3. Michael Keaton - Bruce Wayne (Batman)
When people originally found out that Michael Keaton was going to take on the role of Bruce Wayne in Tim Burton's super-hyped
Batman movie, they totally freaked out. Better known at the time for his comic exploits (he'd just come off the back of
Beetlejuice, after all), thousands and thousands of fans sent in angry letters to Warner Bros. trying to explain how the actor lacked "the suave, handsome features and tall, muscular physicality often attributed to the character in the comic books." They weren't exactly wrong, to be fair. And yet Keaton silenced them all. When the movie was released, this actor - miscast by most standards - got it right, and was praised by both fans and critics alike for his dark and dramatic performance. According to Keaton, though, he sympathised with the naysayers originally because he knew they probably thought - given his comedy roots - that he was about to unleash another Adam West bomb upon them. Nope: in retrospect, one might even argue that Keaton is still the best Batman we've ever had. An unexpected choice that paid off in droves.