Credit: Inside the MagicIt’s easy to lose track of how many actors have played Batman in film. It’s even easier when you include other media, such as animation (whether film or TV), audiobooks, and games.
It helps that plenty of iterations have been particularly memorable. In live-action, there’s Adam West, Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Christian Bale, Ben Affleck, and Robert Pattinson — and every one of them is now widely associated with the Caped Crusader.
Other Notable Batman Actors
While there have also been many actors voicing Batman across media, the late, legendary Kevin Conroy, who voiced the character numerous times, is a standout.
Another, largely for his more comical iteration of the Dark Knight, is Will Arnett (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, BoJack Horseman) who voiced the character across three animated big-screen features — The Lego Movie (2014), The Lego Batman Movie (2017), and The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019) — and was a hit with fans.
Despite the global commercial success of the first two films ($470.7M and $312M, respectively), there haven’t been any new follow-ups since. However, in a recent interview with Variety, Arnett admitted that he “would love” to reprise his role as Bruce Wayne and his iconic alter ego Batman if the opportunity arose.
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A Beloved Batman Actor Wants To Return
“I’d love to do more Lego Batman,” Arnett revealed, while praising The Lego Movie director duo Chris Lord and Phil Miller and The Lego Batman Movie director Chris McKay.
“I love Lord and Miller. Those guys are the best. That was a really fun time in my life, making those movies — The Lego Movie and Lego Batman — with those guys and Chris McKay.”
“I had some of my bigger laughs with those dudes as we were trying to discover the character [Batman],” he continued, reminiscing about his time on the sets of the Lego films.
“I’ve talked about it before over the years, but we had a laugh one time in the booth when we were reading this line and coming up with these bits where Chris Miller ended up having to leave the room, and Phil was on his knees. We were freaking dying.”
Batman Sequel Scrapped, Future Possibilities
McKay was onboard to direct sequel to The Lego Batman Movie in late 2018. The film, which would have seen Arnett return to the role, was scheduled for release in 2022; however, after the disappointing box-office returns of The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part in 2019, Universal Pictures acquired the film rights to Lego and the sequel was canceled due to Warner Bros. retaining the rights to DC Comics.
Whether Arnett will ever have the opportunity to return remains to be seen. It’s possible he could reprise his role in a medium other than animation.
When it comes to Batman, never say never — Michael Keaton ended up playing the Caped Crusader in the DCEU film The Flash (2023) after a 31-year absence. George Clooney, who famously played the character in the widely panned sequel Batman & Robin (1997), also appeared in a cameo in the film.
Character Has Been Recast
While the adventures of Lego Batman will continue in the upcoming open-world, third-person action-adventure video game “Legacy of the Dark Knight”, which releases on May 29, 2026, the role has been filled by voice actor Shai Matheson.
With that said, the game is the latest in a long line of Lego Batman releases, none of which starred Arnett as the character.
Meanwhile, DC is on the hunt for a new actor to play Batman in the DC Universe reboot The Brave and the Bold, which is being directed by Andy Muschietti (2023’s The Flash).
Would you like to see Will Arnett reprise his role as Bruce Wayne/Batman? Let us know in the comments down below!