For The Washington Post

sa-superheroperformances-online

THE FLASH

studio

handout

HAWKEYE

other

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 - Premiere, Los Angeles, USA - 27 Apr 2023

SHE-HULK: ATTORNEY AT LAW

'Spider-Man: Far from Home' Film - 2019

stock

ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA

The Washington Post

WAKANDARACE-illustration

Follow section front redirects in Spectrum

Enable NLP source in PCS for load testing

Switch off the News Alerts Survey Widget when we have enough responses

Poll to determine if new LUF updates are available

Allows the winning A/B test variant to be turned on without Spectrum deployment

Show infinite scrolling sections in Assembler MultiView

Show option for NLP article summaries in Action Bar

A general feature flag for Recipe Features that aren't yet released

Feature flag for media team features that aren't yet released

Use new Orca video player for preroll plugin in Spectrum

Show the snow tracker (instead of the heat tracker) on Spectrum

I learned to heal my sadness by cradling dying chickens 

Brave Little Hunter is free: Baby orca escapes lagoon for open seas

Soldiers reunite with their pets from overseas: ‘It meant everything to me’

Attorney general moves to reclassify marijuana as lower-risk drug

Poll shows how RFK Jr.’s appeal to anti-vaccine right could hurt Trump

Views of the campus protests are too broad — and too narrow

Trump and allies say Biden pays rent for ‘illegals’ in Michigan. Not true.

Eighty percent of Ukraine-Israel bill will be spent in U.S. or by U.S. military

Facts in the Trump courtroom v. ‘facts’ in the court of public opinion

The FBI director’s concerns over terrorism are at ‘a whole other level’ 

U.S. campus protests spread to the Middle East and Europe  

Biden is letting Assad off the hook, with dangerous consequences

Americans are sleeping more than ever. See how you compare.

Parenting in Gaza today is so much more than keeping your children alive

In photos: Flash floods kill over 100 people in Kenya

A murder plot that cannot be ignored: India must come clean at last

How to confront antisemitism, deal with protests — and respect free speech

Is student loan debt an emergency? Take our quiz.

Miss Manners: Some audience members ask rambling questions post-lecture

Carolyn Hax: Her family left all the kitchen work to her, so she went on strike

Ask Amy: Why did my friend lie about seeing my ex-girlfriend?

Apple banned this app for years. It’s now America’s No. 1 iPhone app. 

8 major newspapers join legal backlash against OpenAI, Microsoft

Fired Google workers who protested Israel deal file complaint with labor board

Nationals sweep away the Marlins to get back to .500

Jayden Daniels is latest in Washington’s checkered history of first-round QBs

The Rangers swept the Capitals, and it’s time for the new core to take charge

Southwest passengers now get a $75 voucher for big flight disruptions

The Rick Steves guide to life

The sad, stale state of in-flight vegetarian meals

Trump Hush Money

Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures/™ & © DC Comics

This story has been updated for “The Flash,” and contains spoilers.

So long as movie theater popcorn can be popped there will always be a Batman at the movies.

For proof, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/comics/2023/06/17/michael-keaton-batman-flash-ben-affleck/" target=_blank>check out “The Flash,” which is actually a Batman movie in disguise</a>. Keaton hasn’t lost a bat-step and holds his own in the presence of other superheroes for the first time, while Ben Affleck is back in a comic-book-accurate blue cape and cowl hoping to leave a positive impression of his controversial take as the Dark Knight on his way out of the Batcave for good. And then there’s the secret end-of-the-movie bat-cameo.

The comic-book Bat-world first created by <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/comic-riffs/post/batmans-secret-co-creator-died-40-years-ago-today-whats-it-take-to-get-him-some-credit-a-author-hopes-google-can-help/2014/01/18/15291010-8050-11e3-93c1-0e888170b723_blog.html" target=_blank>Bill Finger and Bob Kane</a> in the ’30s has spawned an entire industry of screen adaptations, from mid-century movie serials to ’60s TV camp to animated titles — with Kevin Conroy and Will “Lego” Arnett especially shining as the voice of Gotham’s odd nocturnal knight. But for the sake of fair comparison, let’s rank the actors who have portrayed a live-action Batman in Warner Bros./DC’s modern film franchise since 1989. Without getting so serious, here is our freewheeling assessment of the Dirty Half-Dozen.

