Top 5 actors to play Batman

Hey everyone! You're in the line of fire. As usual, this is Howitzer here with more on the future of big screen Batman. Before we get started, I'd like to plug the up and coming IsmaHAWK Nightwing series coming to Youtube and other sites soon. They're Nightwing short film was awesome and the teaser trailer literally gave me goosebumps. When it comes, watch it. Now back to the topic at hand. I didn't like Christian Bale as Batman. He was a fine Bruce Wayne, but his Batman was lacking. I never found him intimidating to look at. He tried to compensate for that with his voice which really just gave the internet another joke. He was also a clunky fighter. Now that Bale and Nolan are done, who will fill their shoes? I'll get to the directors chair in a couple articles, but for now, lets focus on the man who will become the bat. What does every Batman actor need? Well, they need to be able to pull off both roles equally well. they have to be a convincing Bruce Wayne as well as Batman. For Bruce Wayne, the actor has to be handsome in a mature way. Sort of like James Bond. As I said in my JGL article, Bruce should be anywhere from 32 to 40. He should be in his prime and have mature, refined good looks. Also, the actor who plays Bruce needs to be able to pull off a wide range of emotions. The actor needs to be able to convince not only the other characters but the audience that he was a scared, broken young boy who has been forged into a weapon of justice by the fire of his own pain and that he wears the mask of a billionaire playboy philanthropist who enjoys big parties, good booze, and socializing with Gotham's brightest stars. As Batman, the actor would have to be imposing and intimidating. He would have to be a great fighter or at least look like he'd be a great fighter. Also, they'd have to have a distinct Batman and Bruce Wayne voice much like the greatest Batman of all time, Kevin Conroy. Most importantly however, the actor to take on the role of Batman must become the character. The last thing I want is a repeat of George Clooney or Val Kilmer where all you see if Clooney/Kilmer dressed up like a bat. All that being said, now on to my 5 choices for Batman in no particular order.


1). Joel Edgerton (Warrior, Zero Dark Thirty):

Joel Edgerton

I'll admit, I'd never heard of Joel Edgerton until last year when he stared in the incredible fight drama Warrior. And boy howdy did he give a great performance. I didn't know he was Australian until I looked him up on IMDB. In Warrior he gave a very powerful and emotional performance, but he also kicked butt in the octagon. He's got the Bruce Wayne look and he can kick butt like Batman. He's a good actor and he's rising in popularity. He's still fairly unknown, so his star won't get in the way of his Batman like Clooney, Kilmer and even post-Batman Begins Bale. He's around 38, so he'll probably be about 40 when production gets going, but in my opinion, he's an excellent choice for Batman and Bruce Wayne.


2). David James Elliott (JAG):

David James Elliot

Now I know what most of you are thinking. David James who? The other half of the internet that remembers the gloriously awesome legal/military drama JAG is probably thinking "Yea right. Harmon Rabb as Batman."

All I ask is that you hear me out for a little bit. With him being over 50 and having pretty much vanished off the radar after 2005, DJE is a long shot for Batman. Heck, I'm pretty sure it would never happen in a million years. Would it not be awesome though? He would make a perfect Bruce Wayne. Harm was pretty much the military Bruce Wayne. He shows all the qualities a good Bruce Wayne should show. He falls a little short when it comes to the bat though. For one thing, I've never seen him go all out in a huge hand-to-hand fight. Yea there was action on JAG, but Harm wasn't exactly known for his martial arts prowess. Also, being old and kinda out of shape won't make for a good Batman. Truth be told though, I'm not really sure if he'd be a good Batman. I haven't seen him outside of his role on JAG. Who knows, maybe he'd be amazing. Maybe he'd suck. All I know is that David James Elliott is a good actor and a childhood hero of mine. In my mind I imagine that he'd be an incredible Batman, but unfortunately for me (probably fortunately for everyone else though), my mind is not reality.


3). Joe Manganiello (True Blood, Magic Mike):

Joe Maganiello

I'll freely admit, I've seen 2 movies that this guy was in. Spider-Man and Spider-Man 3. In both he had a very small role as Flash Thompson and was a total jerk bag. That being said, I've seen fanboys toss his name around as a choice for Batman so I did some research. He's a classically trained actor with a BFA in acting. On top of that, he's good looking, the ladies love him, and he's got the Bruce Wayne look. He's got the build for Batman and I'm sure he can fight. He's about 36 and is becoming pretty popular thanks mostly to True Blood. He's an actor I'm not very familiar with, but to me, he seems like a very logical choice to bring in fans of True Blood and a large female audience.


4). Karl Urban (Dredd, Star Trek, Red):

Karl Urban

Anybody who's seen the very recent Dredd movie (completely free of Stallone) and even Red knows that Karl Urban can be a very intimidating guy. In Dredd, his cold, no tolerance policy of crime was in line with that of Batman (minus the street justice and shooting of course). The concern a lot of people have with him playing Batman is that he might not do so well as Bruce Wayne. In the past, I'd agree, but now that I've read Scott Snyder's run on Batman, I'm convinced otherwise. Karl Urban could easily pull off the confident, always Batman portrayal of Bruce as we see in Snyder's stories. I think it would be really awesome to see Karl Urban don the suit and fight crime as the Batman. The only problem I see with Urban being Batman is that I think he's committed to being Judge Dredd for quite some time. Between that and Bones McCoy, I doubt he'll ever be available to be Batman. He'd be darn good though.


5). Bradley Cooper (Limitless, The A-Team):

Bradley Cooper

This is the pick I really wouldn't wanna see attempt Batman. However, due to his popularity, he's a good choice. We've seen with A-Team and parts of limitless that he can pull off action. He's a decent actor too. However, aside from his rather large nose looking a little odd under the cowl, his star would get in the way of his Batman portrayal. I'd just see Bradley Cooper jumping off rooftops. Since Hollywood is the way it is though, we're probably gonna have a prettyboy heart throb playing Batman (*sigh* again) and if I have to pick one (besides Manganiello) I'd pick Bradley Cooper. He's proven himself with both acting and action. Heck, he might even do good with the role.

Well, those are my picks. Did you like them? Do you have a better pick? Let me know in the comments. Until then, keep your head low because you're in the line of fire!