If the go well with matches! Batman is arguably one of the most iconic superheroes to ever be created, however not all have been fortunate sufficient to strap up because the caped crusader.

George Clooney, Michael Keaton and Val Kilmer are a part of a rising record of actors who’ve stepped into the twin function of billionaire Bruce Wayne/Batman. Lewis Wilson was the primary to don the go well with for 1943’s Batman, adopted by Robert Lowery in The New Adventures of Batman & Robin in 1949. Nonetheless, of the celebrities who’ve been so lucky, Christian Bale’s efficiency is amongst those who have resonated with followers years after his run as the long-lasting character.

Bale starred because the caped crusader in Christopher Nolan’s “Darkish Knight” franchise within the late 2000s. The Fighter actor spoke to The Guardian in 2016 about what he believed that he could have done better in the role. “I didn’t fairly handle what I hoped I’d by means of the trilogy. [Director] Chris [Nolan] did, however my very own sense of self is like, ‘I didn’t fairly nail it,’” he defined.

“Batman, he’s this very, very darkish, messed-up character,” he continued. “I discovered once I placed on the go well with I went, ‘I simply really feel like a bloody fool if I don’t use this as a method to [show] his true, monstrous self that he permits to return out in that second.’”

Ben Affleck succeeded Bale in 2017’s Justice League and 2016’s Batman v Superman: Daybreak of Justice. Neither movie was well-received by critics, however the DC Extended Universe installments every earned greater than $500 million on the worldwide field workplace. (Justice League raked in $657.9 million, whereas Batman v Superman drummed up $873.6 million.)

The Academy Award winner confirmed his departure from the DCEU in January 2019, however his retirement was short-lived. He returned for Justice League reshoots when unique director Zack Snyder was granted an opportunity to debut his meant imaginative and prescient on HBO Max. Zack Snyder’s Justice League debuted in March 2021.

“It was a very nice option to revisit that because the prior expertise had been troublesome,” Affleck instructed Variety the next October. “This was actually beautiful. Actually enjoyable.”

The “Batfleck” will return in 2022’s The Flash film, which can discover the multiverse, permitting different former caped crusaders to be in the identical movie. Keaton can also be set to reprise his function because the Darkish Knight within the motion film (in addition to within the upcoming Batgirl).

Earlier than the Good Will Hunting actor’s subsequent experience within the Batmobile, nevertheless, viewers met yet one more model of the tortured billionaire. Warner Bros. introduced in Might 2019 that Robert Pattinson would be taking over as Batman. Within the movie directed by Matt Reeves, Zoë Kravitz was additionally tapped to star as Selina Kyle — a.ok.a. Catwoman. (Halle Berry, Anne Hathaway and Michelle Pfeiffer have beforehand performed Selina Kyle/Catwoman.)

“Batman’s not a hero,” Pattinson mentioned in a New York Times profile from October 2019. “He’s an advanced character. I don’t suppose I might ever play an actual hero — there’s all the time obtained to be one thing a little bit bit improper. I feel it’s as a result of one in every of my eyes is smaller than the opposite one.”

Pattinson’s flip because the Darkish Knight was slated to hit theaters in June 2021, however manufacturing was delayed amid the coronavirus pandemic. Filming wrapped in March 2021, and The Batman premiered in March 2022.

Scroll right down to see the actors which have tackled the function of Bruce Wayne/Batman, throughout movie and tv, over time.