There are few roles in cinema as iconic as Bruce Wayne and his superhero alter-ego, Batman, the Caped Crusader, the Dark Knight of Gotham City. From Adam West to Christian Bale, getting cast to play Batman used to be a milestone event in the cinema of the time, with audiences growing up with a certain Batman for each decade. Batman was almost like James Bond — there was only one Bond, and each movie was an event.
Cut to the 2020s, and Batman movies are ubiquitous enough that there are multiple versions of the character running around on the big screen at the same time. Apart from 2019’s Joker showcasing a kid version of Bruce Wayne, 2021 saw Jensen Ackles voicing Batman in the acclaimed animated movie Batman: The Long Halloween, Anson Mount voicing Batman in Injustice, David Giuntoli voicing Batman in Batman: Soul of the Dragon, Keanu Reeves voicing Batman in DC’s League of Super-Pets, and Batman being played by Ben Affleck (aka Batfleck) in Zack Snyder’s Justice League.
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Following that, 2022’s The Batman saw Batman being played by Robert Pattinson (aka Battinson). Affleck will return as Batman in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and The Flash (which will literally have another actor, Michael Keaton, playing Batman at the same time). The two biggest Batman performances since Christian Bale, however, have been the ones which Affleck and Pattinson brought to the big screen at around the same time, but how do they compare?
The Batman Gadgets
Warner Bros.
The worlds inhabited by the two Batmen are polar opposites of each other. Pattinson’s Batman exists in a world of gritty realism inspired by crime films from the ‘70s and ‘80s. His gadgets are correspondingly grounded, from a DIY Batmobile to the makeshift grappling hook. It’s the kind of stuff a mechanic could realistically come up with at home if he had enough money and resources.
On the other hand, Affleck’s Batman exists in a world of gods and aliens, and his gadgets are correspondingly fantastical and super hi-tech. From a Batmobile that can crawl up walls and fight parademons, to the Mother Box used to reanimate Superman, Batfleck’s cave boasts a mini arsenal of weapons with far greater destructive capabilities than anything Battinson could come up with.
Affleck’s Take on Batman Has More Physical Prowess
Warner Bros.
Batman’s whole thing is that he is a normal guy who wins the day based on sheer willpower alone, along with lots and lots of that Bruce Wayne cash (considering the socioeconomics of Gotham City, he could arguably do more good by giving to the poor or founding schools and free hospitals). After years of training and preparation, Batman has turned his body into a living weapon that can take any amount of damage and beat opponents who are much stronger than him in every conceivable way.
This idea is convincingly portrayed by Ben Affleck’s Batman. Despite being much older and gray-haired, Batfleck cuts an imposing figure in his superhero suit. He looks like a tank on legs who could actually give a good fight to a being as powerful as Superman in a way that no other live-action Batman has ever managed to convey. It helps that Ben Affleck (with help from the costume design) is easily the biggest dude to ever play Batman.
On the other hand, Pattinson’s Batman is still a young man who is only in his second year of crime fighting. While this version of Batman is well-built, he is nowhere near as buff as Batfleck. Battinson fights with a lot of speed and ferocity, but Batfleck is an even bigger savage during fights, taking on multiple opponents in a brutally efficient manner in a way that Battinson has yet to showcase.
Batman’s Sense of Morality
Ben Affleck’s Batman is on his last legs as a crime fighter. Suffering decades of trauma at the hands of Gotham’s criminals, including the death of Robin, had turned this version of Batman into a killer. After meeting Superman and the Justice League, Batman starts to emerge from the darkness within him and seems to be regaining his sense of idealism from before he started taking lives.
On the other hand, Battinson is very fresh and inexperienced. The Batman shows him still trying to decide the kind of hero he wants to be. The emotional arc of the movie is about Pattinson’s Batman learning to let go of his anger over the death of his parents and deciding to become a person who fights criminals to bring justice to Gotham rather than out of a sense of personal vengeance.
The Larger World of Gotham
It is often said that Batman is only as interesting as his rogue’s gallery of villains. Affleck’s Batman is shown to have already dealt with many members of his gallery, including Joker, Riddler, Deadshot, and Harley Quinn. Batfleck has now moved into the big leagues of dealing with cosmic threats like Darkseid and his army. Basically, Batfleck’s days of patrolling the streets of Gotham fighting local thugs are long past him, and his priorities have shifted to saving the world rather than cleaning up his city.
On the other hand, by the time of his second year of crime fighting, Pattinson’s Batman has only had a few dealings with his classic rogues, like Carmine Falcone, Catwoman, Riddler, Penguin, and Joker. The main excitement among fans over the upcoming sequels to The Batman is getting to watch Battinson meet other famous members of his rogue’s gallery in the gritty and realistic world that director Matt Reeves has envisioned for his version of the Caped Crusader.
