As a fan of Val Kilmer ever since the movie ‘Top Secret’, I find myself irritated when his Batman is nay-sayed and underrated by fans of the movie Bat-franchise. Granted, the last few years, everything that’s not Christopher Nolan has been handwaved away as not cool anymore, but it would still have been interesting to see Val grappling with the events of ‘Batman Begins,’ or even squaring off with Jack Nicholson in the Tim Burton nightmare that was the ’89 movie. With his charming Bruce Wayne playing against a scene-chewing Jim Carrey and a sadly wasted Tommy Lee Jones, Kilmer got the short end of the bat-stick, leading us to today’s alternate-reality query…
The MS-QOTD (pronounced, as always, “misquoted”) might also consider George Clooney’s Batman starring in the Nolan Trilogy, asking: What Batman actor would you like to have seen in a different Batman film?
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If we’re speaking generally, I could easily see Michael Keaton, Adam West or even a makeup altered Kevin Conroy as the elderly Bruce Wayne in a live-action “Batman Beyond” film.
If we’re sticking to established films, I would have actually enjoyed “Batman and Robin” and “Batman Forever” if Adam West were the Batman of those films. And while I enjoyed the performance of Michael Caine as Alfred in the Nolan movies, I think Adam West could have pulled off Alfred in his own way.
I totally agree on Adam West in Batman & Robin and Batman forever. Michael Caine was alright, but his lines and actions were not. But that’s because people who wrote Nolan Batmans don’t understand Batman or Alfred at all, not Caines fault.
Let me first start by say that Dark Knight Rises is tied for the worst Batman film ever created almost narrowly being beaten out by Poison Ivy in a Pink Gorilla suit. Remove that scene and it deserves a trophy for its terrible plot and inability to actually have Batman show up in the film. Since I can’t change the script I would put Clooney in as Bruce Wayne with one caveat; Kevin Conroy must have his voice dubbed over all the lines. This way, while I am appalled by the script, I can at the very least have my inner child squeal in delight as Batman has the proper build and Kevins silky voice brings back my fond memories of the Animated Series.
Ben Affleck or Val Kilmer in one of the more recent movies would be good choices.