Nananananananana BATMEN! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re taking a look at the actors most famous for playing The Caped Crusader and where their careers went from there.
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00:00 I need you.
00:01 You need me first.
00:02 Welcome to WatchMojo.
00:04 And today, we're taking a look at the actors most famous
00:08 for playing the Caped Crusader and where
00:10 their careers went from there.
00:12 We won't be including Robert Pattinson,
00:14 as he's played the role too recently.
00:17 You either die a hero, or you live long enough
00:21 to see yourself become the villain.
00:24 Adam West, Batman.
00:26 The real crime--
00:27 Precisely, Inspector Bash.
00:29 The Riddler contrives his plots like artichokes.
00:33 You have to strip off spiny leaves to reach the heart.
00:36 Adam West wasn't the first actor to don the Batman cowl,
00:39 but he was the first to make a long-term impact.
00:43 On the delightfully campy series from the 1960s,
00:46 West didn't mug for the camera.
00:48 Instead, he played both Bruce Wayne and Batman
00:51 as rather reserved.
00:52 This made the show's absurd comedy all the funnier.
00:56 After the show ended, West had trouble
00:58 shaking the association with Batman.
01:00 He reprised the character in both live action
01:02 and animated form.
01:04 He also played the Gary Ghost in Batman the Animated Series.
01:07 While he's most famous for Batman,
01:10 he had plenty of memorable appearances in other media.
01:13 And how come Batman doesn't dance anymore?
01:15 Remember the Bat-to-see?
01:18 Yo, hey, yeah.
01:20 Millennials might know him best as the unhinged
01:22 mare on Family Guy.
01:24 I guess I told him nobody messes with Adam Wee.
01:29 In 2017, West passed away at the age of 88.
01:34 Michael Keaton, Batman, and Batman Returns.
01:37 What are you?
01:39 I'm Batman.
01:41 When Michael Keaton was announced as the new Batman
01:43 in Tim Burton's blockbuster, people
01:45 were confused and dismayed.
01:47 Though we know now Keaton to be an accomplished dramatic actor,
01:51 back then, he was mostly known for comedy.
01:53 It's showtime.
01:56 But Batman was a massive hit, and Keaton ruled his chops.
02:00 After starring in the sequel, Keaton
02:02 departed the franchise following Burton's exit.
02:05 He stayed busy post-Batman, starring in films
02:07 like Multiplicity and Jackie Brown.
02:09 Though the 2000s were fairly quiet for Keaton,
02:12 he came back in a big way in 2014
02:16 with his Oscar-nominated turn in Birdman.
02:18 I wasn't-- I wasn't even present in my own life,
02:21 and now I don't have it.
02:23 Never gonna have it.
02:25 Since then, Keaton has further shown his range,
02:27 playing the villainous vulture in Spider-Man Homecoming
02:30 and starring in dramas like Spotlight.
02:32 Oh, and he reprised his most famous role
02:35 in the big screen Flash movie.
02:38 Yeah.
02:41 I'm Batman.
02:43 Val Kimmerer, Batman Forever.
02:45 Let's just say I could write a hell of a paper
02:47 on a grown man who dresses like a flying rodent.
02:51 Bats aren't rodents, Dr. Meridian.
02:53 After the dark and unsettling Batman Returns
02:56 was met with a fairly polarized response,
02:58 Warner Brothers decided to go back to the drawing board.
03:01 They hired Joe Schumacher to direct,
03:03 and Val Kimmerer was cast in his place.
03:06 He killed him.
03:07 Two-Face, he slaughtered that boy's parents.
03:11 While Kimmerer's portrayal had its admirers,
03:13 it wasn't enough to save the movie
03:15 from feeling more like a cartoon than a superhero epic.
03:18 He was also upstaged by the hammy villain turns
03:21 from Jim Carrey and Tommy Lee Jones.
03:24 Kimmerer ultimately chose not to continue on as Batman.
03:27 He had well-received turns in films
03:29 like The Prince of Egypt and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.
03:32 Look up idiot in the dictionary.
03:33 You know what you'll find?
03:35 A picture of me?
03:35 No, the definition of the word idiot, which you [BLEEP]
03:38 are.
03:39 He also had a touching return as Iceman in Top Gun Maverick,
03:44 which mirrored his real-life battle with throat cancer.
03:47 Who's the better pilot, you or me?
03:49 This is a nice moment.
03:54 Let's not ruin it.
03:55 [LAUGHS]
03:59 George Clooney, Batman and Robin.
04:01 I want a car.
04:02 Chicks dig the car.
04:07 This is why Superman works alone.
04:09 In theory, George Clooney, with his square jaw and deep voice,
04:13 was the ideal choice to play Batman
04:15 following Kilmer's departure.
