We came together on Sup Forums in a thread that somehow managed to end up with no shitposting in a 10 hour time frame and came up with this list of Batmen across both the animated and live action media
>>Official Sup Forums Batman Power Rankings
1. Kevin Conroy
2. Michael Keaton
2. Ben Affleck
4. Adam West
5. Diedrich Bader
6. Bruce Greenwood
7. Will Arnett
8. Val Kilmer
9. Roger Craig Smith
10. Robert Lowery
11. Christian Bale
12. Lewis G. Wilson
13. George Clooney
Other urls found in this thread:
>9. Roger Craig Smith
Yeah, we had a little trouble placing him. He lost a few points for Arkham Origins. Idk how he ended up after Will Arnett though.
What makes Adam West's Batman more powerful than Christian Bale's?
In fact, what were the reasons for the listings?
It's based on each actor/voice actor's performance as Batman. So obviously Bale goes way down the list. It should be fairly easy to figure out why each is where they are, though a few changes could probably still be made.
>people like the new Batman actor
Huh, I had assumed he was terrible. Did they get Batman very right in that movie or something? Cuz I've only heard bad things about it.
Anyways I'd put him above Keaton tied up with West but I'm very glad Diedrich Bader is that above in the list. That man really made that no-nonsense Mr Perfect trapped in a campy world work, and he could emote in the darker/more serious episodes. Good taste.
Do you live under a rock?
I haven't watched the movie if that's what you're asking and I'm not really familiar with the actor.
While the movie itself wasn't fantastic Ben Affleck did an amazing job of playing Batman.
He's one of the few actors to play/voice Batman that has actually cared about the character he was playing and I think that played a huge role in how his character turned out.
>1. Kevin Conroy
Nice. Though West being that low is disappointing.
Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb.
The top five are fucking perfect.
He's top 5 which is alright, he'd be top 3 if Batfleck hadn't happened but Batfleck was just so damn good.
Thanks, I'm pretty set on the top 5 but some of the others could be moved around a bit.
I feel like Roger Craig Smith could be moved up a couple of places.
Ok, look, Bale did fine. It’s the director’s and writer’s who decide the personality and thought process of each Batman.
Burton’s Batman was a young millionaire who felt the need to eliminate crime at the sacrifice of his humanity--something that made him all the more human.
Shumacher’s Batman was ridiculous. He’s not a tortured soul, he’s just a guy who fights crime and is stylish.
Shumacher’s second Batman is interesting. Clooney played him quite differently and actually did add insight into how he should play the character. He thought Batman was too mopey, and that he wouldn’t be necessarily gleeful, but at least smile a little. I get the feeling that Clooney’s Batman has a sense of family now that he has Robin, though Robin’s character sucked balls.
Nolan’s Batman was a young man who couldn’t let go of the past, and wants to find way to make his home beautiful again. His cause is and only is Gotham. He wants to make Gotham great again--the city his father wanted. He’s the Donald Trump of Batmen, except he’s not racist. I think.
Snyder’s Batman is cancer, but Affleck got the idea right. The problem was while Affleck has wanted to play the character since Daredevil (2003), Snyder just wanted his real life Frank Miller Batman who kills, and uses other interpretations of past Batmen as excuses rather than adapt an ideal Batman 100% true to the source material, or be original. That’s the problem with Snyder. He has Batman kill because he thinks it’s cool, and hey! Other Batmen did! Affleck could definitely play Batman. In fact, he’d probably be the best if he played it the same way he did in BvS. The thing is that the writing fucking killed it.
In fact, I think he was nervous long before the movie came out. Think about it, he would constantly try to rewrite his scene s in the bat-suit whenever he could. It’s not hard to see why.
>PART 1
Yes, Ben Affleck is a very good Batman.
That's much better than I would ever have expected from Sup Forums. But I'm not going to contribute because I'm not autistic enough to make stupid lists. Instead, I'm going to go and do something Sup Forums never does and have fun doing it. My backlog's gotten crazy.
Onto other Batmen…
Adam West’s version of the character is actually spot on from the comic books. He is, to-date, the most accurate Batman since the character’s conception. He doesn’t kill, he uses gadgets, he’s smart, the only difference is it’s campy and based on the silver age.
