Batman Actors in Order: Every Screen Batman From Adam West to Robert Pattinson

Nine actors have led the theatrical Batman films since 1966, in this release order: Adam West (1966), Michael Keaton (1989), Kevin Conroy (voice, 1993), Val Kilmer (1995), George Clooney (1997), Christian Bale (2005), Ben Affleck (2016), Will Arnett (voice, 2017) and Robert Pattinson (2022). Seven of them wore the cowl in live action and two lent only their voices. Keaton is the one name that turns up twice, because he came back for The Flash (2023) long after his own films.

1. Adam West, Batman (1966)
2. Michael Keaton, Batman (1989) and Batman Returns
3. Kevin Conroy (voice), Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
4. Val Kilmer, Batman Forever
5. George Clooney, Batman & Robin
6. Christian Bale, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises
7. Ben Affleck, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Justice League and Zack Snyder's Justice League
8. Will Arnett (voice), The Lego Batman Movie
9. Robert Pattinson, The Batman (2022)

Why are the Affleck films not counted as part of the main saga? Batman is a supporting player in a larger ensemble there, so they sit in the list as appearances. If you want every film in sequence, the Batman movies in order guide has the full release order, and the Batman movies hub gives each release date.

Adam West played Batman in Batman (1966), directed by Leslie H. Martinson, which premiered on July 30, 1966 at the Paramount Theater in Austin, Texas (a local Aqua Fest tie in, according to KUT). The film is a cheerful, brightly lit adventure in which Bruce Wayne and Robin, played by Burt Ward, race to rescue a yacht that turns out to be a trap.

The villains are the Joker (Cesar Romero), the Penguin (Burgess Meredith), the Riddler (Frank Gorshin) and Catwoman (Lee Meriwether), who call themselves the United Underworld. Together they threaten the delegates of the United Nations Security Council with a machine that turns people into dust. It cost $1.4 million to make, and Nelson Riddle composed the score.

If you grew up on the darker versions, think of West as the Saturday morning cartoon of Batmen: sincere to a fault, with a utility belt for every occasion. That being said, the film's tone is the reason it still reads as a distinct era, and it is the natural first stop on the Batman 1966 movie page.

Michael Keaton played Batman in Tim Burton's Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992), and he came back as an older Bruce Wayne in The Flash (2023), directed by Andy Muschietti.

Batman 1989 opened in the US on June 23, 1989 and earned $411.6 million worldwide on a $35 million budget, according to Box Office Mojo. Jack Nicholson played the Joker, Kim Basinger was Vicki Vale and Michael Gough was Alfred, with a score by Danny Elfman and songs by Prince. Batman Returns followed on June 19, 1992 with a $80 million budget and a bigger, stranger cast: Danny DeVito as the Penguin, Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman and Christopher Walken as Max Shreck. It grossed $266.9 million worldwide.

Keaton's Batman is quiet and a little odd, closer to a loner in a very expensive house than to a squared jawed hero. In The Flash he is billed third, behind Ezra Miller and Sasha Calle, and plays Bruce Wayne in an altered 2013.

Kevin Conroy voiced Batman in Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, directed by Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski and released in the US on December 25, 1993. It was the first animated Batman film to get a theatrical release, according to TheWrap.

The film is a spin-off, so it sits alongside the main saga and not inside it. It runs 77 minutes according to TMDB and earned about $5.9 million worldwide, per Box Office Mojo, which is small beside the live action films of the same decade. The cast is strong, though: Dana Delany voices Andrea Beaumont, Stacy Keach voices Carl Beaumont, and Mark Hamill voices the Joker. Shirley Walker wrote the score, and Tia Carrere sings "I Never Even Told You".

What does Conroy bring? In my opinion, a calmer register for Bruce Wayne and a harder edge for Batman, which helps the flashbacks to a younger Bruce land. If you want the animated take, start with Batman: Mask of the Phantasm.

Val Kilmer played Batman in Batman Forever, directed by Joel Schumacher, which opened in the US on June 16, 1995. Schumacher directed with Tim Burton as producer, according to Variety's coverage of the film.

Batman Forever earned $336.6 million worldwide on a $100 million budget, according to Box Office Mojo. Kilmer shares the screen with Tommy Lee Jones as Harvey Two-Face, Jim Carrey as the Riddler, Nicole Kidman as Dr. Chase Meridian and Chris O'Donnell as Robin (Dick Grayson). Elliot Goldenthal composed the score, and the soundtrack includes "Kiss from a Rose" by Seal and a U2 track.

In my opinion, the film gives Jones and Carrey so much room that Kilmer is easy to overlook, though his haunted, brooding Bruce Wayne is a real contrast with the neon around him.

George Clooney played Batman in Batman & Robin, directed by Joel Schumacher and released in the US on June 20, 1997. It cost $125 million and earned $238.3 million worldwide, the weakest return of the Schumacher pair.

The cast is large: Chris O'Donnell returns as Robin, Arnold Schwarzenegger plays Mr. Freeze, Uma Thurman is Poison Ivy, and Alicia Silverstone plays Batgirl (Barbara Wilson). Michael Gough is back as Alfred, and Elliot Goldenthal again provides the score. The soundtrack album, Batman & Robin: Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture, includes tracks by The Smashing Pumpkins, Goo Goo Dolls and R.E.M.

