2. Christian Bale
Appeared in: Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises
To say that Christian Bale breathed new life into Batman simply wouldn’t encapsulate everything he did for the franchise.
Arriving on the Gotham City scene in 2005’s franchise-reboot Batman Begins, he would reprise his role in the universally-acclaimed The Dark Knight before returning one more time for final installment The Dark Knight Rises. It was a perfect story, built upon on Bruce Wayne’s progression from vengeful vigilante to beloved hero.
It was a personal arc, one that stretched itself across three films, and it was one that Bale portrayed exceptionally. On that note, it should be said that no other actor has nailed the Bruce Wayne aspect of Batman’s personality quite as well as Bale did. With ease, he was able to delve into the personal tragedies that the character suffered, highlighting how guilt and grief had tortured his soul, while also managing to look like a billion dollars whenever he donned a tuxedo. He was suave, he was charming, he was confident, and he had no problem bringing any one of Bruce’s charismatic personalities to life.
His Batman was also a revelation; appropriately rougher around the edges than previous Dark Knights, he was nothing short of terrifying when he needed to be – something that was accentuated by the goosebump-inducing voice rasp he adopted to conceal his identity.
Bale’s turn as The Dark Knight is considered, by many, to be the greatest of them all – and you don’t have to look too hard to see why. He slotted into the twisted yet realistic world of Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy with ease and, in doing so, he managed to generate interest in the character once again, reviving the franchise after Batman & Robin‘s shenanigans. But most importantly, he delivered a world-class performance that has gone down in history as one of the all-time greats.