Batman is one of the oldest superheroes in the comic book world. Created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger in 1939, The Dark Knight is one of the best-known characters in the detective-noir genre. Of course, the Dark Knight is a superhero who doesn’t just get stuck in this genre. Batman’s fame went beyond comics and became involved in every branch of art. Especially many of us are familiar with Batman through movies. In this content, we chronologically list the 9 actors wearing the Batman costume from the first Batman movie to the present day.
1) Lewis G. Wilson – The Batman Series (1943)
Batman’s first encounter with the screens is in the form of a series. Lewis G. Wilson was the first to portray the character of Bruce Wayne in the TV series The Batman , which was released in 1943. At just 23 years old when he donned the Batman suit, Wilson was also the youngest Batman ever.
Lewis Wilson was criticized in every way, including his voice, physique, and acting. This is why Lewis has been called one of the worst Batman actors. After the short series, Wilson’s career began to deteriorate. After this series, Wilson was not even included in the cast list in many of the productions he played.
2) Robert Lowery – Batman & Robin (1949)
The Dark Knight’s second attempt on the screen was made in 1949 with the Batman & Robin series. Although different actors play in this 15-episode series, it is a continuation of the first production in 1943. The studio, which could not find what it was looking for with Lewis Wilson, chose veteran actor Robert Lowery for this series.
Robert Lowery, who put forward beautiful scenes with his athletic physique and experience, was only able to wear the Black Knight costume once again after this drama. Lowery appeared as Batman in an episode of the famous 1956 series Adventures of Superman.
3) Adam West – Batman Series (1966), Batman: The Movie (1966)
Batman’s serial that came out in 1966; It got rid of the technical glitches of the 1940s and took its place on the screens as a very enjoyable superhero series. Just after the first season finale of the series, a movie with the same name was screened.
This movie became one of Adam West’s most popular productions. Although his fighting skills were not widely appreciated, Adam West became the favorite Dark Knight of many, including Christian Bale. Adam West’s successful three seasons as the Dark Knight and a movie brought him the role of James Bond in 1970.
But Adam West felt that the role of Bond should only be played by the British. That’s why she turned down the role. Adam West later voiced Bruce Wayne in the 1977 cartoon series The New Adventures of Batman.
4) Michael Keaton – Batman (1989), Batman Returns (1992)
Twenty years after Adam West, a new “Caped Crusader” is finally on the big screen. Michael Keaton , who also starred in Tim Burton’s two legendary Batman films, is considered one of the best Dark Knight actors of all time. But when Michael Keaton was first announced for the role, it got a lot of backlash.
As a matter of fact, the fans of the series feared that Batman would again be a character with a soft demeanor and a constant social message. Warner Bros., the studio of the film, received more than 50,000 letters of complaint. The studio then appointed Bob Kane, the creator of Batman, to head the movie as a consultant.
As a result, the 1989 Batman movie won an Oscar for Best Production Design. Michael Keaton’s jovial demeanor as Bruce Wayne and stern and serious demeanor as Batman won the hearts of many fans. In addition, the legendary Joker performance by Jack Nicholson in the 1989 movie should not be overlooked.
5) Val Kilmer – Batman Forever (1995)
When Michael Keaton announced that he would no longer return to the series, Warner Bros. went in search of a new Dark Knight. Joel Schumacher filled the director’s chair left by Tim Burton, while Val Kilmer took the lead role. But Batman Forever starring Val Kilmer has become one of the unpopular superhero movies of modern times. It is also said that this movie of the trilogy is not very popular because of Val Kilmer.
But according to Bob Kane, creator of The Dark Knight, Val Kilmer was the best Batman he’d ever seen. The studio, the director, and the fans didn’t think so. Still, Batman Forever managed to outstrip Michael Keaton’s Batman Returns at the box office. Val Kilmer, who got the enthusiasm of Batman in one movie, did not want to take a role in the next movie.
6) George Clooney – Batman & Robin (1997)
After Batman Forever, Joel Schumacher and Warner Bros. one last “Bat” movie had come together. After Val Kilmer left the role, George Clooney, who was on the rise at that time, appeared as the Dark Knight. Next to Clooney, Arnold Schwarzenegger Mr. Freeze and Uma Thurman also appeared as Poison Ivy.
But the film was a hit because of director Schumacher’s colorful atmosphere and characters that seem too comic book-like. When George Clooney , the man of romantic movies, was added to this, this 1997 movie started to be mentioned at the beginning when it was said that the worst Batman movies .
Of course, we should not forget the costume with detailed nipples that Clooney wears. Even today, almost everyone who worked on the film, especially Clooney, regrets that they contributed to the shooting of this film.
7) Christian Bale – Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008), The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
After the recent George Clooney disaster, it was thought that Batman would remain a joke in screen history. But Warner Bros. had no such intentions. The studio, which gave the strings of the series to Oscar winner Christopher Nolan, made the right decision about the Dark Knight to date.
Nolan, who handled the Dark Knight with a dark story worthy of his name, won the hearts of all of us with the choice of Christian Bale . Thanks to Christian Bale and Nolan, we, who have not seen a decent Batman outside of the cartoons, have met the real Dark Knight.
Especially the second movie of the series, The Dark Knight, is known as the best superhero movie ever with Heath Ledger’s Joker performance despite all the Marvel movies released. Heath Ledger also won an Oscar for his role as the Joker, and The Dark Knight was the first and only superhero movie to win an Oscar for acting.
8) Ben Affleck – Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), Suicide Squad (2016), Justice League (2017)
After the successful Dark Knight trilogy, DC Comics was in a hurry to establish a cinematic universe like Marvel. Unfortunately, most of the movies released during this period were fiasco. Ben Affleck, who was chosen especially for the role of Bruce Wayne, was criticized a lot. This was because Ben Affleck had a very poor performance as Daredevil in 2003.
Ben Affleck’s performance, as well as Zack Snyder’s selections, caused these films to receive bad reviews. In particular, Batman, who commits murders with dark scenes and an extremely dark psychology, started to distance the fans from himself to some extent. As a result, Ben Affleck could not fill Christian Bale’s place due to problems with the script, production, director and performance.
9) Robert Pattinson – The Batman (2022)
As a result, the Dark Knight is one of the most famous superheroes in the world. Therefore, the series will restart no matter what. Robert Pattinson also received a lot of criticism when it was announced for the new Batman movie, and it made a lot of noise. But the trailer, released in mid-2020, took away almost all the doubts.
This time, we will watch a younger Batman, and will focus on Bruce Wayne’s years as the first Dark Knight. The main villain will be Riddler in the movie, but besides Riddler, we will also be able to see other villains such as Penguin and Court of Owls . Even these clues alone inform us that a series of at least 3 movies is coming.
In addition, we can deduce from some clues given in the trailer that Batman may also go after the Joker to avenge his family. Leaving everything aside, we can say that a Batman as successful as Christian Bale is waiting for us as far as we see in the trailer. To take a look at the new movie: The Batman 2022: Teaser , Trailer.
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