All 13 Batman actors ranked from worst to best

7. Val Kilmer

Appeared in: Batman Forever

Val Kilmer took over the mantle of the Caped Crusader from Michael Keaton in 1995’s Batman Forever. The first of two Joel Schumacher installments in the franchise, Forever is infamous for flooding Gotham with neon lights and, in the process, reintroducing The Dark Knight to his campy past. That being said, it’s undoubtedly the lesser of two evils.

You could say that Kilmer is a lot like Ben Affleck in the sense that both of them had the potential to be authentic Batmen but were ultimately let down by the questionable world that surrounded their performance. However, the one thing that separates them is the fact that Kilmer found a way to make his Batman work for his respective world.

Walking a fine line between cruel and camp, his Dark Knight was everything that his version of Gotham needed him to be. He was serious and broody, but he also cracked the occasional smile (we’ve all seen the meme by now) and wasn’t afraid to embrace his personality a little more (remember the thumbs-up?). In spite of the unbelievably far-fetched version of Gotham that he was living in, he still felt very much like a believable Batman – and that is also what separates him from George Clooney’s offering in the sequel.

Though he too may have been served better by a stronger Batman film, Batman Forever did have its own unique charm and character, and Kilmer was ultimately responsible for that. And it isn’t said often enough, but he did a really great job conveying how the emotional trauma of Bruce’s past continued to influence his present.