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  1. #1
    Brian71
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    Question Which actor do you think stars as the best Batman on live-cinema?

    Ever since the revival of Batman as a hot movie commodity thanks to Christopher Nolan's "Dark Knight" franchise, fan-bases have raged about which actor plays the best Batman. Especially after the massive "Ben Affleck as Batman" controversy and the very recent protests against Robert Pattinson being cast as the Batman in future movies.
    Like many before, I have decided to add my own two cents to the debate; I have done my research on the matter and scripted this article https://www.gamersdecide.com/article...-batman-actors with my own ranked list of Batman live actors ranging from Clooney to Affleck.

    I welcome any decent discussion on my choices.

    https://www.gamersdecide.com/article...-batman-actors

  2. #2
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    It's hard to judge the actors because of the widely differing quality of the scripts they had to work with.

    Bale had a huge advantage in having great scripts that gave him a lot to do with both Bruce and Batman. His performances were still very good, especially in Rises.

    At the other end of the spectrum is Clooney, who was stuck with a script which even Adam West probably might have struggled with.

    Keaton stands out for giving a good performance despite having next to nothing to work with with his script, but I didn't think he was playing Batman, but a random psychopath who happens to be in a bat costume. That's again on the script. Affleck has some of the same problems with killing in BvS that Keaton has in his 2 movies, but his character is capable of growth and feeling remorse, which Keaton's character was completely incapable of doing.

    I definitely think Kilmer is underrated. He was Bob Kane's favorite Batman for a reason. I think Forever actually had the best look at the psychology of Batman of any of the live-action movies, even if the Nolan trilogy are better films overall.

    West is perfect for the camp interpretation he played.

  3. #3
    King of Wakanda Midvillian1322's Avatar
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    Well look wise for me its Ben Afflek by a mile. As far as the chatacter and the actual movies I'll go Val Kilmer too. He felt the most like what I imagine Bruce Wayne to be. Bale had wya better movies but I felt he was Miscast. Now if we judge based on the movie quality Bale gets the win.

  4. #4
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    My fave is Keaton.

    Bale was good too.

    The rest were meh...

  5. #5
    Extraordinary Member Jokerz79's Avatar
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    My Dynamic Duo of Batmen are West and Keaton.

    I thought Bale was a good Bruce but like many that voice is hard to get past and Affleck was good too.

    But my fav will probably be Kevin Conroy once he gets to play a live action Bruce on the CW crossover.

  6. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by sunofdarkchild View Post
    Probably the best scene of the entire series.

    Physically and in terms of the look of the costume and the fight scenes, Affleck, but in terms of how his Batman was written, he was too brutal, sadistic, and impulsive for my liking.

    In terms of how the character was written and the performance, voice aside, Bale.

    Two nitpicks about the article; lest we forget, Kilmer also had nipples on his first Batsuit,



    And this quote, "No one apart from Adam West could have pulled off the challenge of playing Batman during this era." That's not something anyone can possibly know. Maybe, if someone else had been cast instead, he could have done it better. We simply can't know what might have been.

    OK, maybe not Lyle Waggoner.

  7. #7
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    I'd give it to Affleck he was the most bad-ass. Keaton a close second even though he was a little guy.

  8. #8
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    Bruce Wayne: Christian Bale. Honourable mention to Adam West. Liked Michael Keaton also.

    Batman: Keaton or Bale. Leaning to Keaton. Bale's best Bat voice was in Batman Begins.

    Overall: Kevin Conroy.

  9. #9
    Ultimate Member Riv86672's Avatar
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    Keaton for me (with a special place for Adam West who was a force of nature). They need to have a DKR or Batman Beyond movie so he (Keaton) can reprise the role.

    Couldn’t stand Bale or Clooney in the role(s), Kilmer was fine, really. Affleck was easily the most intimidating; I just wish RL hadn’t reared its ugly head so as to keep him from continuing in the role.

  10. #10
    My Face Is Up Here Powerboy's Avatar
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    It's really an impossible task. One person will say Adam West was the best because he best exemplified the comedic Batman and maybe they grew up on that Batman. Someone else will say Christian Bale because they only want the dark Batman.

    The Adam West show was what Batman was in that time period. It's bull that the comics became that way because of the show. The comics were that way long before the show started. Some of the scripts were taken from comic book stories that were written before the show started. I've read some of those comics and that is what Batman was at that time. So, in a sense, Adam West was the truest to the Batman comics.

    I'm not really a fan of the Michael Keaton Batman. I did think it was nice of the Joker to let Batman be in his movie and even nicer of him to let them call it "Batman" instead of "The Joker" which is what it really was. I also didn't think it was true to what Batman was in that time because his refusal to kill was a huge part of the comics. But mostly I didn't think Keaton ever felt like Bruce Wayne or Batman to me though I've loved him as other characters.

    To this day, I have never seen the Val Kilmer Batman.

    I thought George Clooney did a great Bruce Wayne but, as the OP said, he was hampered by trying to be both campy and serious at the same time.

    If you love the dark Batman, it's almost inevitable that Bale will be your favorite. He does a good job of acting on top of that.

    Ben Affleck also does a nice job of playing what the version he plays is supposed to be: a shell-shocked veteran who has gone through too much and is unstable.

    So every one of them did a great job of playing what his version of the character was written to be.
    Power with Girl is better.

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