Fans will forever debate who the greatest Batman of all time really is, but once again, Christian Bale stands tall in a popular fan poll. GameSpot recently polled 292,254 people asking them to name the best Batman of all time with the options being Adam West, Michael Keaton, Ben Affleck, and Christian Bale. Batman and Robin star George Clooney isn't listed, though he's widely considered to be the least popular incarnation of Batman, which is probably why he was excluded.
Bale, the star of The Dark Knight trilogy, overwhelmingly took the win with 66% of the overall votes. The DCEU's Batman, Ben Affleck, was pretty far behind as the first runner-up with 13%. He was followed by Michael Keaton, who previously starred in Tim Burton's Batman films and will be back in the role for Batgirl and The Flash, as he was in third place at 12% of the vote. Original live-action Batman Adam West came in fourth with 9%.
This list notably does not include Robert Pattinson, but that's obviously because The Batman hasn't yet been released. We've gotten a sneak peek at his performance through the trailers, and he does seem promising in the role through the eyes of many fans. Even so, it wouldn't be fair to compare his portrayal of Batman to these previous versions until after the film is released, giving us a full picture of the next Dark Knight.
Christian Bale's Return to the Role is Always Possible
The idea of Christian Bale reprising his role as Bruce Wayne is not that farfetched these days. The multiverse will be explored in the DCEU when The Flash is released, bringing in cameos of characters from other movie universes. That opened the door for Michael Keaton's Batman to come in with Ben Affleck's version also appearing in the same movie. Keaton's Batman will continue to appear in other projects, which includes the HBO Max film Batgirl, though Affleck seems to be saying farewell to his version with The Flash.
In any case, that we are already guaranteed to see multiple Batmen in The Flash, the door is wide open for other actors who've played the character to appear. Given how reviled Batman and Robin seems to be, the chances don't seem very good for Clooney's return to the role. However, as Bale is still topping fan polls naming him as the best Batman of all time, a potential return to that role would get a lot of attention, so as long as Bale would be on board for slipping back into the Batsuit.
"This Flash movie they're setting up with Michael Keaton being Batman, that will bring tears to my eyes. That is my Batman! I'm very emotionally tied to the 1989 Tim Burton Batman so them bringing him back to the universe, they're catering to older folks like myself," filmmaker Kevin Smith says of The Flash, noting that he's hopeful for a surprise appearance from Bale.
"If they want to do a No Way Home, though, they better bring in Christian Bale as well, though. If I'm them, I'm backing a money truck up to Christian Bale's just begging to get him for two minutes so we can have our own No Way Home," he added.