The Common Core

The live action picture portrayals of Batman have been undeniably different in every movie, which is a given considering the fact that the character had many different faces in its long comic book history. There is no such thing as the "right" portrayal of Batman, but that has been touched upon in the 'Batman in 2000s' article, among others. This time lets take some time to briefly shed some light on the similarities between those different portrayals. While there were different approaches and characterizations, in some portrayals the signature core characteristics of the Batman character are preserved, mainly in the Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan movies, while others shine away from general outlines of the Dark Knight, the modern age definition of the caped crusader. The TV series is left out from this article since its been targeting a vastly different approach, reflecting Batman of only one specific era period, whilst the motion picture movies took something from various portrayals, even if primarily focusing on one era or another (while adding their original touches as well). While there's a few similarities as far as gadgets, batcave, the depiction of the city and even some basic story ideas, let's focus solely on Batman only.

Even including the cheerful Silver Age, Batman has moved, stood or took poses like a bat, since it's earliest days (although  in the Silver Age when he did took spooky vampire poses as well, he did it comparatively rarely). His cape was often spread to resemble bat wings, and his silhouette often looked like that of a bat. Such approach is clearly taken by both Burton and Nolan..

Spreading and casting a shadow to strike fear

and the cape spreading and forming a batwings shape when gliding through air

..however discarded by Schumacher. In his movies, we never see Batman with a wing span or a shape of a bat during his flight. Schumacher took a more superheroic approach and portrayed Batman in a flowing cape. The one instance where Batman spread his wings was in Batman & Robin in so called "pose" shot

Batman often stayed in the shadows, which is very fitting for a creature of the night.

..and has been very often portrayed as a shadow, silhouette or a descending bat

Schumacher did not share those features and presented Batman who had no problem showing in bright public places among the crowds and cameras,

nor did his Batman took any dramatic or Gothic poses

Modern Batman has also been known to casually watch over the city from the rooftops, waiting for a crime to happen

This was completely absent in Schumacher's movies
The common ground isn't just limited to the visuals. Perhaps one of the two most recognizable features in Batman character is his hard to constrain fury that he keeps locked inside. There were many moments when Batman was close to snapping, and times where he needed someone to stop him. If he didn't his unmatched fury could go extremely far.

 

Christian Bale: I just went with as much aggression and rage as I could, bordering on appearing like a bad guy when he’s got the suit on. That you should be unsure when you’re faced with him
He could do good things but man, he could just as easily flip over and become like the ultimate villain. (Rebecca Murray int. 2005)
Batman's anger and occasional lack of control appears in both Keaton's and Bale's portrayals...

and even Adam West's version had his moments of madness

 

..however is completely absent in Kilmer's and Clooney's takes. Kilmer specifically remains unusually stoic and in control, unlike any other incarnation of the character. He remains absolutely relaxed and calm in almost every situation, not even showing any emotions after his cave had been devastated and his love interest kidnapped or when facing people responsible.

Clooney, by his own admission, wanted to completely go past pain and anger, and he did

It is then no surprise that Christian Bale's favorite portrayal of Batman is that of Michael Keaton, since, even though they reflected different worlds and genres, shared important core characteristics of the Modern Age era Batman

Batman's Physique

While some facial features will differ slightly due to variety of styles among the artists, the comic book characters have been more or less consistent throughout their respective eras. The writers and artists have a list of criteria and basic information on each character that they must follow. The interesting thing is that while Batman had always have consistent features and physical attributes within certain continuities, they're not a common knowledge. There are always deviations from time to time in specials that aren't a part of continuity or one offs, but the regular series had been very much consistent within itself

Bruce Wayne/Batman for the most part wasn't a muscular type of a person that relied on strength. He wasn't built like a bodybuilder or weigh lifter. While strong and slim, his main attributes were an amazing agility, speed and reflexes. His athletic skills were more than exceptional, and he was even able to move and swing in the air like Spider-Man

Panel below from Batman #425

Panel below from Detective Comics #589

Panel below from Detective Comics #582

The entire point of wearing a spandex suit is a complete freedom of movement. For a man relying on his unmatched speed and agility, the freedom of movement is the most important thing

Panel below from Detective comics #614

Panel below from Detective Comics #444

He was even shown dodging bullets numerous times back in the 80's..

..and still is today

Bruce Wayne is officially 6'2 tall and weights 210 lbs  according to the official Who's Who in DC Universe

As already mentioned, Batman has a slim and athletic body, but by no means does he look like a bodybuilder or weight lifter. While he lifts weights as well and has a well shaped body, his practice consists of very acrobatic maneuvers.

