Five Actors You’d Rather See Play Batman

You can’t please everyone.

No matter who Warner Brothers cast as the caped crusader, people were going to be unhappy. When they chose Twilight’s Robert Pattinson, there was a bit of backlash. Now, I’ve personally warmed up to the casting decision, but that doesn’t mean you have to. Here’s a list of five actors that would’ve caused less batlash as casting decisions. Because you can’t please everyone, but I can.

Five Actors You’d Rather See Play Batman

Christian Bale

Yeah, I’m still not over it. We had the definitive portrayal of Bruce Wayne for this century, and I’m bummed that we didn’t get to see it again. Maybe if Warner Brothers can survive another 20 years, he can play old man Bruce Wayne in a Batman Beyond movie?

Ben Barnes

Batman has almost always been played by an established, respected actor. Ben Affleck was in the twilight of his career when he picked up the cowl, Bale had Patrick Bateman and Trevor Reznik under his belt, George Clooney had his run on ER and From Dusk Till Dawn on his resume, and Val Kilmer was fresh off of Tombstone and the Doors when Batman Forever came out. As for Keaton, he was experiencing his first big run in Hollywood, as Batman came right after Beetlejuice and Johnny E. Dangerously.

Batman hasn’t really had a chance to make a star yet, but I think Ben Barnes could be the perfect candidate. He’s been on the verge for over a decade, and while he’s often a scene-stealer, he hasn’t really had his shot at being the top name on the marquee.

He was Prince Caspian in the ill-fated Narnia movies, the sleazy Logan in season one of HBO’s Westworld, and most recently, played Billy Russo, aka Jigsaw, in Netflix’s Punisher series. He’s brooding, he’s got the right look, and I think Batman could’ve been the role to propel him into true stardom.

Idris Elba

There would be a little bit of backlash to D.C. casting a black Batman, but only from a few backwards-minded people who haven’t seen Elba work. Idris Elba is consistently being passed over for the role of James Bond, but he could land another iconic crime-fighting role with the world’s greatest detective.

As great as Elba is, I feel like he hasn’t really landed that career-defining role yet. He’s had great TV runs as Stringer on The Wire and Luther on Luther, and some great supporting roles in film, namely Heimdall in the Avengers movies, and of course, Commandant in Netflix’s Beasts of No Nation.

I think it would freshen up the dark knight a little bit, and shake up the status quo for D.C. movies. It’s not like he could possibly be any worse than George Clooney.

Michael Fassbender

I almost think that Michael Fassbender is too good of a fit for the role. This obviously would’ve been a longshot because he’s currently working for “the other team” as Magneto in the X-Men franchise, but it’s not going to happen anyway, so we might as well have fun with it.

He’s good looking and charismatic enough to play Bruce Wayne, but dark and grizzled enough to play Batman. Plus he’s a box office draw and a proven star. I’ve always thought that if not Batman, Fassbender would make a pretty passable Harvey Dent as well.

Oscar Isaac

Oscar Isaac was my pick the moment that Ben Affleck dropped out of writing, directing, and starring in the new Batman flick. Even in bad movies (*cough* the last jedi *cough*), he shines as a roguishly charming, handsome male lead, making him perfect for Bruce Wayne. However, he also has experience playing darker, more serious roles (Netflix’s original, Triple Frontier springs to mind), so he could play the caped crusader as well. You don’t want Clooney, who played a great Bruce but lacked the gravitas to play Bats, but you also don’t want Affleck, who could be stern as the dark knight, but fell flat as Bruce Wayne.

But that’s just me, what do you think? Perhaps Michael B. Jordan? Maybe Jon Bernthal or Kit Harrington? Let us know in the comment section below.