Every Batman Actor’s Rotten Tomatoes Score Compared (Including Pattinson)

Robert Pattinson is joining the ranks of Batman actors, so how do reviews of The Batman in Rotten Tomatoes compare to the other actors who donned the cape and cowl as the Dark Knight? Going back to Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman movie, there’s been six total actors to play Bruce Wayne/Batman in live-action on the big screen, including Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Christian Bale, Ben Affleck, and Robert Pattinson.

Batman is one of the most popular characters in cinema to have been adapted by multiple actors over the years, with only James Bond actors rising to similar prominence, and others like Joker, Jack Ryan, or Hannibal Lecter or classic characters like Robin Hood boasting a talented list of actors to have played the role. As with James Bond, this means everyone has a preferred ranking for each Batman actor.

Any Batman actor rankings are naturally a matter of personal preference depending on a number of subjective factors, especially given the variety of genre approaches Batman adaptations have taken over the years, but how do they compare in terms of critical reception? Taking the Rotten Tomatoes averages for the movies in which each actor has appeared gives a little new perspective on how each Batman’s review scores compare.

Christian Bale’s Batman Has the Best Rotten Tomatoes Average

It may not be a huge surprise given the popularity of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, but Christian Bale has the highest average score with Batman Begins (84 percent), The Dark Knight (94 percent), and The Dark Knight Rises (87 percent) averaging out to 88 percent. Robert Pattinson currently ranks in second place with 85 percent thanks to his first and only appearance in The Batman, and Michael Keaton ranks third thanks to Batman (72 percent) and Batman Returns (80 percent) averaging 76 percent.

On one level, Bale may have a bit of an unfair advantage given he’s the only Batman actor to receive a proper complete trilogy telling a full character arc, with studio and director conflicts shaking up every other iteration of the character; however, with the high scores of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, he’d still be in the lead even if his trilogy hadn’t been completed.

Only Three Batman Actors Have Fresh Rotten Tomatoes Averages

Despite the popularity of the character, only half of the Batman actors have an overall fresh Rotten Tomatoes average from their time in the role. Ben Affleck’s complicated tenure, comprised of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (29 percent), Justice League (40 percent), and Zack Snyder’s Justice League (71 percent) only averages 47 percent, while Val Kilmer’s sole appearance, Batman Forever, scored 39 percent and George Clooney’s only Batman movie, Batman & Robin scored 12 percent.

Of course, Affleck’s situation is rather complicated, given Justice League and Zack Snyder’s Justice League both have different scores, but even if we consider Zack Snyder’s Justice League the only “valid” version of the movie, it would only increase Ben Affleck’s Rotten Tomatoes average to 50 percent. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was also subjected to a studio-compromised theatrical cut, and the 3-hour “Ultimate Edition” has much more positive word of mouth, but Rotten Tomatoes didn’t give that version of the movie a different score, and it would need to surpass 80 percent on the Tomatometer (higher than any other Zack Snyder movie in Rotten Tomatoes) for him to rank higher than Michael Keaton’s 76 percent average (although a score of 49 percent or higher for Batman v Superman would have brought him into an overall fresh average).

Audiences And Critics Rank Batman Actors Differently in Rotten Tomatoes

Audiences and critics rarely seem to agree when it comes to Rotten Tomatoes scores, and that’s certainly the case when it comes to Batman movies. While Bale’s movies were strongly preferred by critics, Pattinson’s Batman reviews from a small sampling of audience scores so far put him in a tie with Bale’s average audience score at 93 percent. Of course, there’s usually a strong recency bias with Rotten Tomatoes audience scores, so The Batman will likely drop a few points over time, meaning Pattinson’s average will likely end up beneath Bale’s,  but only time will tell how far it drops and how much. It should be noted Pattinson’s “Verified Audience” score of 96 percent is higher than any other Batman audience score, but it’s the only movie new enough to get the “Verified Audience” score, which trends several points higher than the traditional “All Audience” system every other Batman movie used.

Keaton comes in third place still with a 79 percent average, although if Zack Snyder’s Justice League replaces Justice League‘s Rotten Tomatoes score (instead of both counting towards his average), then his score climbs match Keaton’s at 79 percent. However, if the average audience rating is used (instead of simply the audience Tomatometer percentage), Pattinson’s 4.7 out of 10 is a clear first over Bale’s second-place 4.37, Affleck’s 3.7 is good for third place, with Michael Keaton coming in fourth at 3.85, Kilmer in fifth with 2.8, and Clooney in sixth at 1.9 out of 10.

2022 will be an especially interesting year for comparing Batman actors, as there will be three different actors playing the role on the big screen between Robert Pattinson in The Batman and Affleck sharing the screen with Keaton in The Flash. Despite the drastically different scores in Rotten Tomatoes and different audience preferences for each Batman actor, one of the most interesting aspects of the character to this point is how each actor presents a unique version of the Caped Crusader, enabling everyone to have their own Batman actor ranking, regardless of Rotten Tomatoes scores.