The Actors Who Have Played Batman | Den Of Geek

To this day, many still call Conroy’s performance in the animated theatrical release, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, the best take on the character ever. Whether you agree or not, there’s no denying that Conroy’s iconic voice has left an indelible mark on Gotham City, and its fandom, forever. And for those who dreamed of seeing Conroy actually suit up as Batman in live action, they finally got their wish when the actor played a Kingdom Come-inspired Bruce in the Arrowverse crossover adaptation of Crisis on Infinite Earths!

Val Kilmer

When the Batman franchise was turned over to director Joel Schumacher, Keaton decided to step away from the franchise. Daniel Day-Lewis, Ralph Fiennes, William Baldwin, and Johnny Depp were reportedly considered as replacements. But the job was won by Val Kilmer – probably the most forgettable of the modern Batmans. Go ahead – try to remember. See? You can’t.

Schumacher became interested in Kilmer for 1995’s Batman Forever after seeing him in Tombstone (in which he played Doc Holiday, who Adam West also portrayed in a movie before he did the Batman TV series). Kilmer allegedly accepted the role without even reading the script or knowing who the new director was. Schumacher quickly learned who Kilmer was, though, and the two clashed on the set. Schumacher later described Kilmer as “childish and impossible,” claiming that he fought with various crewmen and refused to speak to him for two weeks after the director asked his star to stop behaving rudely.

Kilmer’s performance got mixed reviews. As The New York Times put it, “The prime costume is now worn by Val Kilmer, who makes a good Batman but not a better one than Michael Keaton.” Bob Kane felt otherwise, saying he thought Kilmer did the best job of all the actors to had played Batman up to that point.

The movie performed better than Batman Returns at the box office, but Kilmer was destined to be a one-term Caped Crusader. Between his bad attitude and his concern that the superhero wasn’t getting as much screen time as the villains, he left the Batcave for good. Instead of filming 1997’s Batman & Robin, he did The Saint.

After Batman, Kilmer’s career went a bit downhill, though it was probably 1996’s The Island of Dr. Moreau that had more to do with that than Batman Forever.