Clay Enos/DC/Warner Bros.

Films: “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” (2016), “Suicide Squad” (2016), “Justice League” (2017)

Vibe: Can a human vigilante find his place among the superpowered?

Batsuits: Armored for supernatural warfare. Long live the giant logo!

Oh, if only Affleck had first received a solo Batman movie like the other actors on this list. Or been given better one-on-one scenes with other Justice League members, as he got in “The Flash,” allowing him to display an unclenched humanity. But strapped to the storytelling of sometimes lumbering team-up flicks, “Batfleck” never quite got cinematic justice. You couldn’t fault the suit designs, in which Affleck looked the part. But the actor, when not laboring to convey a world-weary Batman, always appeared more comfortable portraying Bruce Wayne — the self-assured, wealthy playboy side of the role. Perhaps the takeaway was that big-screen Batman generally works better alone. Oh, well — we’ll always have <a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/sad-affleck" target=_blank>the Sad Affleck meme</a>.

Let’s talk about the Batmen in ‘The Flash’

Christine Loss/Warner Bros./Kobal

Film: “Batman &amp; Robin” (1997)

Batsuits: We’re getting into a weird areola here.

The Caped Crusader might be narratively unkillable, but director Joel Schumacher’s 1997 Batman — he of the infamous rubber nipples, more prominent than on Val Kilmer’s 1995 suit — sure drove the big-screen franchise into dormancy till halfway into the next decade. Clooney’s Batman/Bruce Wayne portrayal was too seamless for our tastes — the actor used virtually the same voice for both sides of the character — and his suave superhero never seemed too bent on the requisite sense of vengeance. Exhibit A: Just how polished was Clooney’s crime-fighter while in costume? Well, to the best of fan knowledge, he’s the only Batman to keep a credit card in his utility belt.

In “The Flash,” Clooney’s seconds-long cameo seems clipped from a sly, grinning pop-up in one of his Nespresso commercials. In another universe where Warner Bros. wasn’t trying to make a kids Batman movie in the late ’90s, Clooney could have been the ultimate Batman. But we’ll never know.

Warner Bros.

Vibe: Putting the “dynamic” in Dynamic Duo.

Batsuits: Masterful in their menace — despite the initial nipples.

The mid-’90s question was crucial: Who could take over the role after Keaton? For his first outing, Schumacher decided the Dark Knight should be inhabited by blond ambition. Thankfully, Kilmer’s Bruce Wayne was comfortable in his sophisticated skin, but the biggest franchise change-up was the inclusion of his sidekick: Chris O’Donnell’s Robin the Boy Wonder. The father/son dynamic clicked, as Robin was indoctrinated into an underworld of masked vengeance. Kilmer was a one-and-done Wayne, but <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2020/06/15/batman-forever-val-kilmer/" target=_blank>“Batman Forever” is highly rewatchable</a>, largely because Kilmer fulfilled the studio mission of brightening Batman after Burton.

Vibe: What brooding dudes do in the shadows.

Batsuit: Precisely built for function over form.

So can the actor who first gained global fame playing a tween-friendly vampire now bring the gravitas as a bare-knuckled Bat-freak skulking in the aesthetic of Nirvana-backed noir? The good news: <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/comics/2022/03/04/batman-robert-pattinson-dc/" target=_blank>Pattinson and director Matt Reeves succeed</a> in establishing a grim detective who’s learning on the job in a case worthy of a David Fincher thriller. This Batman is obsessed with his masked identity — and uninterested in being Bruce Wayne. Pattinson somehow conveys his pain — and his attraction to Zoe Kravitz’s Selina Kyle — beneath the mask while also finding his voice (nodding to Sergio Leone’s taciturn yet emotive gunslingers). A rookie Bat-performance hasn’t been this strong since Keaton in 1989.

