "The Dark Knight" and finally "The Dark Knight Rises" in 2012. Though the films were extremely successful, Bale's Batman voice was often criticized and would get even more gravelly and bizarre throughout the three films. Ben Affleck's turn as the Caped Crusader has yet to hit the silver screen.

The Oscar winner stars as Batman in Zack Snyder's "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," which opens March 25, 2016. HIDE CAPTION

Question: Who was the first actor to star as Batman?
Answer: Adam West