Batman’s Co-Creator Thought One Dark Knight Actor Was Better Than Michael Keaton – SlashFilm

In 1995, “Batman Forever” brought a new cinematic Dark Knight to the masses. Val Kilmer donned the cowl after Michael Keaton decided to walk away from Batman, and it remained unclear whether audiences would accept this new version of the vigilante. To help, Batman co-creator Bob Kane hyped up Kilmer’s debut by claiming that he had an “edge” that Keaton never did. In fact, Kane seemed to imply that he preferred Kilmer’s take on the character — though he was in full hype mode when he did so.

“Batman Forever” remains an overlooked movie that’s far more groundbreaking and deserving of praise than most realize. In the general Bat-discourse, this film is often glossed over, mostly because it was preceded by the seminal Tim Burton films and followed by the debacle that was “Batman & Robin.” But I was a kid in 1995. I remember the hype for this movie and how spellbinding it was to watch the H.R. Giger Batmobile ripping through Joel Schumacher’s neon Gotham on the big screen.

One man who certainly saw the merit in “Forever” at the time was Bob Kane. Of course, he would have liked it since he had a significant stake in the film. Nonetheless, he was effusive in his praise of Kilmer as both Batman and Bruce Wayne, likening his physique to the way in which Kane himself drew the character and highlighting the manner in which the “Top Gun” actor was able to be more “physical” in the role. In so doing, he perhaps unwittingly managed to align himself with a less than insightful contingent of the Batman fandom.

“Batman Forever” represented a deliberate effort on the part of Warner Bros. to lighten up the franchise after Tim Burton let his freak flag fly on 1992’s “Batman Returns.” New director Joel Schumacher was tasked with ridding the saga of bile-drooling Penguins and undead Catwomen. The new director dutifully did so — though it’s worth noting his original version of the film, since dubbed the Schumacher cut, was a lot darker. Michael Keaton, however, was having none of it, and stepped away after he learned what Schumacher had in mind.

In his stead came Val Kilmer, who did an absolutely stellar job in the role. At least, Bob Kane thought so. The Batman co-creator, who was often shameless when it came to self-promotion, spoke to Comics Scene for a special issue printed ahead of “Batman Forever” hitting theaters. “Val Kilmer really fell into the role,” he explained. “He’s very Batmanesque. As Bruce Wayne, he’s ultrasuave. As Batman, he has a lighter uniform. He’s able to move around when he does his own stunts.”

His follow-up comments were slightly more controversial, with Kane comparing Keaton and Kilmer. “I really like them both,” he added. “Without knocking anything that Michael Keaton did — he did marvelously with what he had — I think Val is a little more handsome and more Bruce Wayne-ish.” Without knocking Keaton, Val Kilmer is more handsome? Makes perfect sense, Bob. Kane went on to say that while he “can’t praise Michael enough for what he did,” Kilmer “has an edge with his physical prowess,” remarking, “He’s more like the Bruce Wayne that I draw.”

Though Joel Schumacher has claimed he was very tough to work with, Val Kilmer was a great Batman who still doesn’t get his due. Whereas Michael Keaton’s Bruce Wayne was a brooding weirdo loner who you could totally believe would don a rubber suit to fight crime, Kilmer’s Bruce was a believably tortured soul who radiated the kind of sophisticated urbanity and dignified aura one might expect of a billionaire genius. Not to mention, he had the finest jaw to ever protrude from the cowl. The thing is, both actors were excellent in their own way (though Keaton will always be the best Batman for kids of the late ’80s and early ’90s)

While Bob Kane was clearly just trying to hype up “Batman Forever,” there had to be a better way to do it than to literally say the new guy is more handsome and bigger than the last guy. Back in the late ’80s, Tim Burton had to fight to keep Keaton when his casting as Bruce Wayne/Batman prompted outrage from fans. It seems comic book readers everywhere felt as though the 5-foot 9-inch actor simply didn’t fit the bill. When his rubber-clad figure descended through the smoke onto that Gotham rooftop for the first time, however, every single naysayer fell silent.

All of which is to say that rekindling discussions about Keaton’s supposed physical shortcomings in order to hype up your new Batman movie probably wasn’t the best way for Kane to build anticipation for “Batman Forever.” Then again, this was the same man who, for decades, failed to adequately credit Bill Finger for his contributions to the creation of Batman in the first place, so it’s hardly all that surprising.