10 Times Two Actors Perfectly Executed The Same Character

Batman is the jewel in DC’s crown and was the next significant comic book character to be given a big budget screen makeover with Tim Burton’s Batman (1989), following on from the earlier Richard Donner-directed Superman (1978) and its sequels. Michael Keaton played billionaire Bruce Wayne and his crimefighting alter-ego, and then revisited the role in Burton’s Batman Returns (1992), before the legacy of the character was passed to Joel Schumacher who, with Batman Forever (1995) and Batman & Robin (1997), pulled that legacy into the artistic gutter.

Eight years passed before we were delivered Batman Begins in 2005, the first movie in a new trilogy by director Christopher Nolan, which showed a more realistic origin story of the character which Christian Bale absolutely owned with a near perfect performance in a near perfect film. Bale's tenure came to an end with The Dark Knight Rises in 2012, and although we’ve seen Ben Affleck take on that role in the DC Universe of films, fans had been crying out for a new standalone movie.

This was finally delivered in style with director Matt Reeves' The Batman (2022), with Robert Pattinson playing a new, unique version of the character. Providing a younger and deeply flawed version of Bruce Wayne, Pattison also provided a sultry performance of the superhero himself, in a dark neo-noir detective movie that has offered a wholly fresh perspective of the character.