To me I finally saw my Batman on the big screen.

This is definitely the first time an actor has been able to stand next to Keaton's for sure. Bale's was always a joke though....

Except for Batman Begins, Bale's Batman was lacking. Villains overshadowed him in TDK and TDKR. But still, I respect him as a realistic adaptation of Batman. Even Batfleck has sone problems (more with how Snyder used him in the story) but he's my favourite live action Batman, considering how mediocre the previous live action Batmen have been.

Batfleck stole the show in an otherwise shitty movie

Bale's Batman was a joke since day 1

I think they're both great in their own way.

Bale's was at least relatable.

Yup, Batfleck was pretty much a Batman that jumped right out of the pages of the comics. The way he moved and fought was pitch perfect. Disregarding the wanton manslaughter, he was amazing. I never enjoyed Bale's Batman, but came to accept that people seemingly saw something I couldn't see.

With how the public perception seemed to have changed after BvS however, I can say people probably mixed the quality of the Dark Knight Trilogy, with the quality of Bale's Batman, and decided that because the movies were good, that Bale must've been perfect, when in reality he was terrible. Glad to see people finally realizing that whoever Bale portrayed in the Dark Knight Trilogy wasn't Batman.

Batfleck is also looking great in Suicide Squad so far, and with all the talk about seeing him as an angry Wraith from the perception of the criminals, I think we're in for the most badass Batman to be put into a film yet.

Well, Bale was a good Bruce Wayne but not such a great Batman.

Still, he was good for what they were aiming for.

Nah

BALE was a great Bruce Wayne. BATFLECK was the better batman

Bale was better as both Bruce Wayne and Batman, and his films were much better. I don't understand why his portrayal has suddenly been getting trashed so much on here. It's not like Affleck's Batman was even all that.

Affleck had the physique and fighting style but not much else that resembled the character from the comics which was disappointing. If anything, Affleck made me appreciate Bale's Batman even more.

Bales Bruce/Batman wasn't a joke

Bale did the best he could with what he had. Before Bruce was Nolanizied as wanting to retire the first chance he got Bale's (and Nolan's, I know it sounds like I'm hating but much respect for his contributions) take was the best we've ever had up until that point.

Batman Begins was the best Batman Bale did but I still prefer Batfleck to any Baleman.

There is just one Batman for me... not Batfleck not Batbale.... this Batguy:

Bale's Batman seemed like a joke even before Batfleck. Nolan made some entertaining movies, but the depection of Batman wasn't that great and the action scenes outside of vehicular ones were all subpar not just in regards to superhero movies, but in regards to action movies in general that were released in the same timeframes as the three.

Batfleck wasn't necessary to realize that Bale's Batman was at best lacking. Batfleck Batman, best Batman (after comics Batman).

Back when Bale's first Batman movie came out everyone was going on about how it was the best, and there was a general clamour about how he used Loeb's books etc. Now everyone is saying how they never really bought it...

I really don't understand all this praise for Affleck's Batman. He was cool, but so ultra bulky and seemingly slow moving. Branding people, 'killing' others. From what little I can remember he hardly demonstrates the cunning of a ninja.

Are you sure this universal praise isn't just based on the fact that it's the latest thing and that it was one of the only acceptable aspects of a pretty dodgy movie. I certainly wouldn't say it's the definitive Batman from the books I've read. "Your mom is called Martha too?" Lol.

Too much psycho-murdering for my tastes.

@ready_4_madness: He had character development. He was a believably ordinary man who wasn't a piece of sh** who went after people just because they could become bad.

@rainshadow777: Hit the nail on the head

Sure

Fighting style is really the most impressive thing about Batfleck, as it was the best we've ever seen from a live action Batman. Beyond that however i'm not sure how people are saying he's superior to everything we got in the Dark Knight Trilogy, or even some of the earlier Batman films.

Ok... Batman can be boken down to three things.

Ninja, Detective, Scientist.

Nolan's Batman trained with the LoA and did have the port scene in BB. But he was also beat by a couple of big dogs. There were a few fights but with overall poor choreography (I want to blame the suit's lack of mobility and not the team). Baleman was stealthier but less of a fighter than Batfleck.

While the fighting in BvS wasn't stylized it was effective and brutal (The Warehouse scene). Batfleck does use stealth to his advantage, but relies more on brawn. He destroys 24 guys on film at the same time and you believe it.

Nolan had like one throw away scene with the bullet in TDK. The most detective work was in BB when he was vetting Gordon and Rachel.

