What Happened To The Batman Actors...

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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.

Transcript

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.

07:31 Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel

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07:43 and switch on notifications.

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?

09:08 Check out these other clips from WatchMojo.

09:10 And be sure to subscribe and ring the bell

09:12 to be notified about our latest videos.

09:15 ♪♪

09:25 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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