Batman Actor Rankings – Who Played the Dark Knight Best?

• Val Kilmer cracks our top 5 Batman actor rankings, but just barely.
• Michael Keaton was the OG Batman and remains one of the best ever.
• Christian Bale vs. Robert Pattinson for #1. Who is the best Dark Knight?

Batman is easily one of the best comic book characters of all-time. Naturally, no matter the adaptation, people can’t get enough of the Dark Knight.

The Caped Crusader is two men in one, with an inner child constantly fighting the harrowing memories of a stunted adolescence. He’s Bruce Wayne. He’s Batman. He’s tortured. He’s brazen. And he’s redemption + vengeance, shaken in a bottle of coke and mentos.

To put it bluntly, it’s pretty hard to mess that combination up as an actor. You have all the goods right in front of you – not to mention the fact that you get to wear a sweet costume a large portion of the time you’re on screen.

But who messed it up the least? More importantly, who’s the best Batman actor ever? I’m just one person and this is just one opinion, but I love Batman, and I have my favorites.

I’ve looked over all the best Batman actors, and come away with my personal top five. Join in with your own thoughts, but here are my personal Batman rankings for the live action films.

5. Val Kilmer – Batman Forever

I choose to remember Kilmer’s best work as Doc Holliday in Tombstone, and probably won’t revisit Batman Forever too much as the days wind on.

That said, Kilmer played a respectable Bruce Wayne, and was convincing enough as Batman. He certainly was the better option between him and George Clooney, so he narrowly makes it into my top 5 Batman rankings.

Kilmer was part of a campy rendition of the Batman franchise, yet he did well to keep it fairly grounded.

He also offered pretty solid emotional depth for this character, and his somewhat underrated (and complete) performance is enough to slide him into my top five of the best Batman actors of all-time.

4. Ben Affleck – BvS

Ranking Batman actors is harder than it looks, but I have no qualms leaving George Clooney off my list. I’d even be okay with trimming my Batman rankings down to a top four, if I am being honest.

The entire Batman & Robin film is an abomination, so it shouldn’t shock you to see that George Clooney doesn’t make the cut.

Clooney can be cool and collected, but he offered no real substance. He made a lot of money with the movie, but he didn’t pass the eye test.

Affleck, on the other hand, definitely did.

He was an older, more hateful Batman, and while he’s not in the top 3 of my Batman rankings, he sure is close.

Affleck bulked up for this role, and more than providing the physical presence you demand out of Batman, he also had a grizzly, hardened personality.

That’s what we wanted out of an older, more jaded Batman. Despite this, Affleck also pulled off a convincing Bruce Wayne, and collectively gave fans one of the more balanced (and perhaps most underrated) Batman takes to date.

3. Michael Keaton – Batman and Batman Returns

Any conversation about who the best Batman actors in history are probably starts with Keaton. Beyond Adam West, he’s your first on screen representation of the Dark Knight, and he was the first to truly nail it.

West couldn’t help it with his campy day-time drama, but he can’t seriously be placed highly in any Batman actor rankings.

Keaton has a real argument for being the best Batman actor of all-time, no doubt. He was the original feature film Caped Crusader, and he was convincing both as the uber rich Wayne, and the menacing Batman.

That said, just because you were first doesn’t mean you were the best.

Keaton was a little nerdier than you’d prefer for the Bruce Wayne role, and other Batman actors trumped him when it came to action sequences and pure brooding impact as a person to fear.

I’ll hear your argument for Keaton being the greatest Batman ever at one point, but he’s been lapped in recent years.

2. Christian Bale – The Dark Knight Trilogy

For the longest time, the answer to “who’s the best Batman actor” was easily Keaton. Then it was quite easily Bale. Until Bale came along, nobody played this dual role to the level it deserved to be.

The guy literally morphed into two very different roles. He also built his body back up to play this role to perfection, and he’s no stranger to being among the top Hollywood body transformations for movies.

He has the formidable build, the threatening voice, the passion, the depth, and the vulnerability of a lost and constantly seeking hero.

Bale’s commitment to his craft knows no bounds, while the casting department – as well as the fearless direction of Christopher Nolan – all deserve a tip of the cap, as well.

However, Bale was cool as a cucumber – almost in robotic fashion – when he played the “I’m rich and I don’t give a shit about you Wayne. If you weren’t so high on the superhero drug, you’d probably hate this guy.

Bale was always in control, whether he was Wayne or Batman. He was to be forever feared when he was roaming the streets of Gotham, and he had you in a corner when he was wearing a suit and tie, just as well.

As good as he was, he’s not the best Batman we’ve seen at the movies.

1. Robert Pattinson – The Batman

Call me prisoner of the moment all you want. There is some truth to that, to be fair. But Pattinson not only exceeded expectations as the new Dark Knight, but he absolutely smashed them.

There are other Robert Pattinson movies you have to see, but The Batman may trump them all.

Battinson partially worked as well as it did due to the insanely sharp direction of Matt Reeves, of course. He meshed Gotham with noir fiction, turning our familiar Batman world into a grizzly David Fincher flick.

Part of his success was the casting of Pattinson, though, who perfectly played into Wayne’s inexperience, wide-eyed hopefulness, and youthful desire to fulfil a purpose.

Pattinson played easily the best Bruce Wayne in DC history. On the flip side, his Batman was extremely controlled, calm, and observing. Batman at his core is a detective and champion for justice, and Pattinson nailed that with his slow movements, clear speech, and chilling tone.

He was also quite simply a bit of a badass.

It’s fair to wonder if Pattinson’s elite double-take will last. Keaton held firm in two strong showings, while Bale accomplished the rare feat of providing an immaculate presence in a complete trilogy.

But if we’re talking about staying true to a character, Pattinson is the best Batman we’ve seen in the movies.

I’m not here to hand out Batman rankings that will appease the masses. I’m just offering my opinion. And if you’re trying to be unbiased and come away with the best Batman actor we’ve ever seen, I think we’ve found it in Robert Pattinson.

Did I get my Batman rankings wrong? Think I left someone out? Let me hear who you think is the best Batman actor of all-time in the comments below.

• Also Read: Ranking Every Superman Actor Ever