Author’s Note: This is part one of a 5-part series examining the (potentially) changing icons in Hollywood. Each part will focus on one of the characters or franchises highlighted in this introduction piece.
Part Two will focus on Batman.
How iconic is the character?
In the realm of superheroes, I’d say fairly iconic. He wasn’t the first big blockbuster superhero (Superman in 1978, probably) but he was the first real modern superhero to have his own set of movies, and his lack of super powers probably plays into that.
Since 1989’s Batman hit theatres, we’ve had eleven live-action movies (I’m choosing not to count the Lego movies, and am counting both Zack Snyder’s Justice League and the Josstice League theatrical release) which have featured Bruce Wayne or Batman in some capacity. From the much-beloved The Dark Knight to the much-derided Batman & Robin, Batman has a very checkered past on the big screen. One thing remains certain though, and that is that people do love the Caped Crusader.
Batman has taken on several different forms over the last 34 years as well; from the shadow-like Michael Keaton performance, to the downright goofy (sorry, Clooney), a true action hero in Christian Bale and Ben Affleck, and Robert Pattinson’s 2022 introduction gave us less action and more mystery and detective.
Who has played the character before?
Adam West (1 movie, TV series, 1966-1968)
Michael Keaton (2 movies plus one upcoming, 1989-1992, 2023)
Val Kilmer (1 movie, 1995)
George Clooney (1 movie, 1997)
Christian Bale (3 movies, 2005-2012)
Ben Affleck (technically 4 movies plus one upcoming, 2016-2023?)
Robert Pattinson (1 so far, more coming, 2022-present)
Honourable Mention: Kevin Conroy, voice of TV, movie and video game Batman (1992 until his death in 2022)
Other actors have voiced or played Bruce Wayne / Batman in various mediums but were left off the list for brevity’s sake.
The (recent) past vs. the present
Rewind to 2005, when unknown director Christopher Nolan was about to release Batman Begins, starring relatively unknown Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman. Following in the footsteps of 1997’s Batman and Robin, expectations were low. Like, really low. Despite loading up with the top talent of the mid-90s (Clooney, Schwarzenegger, Thurman, Silverstone), the movie currently sits with a score of 28% on Rotten Tomatoes. That’s a combined score of 28% – like if you add the audience score to the critic score, you get 28%.
There was little to no pressure on Bale at the time, from what I remember. As mentioned, expectations were low and if the movie bombed, it was suspected that we’d either just be fine without Batman for a while, or that they’d simply try again in a couple of years. As we now know, Bale (and Nolan) absolutely knocked it out of the park, creating a lot of discourse that they changed superhero movies forever, and there’s a lot of evidence to back that up which is a discussion for another day.
In the mid-2000s, much as I mentioned in Part One with Bond, Bale was an actor who rescued the franchise and character, and it’s been up to high-profile actors in Affleck and Pattinson to maintain him since them. Coming into the role now in the 2020s, it’s a very precarious type of situation, although admittedly not as precarious as someone coming into a role like Bond; after all, Batman has a multiverse in which any of the old Batman actors could randomly return (enter Michael Keaton in the upcoming Flash movie).
Where the future of Batman was very much a question in 2005, the character has since solidified a spot in pop culture relevancy, in large part thanks to Christian Bale.
How much pressure will be on the new actor?
Bale created such immense pressure for the Batmans (Batmen? Batmanses?) to follow him, so much so that the next two actors, Ben Affleck and Robert Pattinson, both came with some baggage in their past, but settled in nicely. I’ll go on record saying Affleck is my favourite Batman, and Pattinson is off to a great start with Matt Reeves’s take on the character.
While Affleck’s movies have been hit-or-miss (audiences either loved or hated Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, resoundingly hated Josstice League and embraced Zack Snyder’s Justice League), many people do really admire his version of the character within the movies. Pattinson’s turn as Wayne/Batman was under quite a bit of scrutiny, but he’s paid off so far, and as long as he continues on in the role, Gunn’s Batman will be measured against him as their movies compete for box office supremacy (though presumably not against each other).
What’s interesting about Batman is that a common argument about the character is that he’s only been as good as his villains. When the list of actors who’ve played villains include Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito, Christopher Walken, Tommy Lee Jones, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Liam Neeson and Heath Ledger (among others), it seems like that’s asking a lot. Matt Reeves was very intentional in casting the Riddler (and the Joker) for his Batman series, but I think we’ll see more mainstream casting in Gunn’s Batman movies.
