Michael Keaton’s version of Batman is a favourite in the United States. With so many versions of Batman who have portrayed the caped crusader, one would wonder who is the favourite of many.
While we’ve seen Batman portrayed by Adam West, Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Christian Bale, and Ben Affleck, we can only count a few who have stood out from many.
This was based on geo-tagging tweets for three months, looking for words containing “best Batman” or “best live-action Batman.”
Michael Keaton’s Batman is a Favourite Among Many
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Based on the data collected by the Valencia Theater Seating (via CBR), Keaton’s version of Batman is a favourite among several states in the US. It’s interesting to see that after all data collected, it turns out that Michael Keaton has won in 23 states.
Michael Keaton did two films, namely Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992). Tim Burton’s take on Batman gave him that dark edge, and fans loved it. While the last film was a financial success worldwide, it was considered a box office failure domestically in the US.
At the time, domestic ticket sales were the only things that mattered. Also, Batman’s mature themes caused a lot of problems with merchandising. This caused Tim Burton to leave Batman, and eventually, so did Keaton.
Christian Bale is in second place with 18 states. Christian Bale is, so far, the most complete interpretation of Batman on film. Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy (2005-2012) has given us the fullest realised version of the caped crusader. We saw Batman’s early beginning up until the “death” of the Dark Knight.
Ben Affleck comes in third with seven states. Personally, I think he is the most incomplete but has the most movies so far. He has portrayed the character five times (from 2015-2023), which includes Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom if his scenes won’t be cut. But we still haven’t seen his character on a deeper level. Unfortunately, we won’t be seeing his version after the Aquaman sequel, as we are expected to see a new Batman in the new DC Universe.
Robert Pattinson is in fourth place with two states. He’s the latest Batman with his own solo film simply titled, The Batman. The movie was so successful that Warner pushed for more films and TV spin-offs. Unfortunately, Kilmer, Clooney and West didn’t make the list.
West himself is iconic because he did the TV shows and he did one Batman (1966) movie. He even reprised his role with Burt Ward as Robin in the more recent animated film, Return of the Caped Crusaders (2016) and Batman vs Two-Face (2017).
Val Kilmer in Batman Forever (1995) and George Clooney in Batman and Robin (1997), on the other hand, were done with the vision of Joel Schumacher. This was basically a return to form to the style of the Adam West version of Batman. Warner Bros wanted this direction so that they could sell merchandise to kids. This, for me personally, completely disregarded the fans and focused on the money.
Many look forward to seeing Keaton’s Batman in The Flash
Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures
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Since the data is based on tweets, we don’t really know the age range of the people who voted. But it does mean that Michael Keaton is the right choice for The Flash. If Warner wants the audience, the inclusion of the most famous Batman could get more ticket sales if done right. The former Batman star will reprise his role in the upcoming DC movie The Flash film with Ezra Miller, Ben Affleck and Sasha Calle.
It’s just sad that we won’t be seeing Keaton’s performance in the cancelled Batgirl movie, in which he stars with Leslie Grace and Brendan Fraser.
With that said, I am excited to see Keaton return to the role after 34 years. Considering his casting was controversial, it seems like Tim Burton had a really good eye that we just don’t see on the get-go.
What do you think of Michael Keaton being the favourite Batman in the US? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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Maybe Keaton is the US’s favorite, but Christian Bale is much preferred all over the world.