04:17 But Joe Schumacher's follow-up was so over the top
04:20 and ridiculous, no portrayal could save it.
04:23 Hey, freeze.
04:24 The heat is on.
04:25 It was such a misfire, it essentially
04:31 put the series on hiatus for nearly a decade.
04:33 But Clooney quickly rebounded, establishing himself
04:36 as a true leading man in Out of Sight and Three Kings.
04:39 His streak only continued in the 2000s,
04:42 starring in the Ocean films and earning accolades
04:45 for films like Michael Clayton and Siriana,
04:47 which he won an Oscar for.
04:49 Why am I being investigated?
04:52 Why am I being investigated, Fred?
04:54 Clooney has also made his mark as a director.
04:57 Oh, and he reprises his role as Bruce Wayne in The Flash
05:01 in a memorable cameo.
05:03 You're not Batman.
05:04 What's wrong with you?
05:08 Kristen Bell, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight,
05:11 and The Dark Knight Rises.
05:12 What gives you the right?
05:14 What's the difference between you and me?
05:16 I'm not wearing hockey pants.
05:19 Even eight years after Batman and Robin,
05:21 there was doubt as to whether Batman had a future in movies.
05:24 But hope was found in the form of Christopher Nolan,
05:28 who gave the material the serious treatment it deserved.
05:31 I never went to the drop-off point.
05:33 It was in the narrows.
05:34 Cops only go there when they're in force.
05:36 Do I look like a cop?
05:38 Crucial to the success of his trilogy
05:39 is Christian Bell, who had grown up from promising child star
05:43 to one of the most compelling actors of his generation.
05:46 Woken up to play Batman, Bell gave us a hero
05:49 who truly felt torture.
05:50 After wrapping things up with The Dark Knight Rises,
05:53 Bell continued to demonstrate his amazing range
05:56 with Oscar-nominated turns in American Hustle, The Big Short,
05:59 and Vice.
06:00 Maybe I can handle some of the more mundane jobs,
06:05 overseeing bureaucracy, managing military, energy,
06:12 foreign policy.
06:13 He also showed he could play a supervillain
06:15 when he portrayed Gorr the God Butcher in Thor, Love,
06:18 and Thunder.
06:19 Just as the sword empowered me, the hammer empowered you.
06:26 But it did nothing to change your fate.
06:29 Ben Affleck, Batman versus Superman, Dawn of Justice,
06:32 Justice League.
06:33 Tell me.
06:34 Do you bleed?
06:41 Ben Affleck is arguably the Batman actor
06:43 who was most famous prior to playing the Caped Crusader.
06:46 And when his casting was announced
06:48 in the eagerly anticipated face-off between Batman
06:51 and Superman, there was a good deal of skepticism.
06:54 But when Zack Snyder's film overall
06:56 got a negative reception, Affleck's portrayal
06:58 of an older, jaded Batman was praised.
07:01 They told me the world only makes sense if you force it to.
07:05 After Justice League, and a brief role in The Flash,
07:08 Affleck appears to have said goodbye to Batman for good.
07:12 Well done, Mr. Wayne.
07:14 Will you be home for breakfast, sir?
07:15 Yes, I think so.
07:21 Recent highlights from his filmography
07:23 include medieval drama The Last Duel and Sneaker Story Air,
07:27 which he also directed.
07:29 Don't confuse desperation with visions.
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07:47 Kevin Conroy, various.
07:49 Gotham police declare war on Batman.
07:52 I gather you've been reading how to make friends and influence
07:54 people.
07:57 Somebody's setting me up.
07:58 We've mostly stuck to live action portrayals for this list.
08:01 But real comic fans know that no Batman list is
08:04 complete without Kevin Conroy.
08:06 His vocal gravitas was just one of many reasons
08:09 why Batman, the animated series, was
08:11 a cut above the average superhero cartoon.
08:14 Clean up your act, Joker.
08:16 And Conroy voiced the Caped Crusaders
08:18 in multiple other series and movies.
08:20 A closeted gay man for much of his life,
08:23 Conroy understood how to play someone
08:25 trying to reconcile both a private and public persona.
08:28 I've put out a few fires, yes.
08:30 Won a few battles.
08:32 But the war goes on, Alfred.
08:34 On and on.
08:36 Conroy's unmistakable voice can be heard in Batman media
08:40 from the '90s through the end of the 2010s.
08:43 He sadly passed away in 2022 at the age of 66
08:47 following a private battle with intestinal cancer.
08:50 I am vengeance.
08:52 I am the night.
08:54 I am Batman.
08:57 Who's your all-time favorite Batman?
08:59 Let us know in the comments down below.
09:02 Gonna have to go into double secret super vigilante mode.
09:06 Did you enjoy this video?
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09:15 ♪♪
09:25 [BLANK_AUDIO]