So, pressure? Sure, but Pattinson will face the most pressure to live up to his original performance and could actually deflect a lot of the pressure and scrutiny from whoever the DCU Batman will be.
What we know
We know James Gunn has taken over the DC Universe and is in the process of resetting the Universe. We know Keaton and Affleck are going to appear in the Flash movie in June 2023. We know Pattinson will continue to play Bruce Wayne and Batman in Matt Reeves’s world of The Batman, which will exist independently from the Gunniverse.
We know the Batman movie Gunn will create is to be called The Brave and the Bold, and will be a story of Batman and Damian Wayne, Bruce’s long lost son, taking the mantle of Robin. This means the actor portraying Batman – who we know will be new to the role – will likely be an older actor, someone old enough to believably have a teenage son.
We also know The Brave and the Bold likely won’t come out prior to 2026; Reeves and Pattinson’s Part 2 will be out in late 2025, so pushing the new Batman and Robin to at least 2026 seems likely. That means Gunn has plenty of time to cast his Batman, so we probably won’t know who’s playing him until at least late 2024.
Who could play this role?
As stated above, the Bruce Wayne they’ll be looking for will probably be middle-aged, old enough to be a father to a teenage son. Gunn likes to bring back people he’s worked with before, but those people could all potentially be spoken for by the time the Batman casting rolls around.
Assuming The Brave and the Bold starts filming in 2025, that would be the same year Gunn collaborator Bradley Cooper turns 50. Cooper is a well-known and well-respected actor who would take the role pretty seriously, and has the body type to be a believable action hero, if that’s the route the character takes.
Other actors who are in the same age range who could be looking for franchise work by then include Oscar Isaac, Pedro Pascal and Michael Fassbender, the latter of whom has been quiet of late. Jon Hamm had lobbied to replace Ben Affleck when it was uncertain of the Batfleck would reappear pre-Josstice League, and Josh Brolin was actually offered the part before Affleck.
Luke Evans and Orlando Bloom are a bit younger, but could both bring a maturity to Bruce Wayne beyond their years, while Christopher Nolan considered both Cillian Murphy and Jake Gyllenhaal before landing on Bale as his Dark Knight.
That’s a lot of potential names, and I would think the list will grow as time goes on and the casting process unfolds. It will also be interesting to see who will be cast as the young Damian/Robin, as I would imagine over time they will take over the Batman franchise in the Gunniverse.
Who do I think should play the character? I’m going to go well off the board for my first pick, as I think Hayden Christensen could be a fascinating Bruce Wayne. He’s quite tall, which makes for an intimidating presence in the Batsuit, and could find his career rejuvenated thanks to appearances in the Star Wars universe in the next couple of years. More realistically, I think Cooper or Hamm would each make for a great Batman. Both handsome enough to sell the playboy aspect, and talented enough to carry the weight of all Bruce’s baggage in their performances, whether it’s a serious and dramatic character or a bit more comedic and light-hearted.
Will Hollywood repeat itself?
When I posed this question initially, I didn’t realize what a broad question this would be. Hollywood could repeat itself by casting another British actor (Bale/Pattinson), or it could repeat itself by casting an established, well-known actor to be the Batman (Affleck/Pattinson). At the end of the day, I do think this next iteration of Batman will not be a career-defining role for whoever puts on the cowl, whereas in 2005 (the past era we’re focusing on) Bale was a relative unknown who really embraced Batman as his own character and has carved out quite a great career aside from being this generation’s definitive Batman.
I think this next Batman will have more of an Affleck-type career – someone who is well-known, and has been a significant name in Hollywood for quite some time (Affleck did Good Will Hunting in 1997 and wasn’t Batman until 2016) so someone like Cooper (currently with four acting Oscar nominations to his name) makes a ton of sense.
Stay tuned to Talking Films for the 5-part series discussing the huge climate shift in the iconic roles of pop culture:
Introduction
Part 1: James Bond
Part 2: Batman
Part 3: Superman (coming soon)
Part 4: Spider-Man
Part 5: The Greater MCU
Talking Films 