Holy fickleness, Batman! The Dark Knight has been played by more actors than any other superhero in mainstream entertainment history with an escalating total of eight. Given that the Caped Crusader is amongst the best of the cape-bearing warriors, this is not terribly surprising. Until recently, the majority have lasted just one film, but with the 2012 blockbuster, The Dark Knight Rises, Christian Bale became the first man to play the Bats more than twice on the big screen.
However, that trend seems to be heading towards a different direction, as Ben Affleck (AKA Batfleck) and The LEGO Movie’s Will Arnett have each played Batsy twice. And if you put the DC Extended Universe’s plans for expansion into mind, with two more projects already in production, the numerical possibilities for Batfleck movies are impossible to calculate.
But, as we all know, not all of the Batmen have been so awesome – in fact, there’s one that we’re sure comes to everyone’s mind. So, from worst to best, here are our rankings for the numerous Batman actors from over the years. Also, please note that we’re excluding the 1940s and ‘50s serials, as well as the various video game and animated spinoffs in an effort to keep all of our readers in the loop.