With the long-awaited release of The Batman, Robert Pattinson has officially become the ninth actor to embody the role of Bruce Wayne in a live-action movie. From the 1940s serials of Lewis Wilson and Robert Lowery to the modern blockbusters of Christian Bale and Ben Affleck, the Bat has been played in a bunch of different forms over the years.
Naturally, with such an iconic legacy, Pattinson’s portrayal of the character is being judged against his eight predecessors. He might not be the greatest Batman of all time, but it’s a fresh, nuanced, riveting take on the Caped Crusader.
George Clooney
Between his two Batman movies, Joel Schumacher recast the role of Bruce Wayne. After Val Kilmer played Bruce in Batman Forever, Schumacher cast George Clooney in Batman & Robin. It’s like somebody other than Christian Bale playing Batman in The Dark Knight after Batman Begins. Casting Clooney as Bruce Wayne should’ve been a slam dunk. The actor has a proven track record of combining movie-star charisma with Oscar-caliber dramatic nuance to bring complex, interesting, flawed yet likable characters to life.
But in the movie, Clooney is let down by ridiculous material. He doesn’t get to play the brooding Travis Bickle loneliness that Robert Pattinson plays in The Batman; instead, he’s relegated to wearing rubber nipples on his Batsuit and delivering a silly one-liner about his Bat-Credit Card.
Lewis Wilson
Batman first debuted on the big screen in a 1943 serial aptly titled Batman. The Bat was played by Lewis Wilson, whose wildly unfaithful take on Bruce Wayne has been eviscerated by fans over the years.
Wilson’s face is a good match for the Bruce of the comics – and the actor clearly brings his A-game to the role – but with a high-pitched voice and a Boston accent, he didn’t seem a lot like Batman.
Robert Lowery
The 1943 Batman serial was dismissed by critics but proved to be popular enough with audiences to earn a post-World War II sequel, Batman and Robin, starring Robert Lowery in Wilson’s place.
The story revolves around the Bat and his young ward clashing with a hooded villain dubbed “The Wizard.” Lowery’s performance is a slight improvement over Wilson’s take, but it’s still nothing to write home about.
Val Kilmer
Val Kilmer faced a tricky challenge when he was cast as Michael Keaton’s replacement in Batman Forever. Reboot actors like Christian Bale, Ben Affleck, and Robert Pattinson have been encouraged to reinvent the character, but Kilmer had the burden of fitting into the Keaton continuity and convincing audiences that it was the same Batman with a different face.
While Kilmer is more than charming enough to play Bruce Wayne convincingly, he emulates Keaton’s iconic performance instead of offering his own fresh take on the character.
Ben Affleck
When Zack Snyder retooled his Man of Steel sequel as a Batman v Superman crossover movie, he chose Ben Affleck – already notorious among superhero fans for his controversial turn as Daredevil – to play Bruce Wayne. Affleck’s performance as Batman ended up being one of the few aspects of BvS that critics and audiences enjoyed unanimously.
Affleck perfectly embodied the character from the opening scene. As the people of Metropolis flee from the carnage of Man of Steel’s ridiculously destructive final battle, Bruce runs into the wreckage to save whoever he can. The actor beautifully captures the rage simmering under the surface of Bruce’s reclusive billionaire facade and channels it brilliantly through his hatred of Superman.
Robert Pattinson
With no traditional origin story, The Batman acts as more of a character study of Bruce Wayne, which gave Pattinson plenty of chances to shine in the role. Pattinson’s long-awaited turn as the Bat is one of the most nuanced Batman performances to date.
In just the second year of his vigilante career, this Batman is young and inexperienced and struggles to balance his double life. Pattinson has a great new take on the “Batman voice” that’s gruff but understated. His voiceover narration brings a Taxi Driver-esque depth to the Bat’s troubled psyche and gives Pattinson the chance to explore another dimension of the character.
Adam West
In the 1960s, Adam West became a cultural icon with the lightest take on the Dark Knight imaginable. While West’s Batman is far from the badass that modern audiences are used to, his performance is undeniably iconic.
Generations of kids have grown up on reruns of the timeless classic ‘60s Batman series. With goofy fight scenes, tongue-in-cheek humor, and an unashamedly camp stylistic approach, West is the Roger Moore of Batmen.
Christian Bale
Christian Bale brought more dimensions to the Caped Crusader than the average Batman actor. Most of them play Batman and Bruce Wayne as two separate characters, but Bale went a couple of steps further and essentially played him as four different characters.
He played Bruce’s shallow playboy persona as a fabrication, he played the Batman persona as an aggressive conduit for Bruce’s rage, he played the younger Bruce as a vengeful man, and he played the older Bruce as a bitter, aging, grizzled crimefighter realizing his true purpose in life. The only downside of Bale’s performance is that his “Batman voice” is too growly (to the point that it’s occasionally incoherent).
Michael Keaton
The offices of Warner Bros. were famously bombarded with complaint letters when Tim Burton cast Michael Keaton in the title role of his groundbreaking Batman movie. Keaton, of course, ended up being the perfect casting choice for the part. He invented the “Batman voice,” which is now a staple of the character, and perfected it. He’s not rough and aggressive as the Batman; just ice-cool and effortlessly intimidating.
The main fear of fans who protested Keaton’s casting was that his traditionally comedic sensibility wasn’t right for Bruce Wayne. But Keaton ultimately used those comedic skills to his advantage, humanizing Bruce with a dry, self-effacing wit.