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Best Batman/Superman

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by Splendid Splinter, Mar 10, 2021.

  1. Splendid Splinter

    Splendid Splinter Well-Known Member

    In your opinion, who was the best Batman and the best Superman? Could either be from TV show, or movie.
     
  2. outofplace

    outofplace Well-Known Member

    The animated versions of both characters have been the best, specifically the Kevin Conroy Batman and Tim Daly Superman. The voice actors are great, but so are the stories in their own individual series, Justice League, and Justice League Unlimited.

    If you want to stick to live-action, Christopher Reeve is still the best Superman. It is amazing how well the first two movies hold up. Brandon Routh was just imitating Reeve. Henry Cavill's performance was fine, but the script focused too much on darker themes. Tyler Hoechlin's version isn't bad. It is probably closer to what the character should be than Cavill. Tom Welling and Dean Cain had their moments, but I don't think either belongs high on a list like this. One problem with the live-action versions is that Lois Lane is a better character portrayed by a better actor in almost all of them.

    I wouldn't have a huge argument with someone choosing Christian Bale or Michael Keaton as the best Batman. Each was very good in his own way. Bruce Greenwood and Jason O'Mara have also done good voice work in the role, but when I think of Batman, it is always Conroy's voice that comes to mind.
     
  3. Batman

    Batman Well-Known Member

    Do I really need to answer this question?
     
  4. Liut

    Liut Well-Known Member

    Keaton and Reeve. Sentimental toward West, though.
     
  5. bigpern23

    bigpern23 Well-Known Member

    Keaton and Reeve, though Bale is barely a tick off the spot. Both were excellent in the role. Affleck third, Clooney/Kilmer in a distant vat of Axis or ACE chemicals.
     
  6. PCLoadLetter

    PCLoadLetter Well-Known Member

    Adam West for Batman.

    I don't give a shit about Superman so I'll go George Reeves.
     
    Liut likes this.
  7. 2muchcoffeeman

    2muchcoffeeman Well-Known Member

    I would go beyond this to say that the DC animated series above, along with the original Teen Titans series, set a standard for superhero characterization and storytelling that Disney/Marvel had to spend billions of dollars to match in the MCU movies, and that the recent run of interconnected DC movies doesn’t come close to touching. The Arrowverse works better than the DC Expanded Universe or whatever WB called it.

    Nobody’s matched Conroy as Batman, and every Batman movie since has been trying and failing to hit that mark. I would argue that Mark Hamill has also set an unmatchable standard as the Joker. Of the live-action Batman entries, Christian Bale’s interpretation was the most interesting.

    Brandon Routh was indeed just cosplaying Christopher Reeve, but I never particularly liked Reeve as Superman or Clark Kent. Routh is better playing The Atom. George Reeves handled Clark Kent the adult better than anyone who followed him. Tom Welling played young Clark very well. The Superboy syndicated series of the late 1980s and early 1990s was execrable for reasons which had nothing to do with the actors.

    Henry Cavill is an empty suit.
     
  8. outofplace

    outofplace Well-Known Member

    That is a good way to describe Cavill. The worst for me is a moment when he faces off with Steppenwolf in Justice League and it looks like the moment before characters fight in a video game. I went looking for images, and I'm actually not sure if the ones below are stills from the movie, a video game, or something a fan made. The CGI did his performance no favors.

    [​IMG]
     
  9. Songbird

    Songbird Well-Known Member

    Christopher Reeves.

    Christian Bale.
     
  10. 2muchcoffeeman

    2muchcoffeeman Well-Known Member

    BatAffleck’s cape had the same “video game CGI” effect at some point in that movie when it was supposed to be lightly fluttering in a breeze. Distracting and completely shattered the illusion.

    Cavill, though … I can’t think of a single thing I’ve liked him in. He was the worst thing about The Man from U.N.C.L.E. a few years ago, and that was a movie with Armie Hammer in it.
     
  11. bigpern23

    bigpern23 Well-Known Member

    Routh was by far the worst modern Superman (George Reeves was so far back as to be irrelevant to the conversation). Cavill, I thought, was fine (although the weird chin CGI to replace his beard was fucking stupid and really hurt the film).

    Routh looks about as much like Superman as any human could. Unfortunately, it's the sole reason he was cast in the role and that much was obvious by how much they limited the lines he had to deliver in Superman Returns.

    I like Christopher Reeve the best, but that's because he's the Superman I grew up with. I'm not going to pretend he was some great actor who gave Kal-El some depth that Cavill didn't give the character. I don't think there's been a "great" actor who has played Superman. Frankly, there hasn't been a portrayal of him that required great acting.

    Bale and Keaton are both great actors, IMO. Batman has always been a more complex character and many of the stories that have been written about him have explored that depth, giving actors a lot more emotional material to work with. If you're an actor trying to get into superhero films and you get offered the choice between Superman and Batman, you take Batman every day of the week and twice on Sunday.
     
    Liut likes this.
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