Val Kilmer, who assumed Batman’s cowl in 1995’s Batman Forever, claims that his turn in the role made his feel like he was “an actor on a soap opera”. Kilmer, who famously played The Doors frontman Jim Morrison in the 1991 Oliver Stone biopic, began his film career in comedies before being cast as Lieutenant Tom 'Iceman' Kazansky in 1986’s Top Gun. Kilmer is also set to reprise his high-flying role in this November’s sequel, Top Gun: Maverick.
When the Michael Keaton led Batman Returns was released in 1992, Warner Bros. were disappointed in the film’s box office takings, which had earned the studio $150 million less than the original 1989 film. Deeming Tim Burton’s approach to the franchise to be too dark and inappropriate for children, the studio asked for him to step aside as director and ultimately selected Joel Schumacher to replace him. While Michael Keaton was originally on board to return for a third outing as Bruce Wayne, he ultimately turned the opportunity down due to the franchise’s new, lighter direction. After originally offering the role to Ethan Hawke, who also declined, Kilmer was finally brought on board without even reading the script.
In his recently released autobiographical documentary film Val available on Amazon Prime Video (hat tip THR), Kilmer spends some time recounting his issues taking on the role of DC’s most famous masked vigilante. Over the years Kilmer has often spoken about the problems he faced wearing the Batsuit. In the new documentary, he goes on to explain that the suit often left him winded and unable to “hear anything and after a while people stopped talking to me.” Admitting he envied his co-stars, Tommy Lee Jones and Jim Carrey, as they were physically able to perform more effectively, he said:
Whatever boyhood excitement I had was crushed by the reality of the Batsuit. Yes, every boy wants to be Batman. They actually want to be him…not necessarily play him in a movie…
I think it made no difference what I was doing. I tried to be like an actor on a soap opera. When I would turn to Nicole…I couldn’t count how many times I put my hands on my hips.
Despite being panned by critics, and ridiculed for its over-the-top performances and the infamous inclusion of nipples on Kilmer’s Batsuit, Batman Forever performed exceedingly well at the box office, becoming the first film to earn over $20 million US in a single day and even breaking Jurassic Park’s opening weekend box office record. This commercial success aside, Kilmer felt that the many problems he faced in the role did not warrant second outing and opted instead to tackle The Saint, leaving the Batsuit open for George Clooney’s turn in Batman and Robin. Given how outspoken Kilmer has been about his time as Batman, one can only wonder how he may have reacted to the vehement criticism leveled at Schumacher’s final Batman outing had he stayed.
While Kilmer is clearly not overly fond of his work on Batman Forever, his predecessor Keaton does not seem to harbor any such reservations and is set to don the Batsuit once more in 2022’s The Flash. With the events of The Flash opening the DCEU up to the possibilities of an interconnected multiverse capable of making all prior DC films part of a larger canon, some fans have questioned whether they may even expect potential cameos from other Batman actors such as Kilmer, Clooney and Christian Bale. Though, given how Kilmer still feels about his time on Batman Forever all these years later, they probably shouldn’t expect his return anytime soon.
Source: Val Kilmer (via THR)