Diedrich Bader’s Batman, while funny, isn’t anything he hasn’t done before. If you listen to Hoss Delgato from Billy & Mandy, it’s literally the same performance. But with that said, it went PERFECTLY with the tone of the show. I think the main thing given credit should be the director, because by god he knew how to make the actors get a laugh outta me.
Bruce Greenwood’s Batman isn’t the most memorable, but it’s alright. The acting is decent, but while his voice is gravelly and rough, it doesn’t just hold enough character for me. Nothing wrong with it, just nothing great.
Will Arnett’s Batman is...uh...no thanks. I mean, satirically, he’s alright, but I would’ve just called in Diedrich Bader from BatB.
Robert Lowery’s Batman is not that great. I’m just not sure he knows what to do. He’s just kind of being “Yes, I am Batman.” Nothing about hi sticks out. Robin was okay though.
Roger Craig Smith’s Batman is probably my least favorite. Too young sounding, not deep enough, the grit in his voice lacks much “umph”, and his acting’s always been a bit lacking to me. He can be good, but his Batman is just so uninteresting to me, that I can’t get invested.
Lewis Wilson’s Batman isn’t that great either. You see, he and Lowery seem to think what makes Batman is that he has his suit and and fights crime. And yeah, that’s it dumbed down, but nothing’s special about it.
>PART 2
In conclusion, I think the flaw with this list is that none of them are 100% Batman. They all are completely different and unusual adaptations of him according to the directors/writers, but not actually Batman. The most accurate Batman is only in the comics still, because these directors and writers don’t want to show the real Batman, they want THEIR Batman. That’s what pisses me off as a writer, actor, and artist. Raimi wanted to direct the Spider-Man movies because he wanted to capture the correct tone and feeling. And you know what? If you literally watch the footage of Doc-Ock and Spidey fighting on a train, it seems right out of a comic. And you know what? Yeah, Raimi's Spidey trilogy is campy a bit of the time...but it's Spider-Man, and it's fun! Of course there's some "We'll meet again Spider-Man!", but there's also room for tragedy.
I don’t want adaptations of characters, I wanna see them fully realized and translated! That’s why people like the first Superman movie! It was literally SUPERMAN--the movie. The tone, the style, and the writing screamed that this was Superman!
So if anyone actually read this, I ask you one question: why do you think we haven't had a faithful Batman yet?
>PART 3 / END
And there goes the thread
Great essay friendo, but to answer your question it is because I believe that there isn't such a thing as a REAL Batman. Every single writer gives to the character a new and different interpretation, sometimes you get even more than just one from the same writer. So imo Batman per se is more of a concept than a real thing you can just adapt, you need to give him something, make him something more than just a smart sad guy in a batsuit and that's probably the thing I like the most about him.
So you live under a rock and have trash taste if youve never seen or heard of Ben Affleck.
>tfw Rino Romano didn't even get a ranking
Fuck you he had a very original take on the character
Also
>No Anthony Ruivivar
Respect your less-popular Batmen, son
He was a chill Bruce Wayne, and his voice had character, but it didn't really seem all that scary to me.
Season three, however, is very scary.
Trips confirm season three of The Batman is god's nightmare
Not everyone watches movies all day, Sup Forums. It's not that weird.
Not that guy, but I'd only heard of his name in passing in celebrity relationships. I don't think I've ever seen a movie with him yet. Looking at IMDB nothing sounds like anything I'd watch anyway.
>His cause is and only is Gotham.
>Christian "aaaah my bad knee! fuck this shit I'm going to Paris" Bale.
1/10 got me to respond.
That was the final act to his arc though--moving on from the past, thus truly living a life free from the burden of his memories. He moved on.
But yeah, that doesn't mean he's a pussy. I agree with you on that.
I have said that there was room for changes, give me a placing and the rankings will be adjusted.
Well, that's one reason to watch the movie I guess. I didn't like anything about Man of Steel and this is the same continuity so I'm still not looking forward to it.
I'm really not that much into films. I checked a list of the movies he's been in and I did watch Clerks 2 out of all of them. So I guess I had seen him at least. I just don't remember what character he played. Or the movie, to be honest. (I do remember who Kevin Smith was and I kept telling my friends I watched the movie with he had written Quiver.)
Besides that yeah, I pretty much only watch cartoons, even when I do go to the cinema. I'm only good with voice actor names so I guess the living under a rock part is right.
Hah, did you forget about Kevin Conroy or did you omit him cause at this point there's nothing left to say about him? I find it funny either way.