In my reading, Clooney plays Bruce Wayne as the genial billionaire and Batman as a team leader worrying about his partners. That suits the film's family theme, even if the story around him piles on villains. For the full cast and credits, see Batman and Robin.

Christian Bale played Batman in all three Christopher Nolan films: Batman Begins (June 15, 2005), The Dark Knight (July 18, 2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (July 20, 2012). Bale holds the record for the most films as the lead Batman in the main saga, with three.

Batman Begins earned $375.6 million worldwide on a $150 million budget, with Michael Caine as Alfred, Liam Neeson as Ducard and Cillian Murphy as Dr. Jonathan Crane. The Dark Knight added Heath Ledger as the Joker and Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent, and passed $1 billion worldwide on a $185 million budget. The Dark Knight Rises put Tom Hardy in the Bane mask, with Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle, and earned more than $1 billion on a $250 million budget. Hans Zimmer scored all three.

What sets Bale apart, in my opinion, is the double performance: a careless billionaire playboy as Bruce Wayne in Begins, and a rasp built for intimidation as Batman. The runtimes grow with the story, from 140 minutes to 152 and then 165.

Ben Affleck played Batman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (March 25, 2016), Justice League (November 17, 2017) and Zack Snyder's Justice League, which arrived on streaming on March 18, 2021. All three were directed by Zack Snyder and treat Batman as part of an ensemble, which is why they count as appearances rather than main saga films.

His Bruce Wayne is an older, harder vigilante who has been Batman in Gotham for about twenty years when Batman v Superman starts. The film earned $874.4 million worldwide on a $250 million budget, and its opening weekend was $170.1 million, according to CBS News. Henry Cavill plays Superman, Gal Gadot is Wonder Woman, Jesse Eisenberg is Lex Luthor and Jeremy Irons plays Alfred. Justice League earned $661.3 million on a $300 million budget, and the 2021 cut runs 242 minutes.

Affleck's run covers three films, but the Batman spotlight is shared. Pattinson then took the cowl in a separate Gotham story directed by Matt Reeves, so Affleck's Batman does not appear in The Batman (2022).

Will Arnett voices Batman in The Lego Batman Movie, directed by Chris McKay and released in the US on February 10, 2017. It is an animated spin-off that earned $312.1 million worldwide on an $80 million budget, with a score by Lorne Balfe.

The Lego Batman Movie has one of the most crowded voice casts in the franchise. Michael Cera voices Robin, Rosario Dawson is Batgirl (Barbara Gordon), Ralph Fiennes is Alfred Pennyworth and Zach Galifianakis is the Joker. The villains include Jenny Slate as Harley Quinn, Conan O'Brien as the Riddler and Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman.

In my opinion, Arnett plays Batman as a proud loner whose main flaw is his reluctance to let anyone in, which makes the character funny and gives the story its heart. It is a spin-off, so it is not a continuation of any other Batman on this list.

Robert Pattinson plays Bruce Wayne and Batman in The Batman (2022), directed by Matt Reeves and released in the US on March 4, 2022. It runs 177 minutes according to TMDB, cost $200 million and earned $772.8 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo.

This Batman has been fighting crime for two years when the film opens on Halloween night with the murder of Gotham's mayor by the Riddler. Paul Dano plays the Riddler, Zoë Kravitz is Selina Kyle, Colin Farrell is Oz (the Penguin), Jeffrey Wright is Lieutenant James Gordon and Andy Serkis is Alfred. Michael Giacchino composed the score, and the soundtrack uses Nirvana's "Something in the Way".

The Batman Part II has a US release date of February 18, 2028, according to TheWrap, but Warner Bros. and DC Studios paused production on October 5, 2026, saying the stop was temporary, so the date could still shift. Full film details are on the the batman 2022 page.

In my opinion, Christian Bale is the best Batman actor, with Michael Keaton close behind, and the ranking is opinion, not a count of box office. I weigh how well each actor plays both Bruce Wayne and Batman, and how well the film around them gives the performance somewhere to land. For the films themselves, see batman movies ranked.

1. Christian Bale. Three films give him the time to show a full arc, from the training in Batman Begins to the fall in The Dark Knight Rises. The rasped Batman voice is divisive, but his billionaire act as Bruce Wayne is the sharpest in the series.
2. Michael Keaton. In Batman (1989) he makes Bruce Wayne the stranger in the room, and in Batman Returns he spars with Pfeiffer and DeVito. His return in The Flash (2023) shows how well the take has aged.
3. Robert Pattinson. A tired, watchful Batman who works as a detective first. The Batman (2022) hands him more investigation than action, and I would like to see where the story goes next.
4. Kevin Conroy. One film in scope, but Mask of the Phantasm gives him young Bruce and the full Batman in a 77 minute story.
5. Will Arnett. A very funny Batman in The Lego Batman Movie, with a real emotional point about family.
6. Adam West. Perfect for Batman (1966), but the film asks for deadpan, so it is hard to compare.
7. Ben Affleck. A battle hardened Batman with strong moments in Batman v Superman, but shared across three ensemble films.
8. Val Kilmer. A good brooding Bruce Wayne in Batman Forever, though the villains take most of the film.
9. George Clooney. Last place, and the reason is the film, not the man: Batman & Robin is a family caper with a very busy cast, and Clooney has the least room to build a Batman.

Who played the worst Batman of all time? There is no agreed answer, and I would not call Clooney's performance the worst. His film is simply the weakest earner of the four Burton and Schumacher films, and it gave him the least room.