The point is, it was Batman's agility, not the physical strength or muscles that were his prime attributes. In the very beginning though, it was somewhat different

The first time we get to see Batman shirtless is in 1939's Detective Comics #29 when he gets shot and goes to the doctor to fix the wound. He is shown as a man in shape but the early style of the comic books was very stylized and not as detailed. For example, the doctor is shown to be wide as well

It was Batman's origins, first appearing in 1939's Detective Comics #33, that flat out stated and showed that Bruce is incredibly strong and his body is a "physical perfection"

That physique was very consistent, even if the art was very stylized. Panel below from 1940's Batman #2

His exceptional strength became very apparent very quickly

Panel below from Detective Comics # 44

Panel below from Batman #3

The art got more and more detailed starting with late 60's, eventually morphing into the standard style for the comic books in the 70's.  As the art changed and the Batman universe experienced its revolution, switching gears to more serious stories, Batman's physique wasn't that of a weightlifter anymore and his body was streamlined significantly. He was now shown as a man in a very good shape, but nothing exceptional or out of norm for a man his age and height. The change wasn't only visual - the stories for the first time humanized the character, showing him actually struggle with heavy things

Batman lifting someone in the 1940's...

and in the late 1960's 

He was still well built and muscular, but he didnt have any exceptionally huge muscles and abs. 

In other words his physique now was more human, more down to Earth, more common looking

As one can notice from those examples, Bruce is not a bodybuilder type, but is built like a typical man in shape. Strength and size weren't his calling cards, the swiftness in movement, fighting styles and acrobatic skills were.

This stature remained consistent for many years. 

In the late 80's he was gaining more and more muscles

In 1991's Legends of the Dark Knight #16 Bruce was shown as being even more ripped, but the story still stressed out that he's no bodybuilder

Batman sometimes performed amazing fits and could have a boost of strength that would be almost impossible for a human being, but that was due to his strong and sudden rush of adrenaline and/or anger

Panels below from Detective Comics #614 

Panel below from Shadow of the Bat #4 

So in general the physical depiction of Batman was very consistent, but as mentioned before, there were occasional deviations. One of them is the famous 1986's Year One which hints at Batman's exceptional physical strength

The mid/late 90's started changing Batman's body more and more. In time he was given much, much more strength and his body and muscles grew in size as the years progressed. Soon he was shown to perform such inhuman tasks as kicking in steel doors, ripping out prison bars and punching through the hood of the car. He was visibly bigger and could lift 1000 lbs as his daily routine

Panel below from Batman #655

Panel below from Batman Tenses

For a better comparison on how the comic books gradually toned down and then amped up Batman's physique over his long history, take a look at this comparison set

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THE 1966 SERIES

Adam West is the only actor to date to match Batman's 6'2 height in the comics. Also, while it was a bit hard to tell when in the costume, West was well built as well, even more so than his comic counterpart at the time. His physique actually matched that of the Bronze Age Batman, and he actually resembled him quite a bit

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THE TIM BURTON MOVIES

Michael Keaton is 5'10, about an average height for a Caucasian male and roughly four inches shorter than Batman’s height in the comics . Before playing Batman, Michael Keaton played a professional athlete in the 1986 movie called Touch and Go

The closest we get to see his physique around the Batman shoot is in the 1988 movie called Clean and Sober, in which we can see that Keaton was of a good shape of an average man. It's important to note that he went under extensive kick-boxing training for his role in Batman

Michael Keaton: So the preparation that I did, aside from basic things that I think you always have to do was getting in shape because I had to be very physical in this movie. Actually I couldn't get too big because I couldn't fit in the suit if I was too big and I couldn't get too small, I couldn't loose too much weight (MNC TV 1990)

In 1992 he appeared on SNL, seemingly bigger than in the late 80's

It's worth noting that Michael Keaton was able to achieve an impressive fit of gaining a great amount of muscle tissue for his role in the movie Desperate Measures

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JOEL SCHUMACHER MOVIES

Val Kilmer is 6 feet tall, two inches shorter than his comic book counterpart. Kilmer had a wide but athletic body, which very much resembles the Bronze/Modern Age I physique of Batman. 

George Clooney is 5'11 tall. He was the skinniest and least physically fit of the actors who portrayed Bruce Wayne/Batman. 

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CHRISTOPHER NOLAN MOVIES

 Christian Bale always dives deep into his roles and commits to his characters both mentally and physically. In order to play Batman, he achieved a stunning fit of gaining incredible amount of weight and muscle tissue coming from a movie Machinist in which he was almost anorexic

Bale is 6'0 tall, two inches shorter than his comic book counterpart. He was shown as being more bulky, wider and more muscled than many of Batman's incarnations, mirroring more the recent depictions and the earliest years with his physique

Christopher Nolan: [Christian Bale] proceeded to put on a lot of weight in muscle terms, he really tried bulk up.(...) I sort of gently suggested to cut down a bit (Making of BB)

Christian Bale: I was just stuffing my face all day long, and lifting every weights and eating more and eventually went up to around 220 lbs. I just listened to what he said about get as big as you possibly can so thats what I did but I was kind of like a bear, I wasn't really like a martial arts guy, lean and ripped and everything like that. I could see the look on Chris' face, he looked at me and it was like 'oh' Christ, what has this guy done? (...) So I had to then loose a lot of weight (Making of BB)

Once they cast me, that’s when the real effort started just because that’s was when I actually had to start getting strong because he’s got no super powers. You have to look like you can be a brawler. He has no super powers and so he has to look like he really can do what you see him doing. And it was very… It was cutting it very fine, you know? I kind of just got ready in time for the beginning of the film.” (movies.about.com)

The weight fluctuation is somewhat noticeable in the movie as well

Bale was also the only non-American actor who portrayed Batman/Bruce Wayne in the theatrical movies 

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