MovieChat Forums > Batman Forever (1995) Discussion > What was the initial reaction to Val Kil...

What was the initial reaction to Val Kilmer's casting as Batman?

posted 3 years ago by TMC-4 (19586)
4 replies | jump to latest

Was it sheer disappointment and uncertainty simply because Michael Keaton wasn't going to come back? I mean it was one thing for Tim Burton to not come back, but you also had your leading man and the face of the franchise leaving in tow also.

Or were people willing to give Val Kilmer a chance since Kilmer himself, as evidence by his turns as Jim Morrison and Doc Holliday (which is what really inspired Joel Schumacher to want to cast him as Batman), was a phenomenal actor? Plus, it wasn't like Kilmer didn't have experience with the action-adventure genre with movies like Top Gun and Willow.

[–] TandyMan (10696) 3 years ago

Me and my bro were utterly stoked. We were massive Kilmer fans back then. I thought he was gonna be even better than Keaton. Incredible actor, really good looking, young, athletic, charming, top of his game. I'm still baffled by his stilted performance but i've read a lot about it since and I get it now. Couldn't hear or move in the suit. Tommy Lee Jones and Jim Carrey sucking all the oxygen out of the room. He never actually read the script before singing on. lol Lot of the kids in school wern't happy about it. Those Batfilms were hugely popular and nobody wanted Keaton replaced.

[–] TMC-4 (19586) 2 years ago

I honestly think that Val Kilmer would've been able to grow into the role and make it his own had he had a few more movies under his belt. Sometimes an actor doesn't hit his or her stride in a genre role until the third movie. That was at least, the case with Roger Moore when he did his third Bond movie, The Spy Who Loved Me. But of course, we'll never know given Val's difficulties on set and his own growing ambivalence with the Batman role.

[–] themightyperm (106) 3 years ago

The only thing I had ever seen Val Kilmer on at the time was Real Genius and Willow.

I didn't think too much about it. Before Michael Keaton was Adam West. So, for me it really didn't matter that a new person was Batman. Actors move on and get replaced.

I still think he was one of the best versions of Batman. He's in a weird movie, which I enjoy, but if Christopher Nolan was directing at the time he'd fit right in.

[–] Rorikon (16929) 3 years ago

If you watch the documentary Val, he talks about it. Mixed reviews but was a financial success that catapulted his career further but he never returned to do another due to complications or other roles.