And I guess the answer to your question is that Batman has been written and portrayed by so many people in so many different tones and styles people might gave wildly different opinions about what makes a "faithful" Batman.
Not that user, but that's one of the reasons his batman is a bad representation. Batman would never give up his fight and definitely wouldn't bail on Gotham.
>Snyder just wanted his real life Frank Miller Batman who kills
Miller's Batman never killed anyone though.
>but what about that mutant that held the kid hostage?
The very same mutant that was missing any bullet holes in the same comic that didn't shy away from showing Joker with a batarang through the eye? What about him?
The reason why I omitted Conroy is because out of all the actors, he's the number one exception in one thing: roles.
He's been one Batman for the whole DCAU's period of time, but he's also been other people's Batman voice. The writing will be different, but he'll voice it the same. He gives the same performance, and he's consciously aware of that, because he thinks that what the fans want. And they kind of do. He's said it himself.
Yeah, I should've been clearer. It's him using an excuse by claiming previous versions of the character killed in the thing he was "influenced" from (even though he's wrong). He wants his Batman to be--Miller-esque because he liked that version, but he didn't not look at what really made it Batman. He liked a brutal psychopath who kills, so he did that instead. He probably didn't even read it.
Miller's batman is an entirely different subject as a whole though...
But yeah, you're 100% right.
Am I clear yet? I'm basically saying that yeah, I know MillerBats doesn't kill--but Zack wanted him to.
This is before that "final moment" though. He fucking retired, then "re-batmaned"m then re-retired.
That's a great take on why so many people love Conroy. And you're right about him playing different Batmans. He even was in Tales of Metropolis. Should have included it in your little write up, but I assume you were out of space.
Ruivivar's Batman is the second and only time there's a distinct difference between Batman and Bruce Wayne without going full Bale growl.
I actually did, just forgot to post it. Wrote it in googledocs...
Yeah, and that's where I agree with you, but one can argue that it's more of a "one last time" story instead of "save the city". It's an ending movie, something to bring closure. It just didn't do it well.
I liked Ben McKenzie as Batman in year one. The monotone voice really added something that made me think about how crazy and traumatized he probably is. I don't normally read/watch Batman and think about that aspect too much.
Yeah, I missed a few but every time someone brings up one I missed they never tell me where in the ranks they think he belongs.
Why do you guys place Michael Keaton so high on the list? Is it because he was the first Batman to be in a movie? If so, that isn't fair to rank the others. Just because you're the first to do it doesn't should make you high on a positive list. People give Ben Affleck's Batman shit for killing buy my god. Michael Keaton's Batman fucking enjoys it. Also Robert Lowery at 10. Yeah is the OG but come on. Batman looked like he came straight from the pub and felt like kicking ass while holding his beer. I think we should consider the fact that if it is old doesn't mean its good.
You forgot Jason Momoa or whatever from the animated movies recently.
uhhh, what? You must be thinking of Jason O'Mara, who I shouldn't have missed because I actually quite like his Batman
The other Batmen I forgot are Ben McKenzie, Rino Romano, Anthony Ruivivar, and William Baldwin.
>Is it because he was the first Batman to be in a movie?
Holy history, Batman! That user has forgotten the Adam West and Burt Ward Batman movie.
Yes he has, chum. It's a sign of the troubling times we live in. To the Batcoptor
> No Peter Weller
Where's Robocop Batman?
>christian bale even on the list
He was a great Bruce but an awful batman, op.
its still funny that people thought Batfleck was gonna be the worst part of the film
He was actually the best part of the film alongside what little of wonder woman we got
Ben and Irons are the only good thing out of the dceu so far, even with the killing and Martha scene.
In know people say this a lot now but I was very optimistic from day one, specially when I heard he was going to play a grizzled bats, though I think that was revealed later on in production.
I was sold at the idea that he might direct a batman movie at some point
Trump isn't racist though.
I hate Lego batman, he was only funny on that scene shown onnthe lego movie trailer and that's it, he should've been a 1 off joke.
Fingers crossed if we make it past WW movie or JL movie.
It must have driven him mad listening to Snyder's bat shit ideas and not being able to grab the wheel and fix everything.
He's always had a great relationship with the blacks
its gonna happen
WB gonna just keep pushing this shit train with as much money as possible until something sticks the landing
you missed Code MENT's anime batman