Reeves told The Washington Post he cast Pattinson because he admired the actor’s recent work: “He’s got such a dangerous, out-of-control, driven, mad quality” while also possessing “a Montgomery Clift-Marlon Brando vulnerability under all of that.”

“And so it was that combination that I thought, ‘Well, that’s perfect for this version of the character, as I see it, where he’s still in the early days and is not quite in control of himself and is kind of like in turmoil,’” Reeves added. “And so I just started writing the movie for him without knowing if he’d ever want to play the role.”

Review: In ‘The Batman,’ Robert Pattinson channels the vampire Edward Cullen

Warner Bros. Pictures/Kobal

Films: “Batman Begins” (2005), “The Dark Knight” (2008), “The Dark Knight Rises” (2012)

Batsuits: The mobility improved over time — the underwhelming logo did not.

The shape-shifting Bale — playing the only modern live-action Batman to complete a trilogy arc — helped bring the superhero into the “real” world of director Christopher Nolan’s grounded approach. A highlight: Bale delivered one of the best Batman movie lines ever — “It’s not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me” — with fitting dramatic flair. A lowlight: Bale was saddled with the worst modern Batman suit. Still, even when Bale’s low growl was almost unintelligible, this characterization was a tour de force.

How Tim Burton’s ‘Batman’ radically changed the superhero-movie landscape

Snap

Films: “Batman” (1989), “Batman Returns” (1992)

Vibe: Putting the “goth” in Gotham.

Batsuits: A never-topped vision in dark rubber.

Christopher Reeve was a virtual unknown when cast as DC’s Superman, yet by the time the studio needed a big-screen Batman about a decade later, an established actor was needed to hold his own opposite Jack Nicholson’s over-the-top Joker within Burton’s signature vision. Keaton was more than up to the assignment, inhabiting a shadowy and often silent Batman who intimidated with imagery (those winged bat silhouettes!) and dark whispers. Keaton conveyed some of the layered depth that has carried him throughout his varied, illustrious career, and his charismatic return in “The Flash” solidified his top ranking with his long-haired and bearded “leave me alone” old man Bruce Wayne, followed by an epic return to the best batsuit money can buy.

National Headliner Award, writing/illustration, 2017, 2019 & 2021 

Ink Bottle Award, Association of American Editorial Cartoonists, 2023

Eisner Award finalist, journalism, 2016, 2017, 2020 & 2021

Society of Professional Journalists, Sigma Delta Chi Award, audio/visual storytelling, 2018

Society for Features Journalism awards, Arts/feature coverage and commentary, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 & 2021

Harvey Awards finalist, biography/journalism, 2012 

"Team Cul de Sac: Cartoonists Draw the Line at Parkinson's" (text) 

University of California, San Diego, Literature/Writing

"It's All Journalism" 

"Tall Tale Radio" 

Michael Cavna is an arts journalist, artist and 2023 recipient of the Ink Bottle Award from the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. He has also worked at The Washington Post as television/media editor, theater editor, book reviewer and creator of the Comic Riffs column.

Michael Cavna

Two-time Eisner Award nominee 

Radford University, BA in media studies

David Betancourt writes about all aspects of comic book culture for The Washington Post's Comic Riffs blog.

David Betancourt

Best Batman actors ranked, from Robert Pattinson to Michael Keaton

the-washington-post

Warner Bros. Pictures/DC Comics

name

washpost

prism://prism.query/site,/entertainment/comics&limit=10

Comics

prism://prism.query/site-and-tag,/opinions,cartoon&limit=2

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/cartoons/

prism://prism.query/site,/entertainment&limit=20

Arts & Entertainments

The latest news on entertainments and arts from The Washington Post. Breaking news and in-depth coverage of movies, music, tv, art, theater and video games.

prism://prism.query/ap-articles-by-site-id,/entertainment&limit=3

Our definitive ranking of modern movie Batmen, from Michael Keaton to Robert Pattinson

‘The Flash’ has helped cement the legacies of Keaton and Ben Affleck. Here’s how they stack up against the others.