There were just enough scenes in BvS to showcase Batman's detective side. The White Portuguese investigation (cloning KGBeast's phone, stealing encrypted files from Lex, cracking encrypted files, tracking Kryptonite to LexCorp).

Baleman has Lucius Fox build his toys for him. The Tumbler was already a thing when Bruce got back from the Himalayas. He also asked Fox to make an antidote to the fear toxin, but that's because he experienced it before rather than detective work. He knows his way around his tech and can come up with specs, but that's where it stops.

Batfleck builds Kryptonite grenades and spear. Most of his gear including armor is made and built in the Batcave with Alfred's help.

Bale was a realistic batman but that does not excuse his fighting style. It was slow and predictable imo and could have been changed to something faster and more practical. Batfleck is the definitive live action batman imo

I feel like people just want to see Batman kick a lot of ass so Bale's Batman may be disappointing. Not the actors fault or anything. It's just a different direction. One thing Snyder does really well is action scenes.

Batfleck is literally carrying the DCEU on his back

Is how well Batman fights the only thing Batman fans care about? That is what it seems like.

It's cool to have saw him be potrayed on a more physical manner but that just one aspect of the character, his morality and his willingess to do the right thing no matter the personal cost are still lacking (more so the morality aspect).

@theexile285: Nope not even remotely the case. Batfleck not only fixed the problem of Batman fighting lame in previous movies (which is not a small part of any Superhero), but also was the best Bruce Wayne bar none. People like to cite Bale's performance as Bruce Wayne to be a highlight of the Dark Knight trilogy, when not only it was so unbelievable and Bale couldn't sell it the way Affleck did, but he also looked nothing like the Bruce Wayne from the comics.

Affleck plays a better Bruce Wayne than Batman in my opinion, and he's charming enough to sell the whole playboy billionaire act, but is also large and imposing to do the Batman act as well. He looks like the Batman, act like Batman and fight like Batman. It's not difficult to see why people liked him. This is coming from someone who used to dislike Affleck as an actor, but his performance as Batman was phenomenal. Bale's Batman was always the weakest link in the Dark Knight Trilogy, it's just that people are only realizing it now.

I'm probably the only one here who likes each and every Batmen.

this

Val Kilmer is still the best Batman.

No.

All Afleck has is fight scenes. He's only better than Bale in the battle forums.

Bale is good bruce wayne and it made sense for bruce to used different voice as bat even though bale overdoing it, I liked his bat voice in begins (SWEAR TO ME, that gave me chill when I watched it as child, still do) but shame he got throat cancer in sequels.

In term of looks and fights, afleck is the best bat

Affleck's Batman is my Favorite Batman

Bale is a the ideal Bruce Wayne, Affleck is the ideal Batman. I think Bale was overshadowed by his villain's majority of the time that's why we don't about him as much as Affleck because Affleck outshined everyone in his movie, a very mediocre movie but nonetheless.

Suicide Squad was a right step for this Batman, let's hope they can kepp this up.

I really think it comes down to the mask and the chin. You can barely see any of Bale's face in the (admittedly awesome looking) demon looking mask from Nolan's trilogy. (By demon I mean look at it, little slits for eyes, really pointy horns coming from the back of the skull, etc.) Also Bale doesn't have nearly as strong a jaw line as Affleck. I always go back to the scene in TDK when the model puts up a napkin to cover Harvey's face, and yes, his (Aaron Eckhart's) jawline is more suited for batman than Bales.

Simply put, Dark Knight trilogy's masks make Batman's head smaller, and his jawline thin, almost weasily, like I imagine Robin's Batman (from Morrison's Batman and Robin) might look. Contrast that with Affleck's fist of a chin, the larger eyes with which to emote with, and the larger, meatier mask design with smaller horns, it compliments his physicality much like Keaton's did, but Affleck's physique is way closer to the batman we've seen in comics for ages. Heck, I was reading Kingdom Come the other day and Batman out of costume looks like Batfleck.

Bottom line, Nolan had other things in mind, and Bale's batman was serviceable, but never captured the physicality of comic book batman, also his face was enveloped by the mask, while Batfleck's mask enhances his actual face and aids his playing the part. (Example, Batfleck's reaction "I thought she was with you" is much funnier than if Bale had tried it because you can still see a lot of human features on the new Batman costume)

And on a personal note, Bale's Batman was dedicated, but through the whole trilogy he has a "take this from me" kind of thing, I couldn't buy he'd do that forever, or even nightly for years. Affleck's Batman, for better or worse seems consumed by the bat, and loathe to let it go, as it should be.

^