Ahead of Robert Pattinson's 'The Batman' release, a look at every actor who has played cape crusader

The first and the youngest actor to play a DC comic character Batman was Lewis G Wilson. At 23, Wilson, donned the cape in 1943 film series titled 'Batman'. 

Robert Lowery took the Batman character from Lewis G Wilson in a follow-up serial in 1949's 'Batman and Robin'. He never played Batman in another movie. Later, he guest-starred on an episode of 'The Adventures of Superman' marking the first time when Batman shared screen space with Superman. 

Adam West played Batman in the 1960s ABC series of the same name and its 1966 theatrical feature film. The actor is known for his weird portrayal of Bruce Wayne and how he tarnished Batman's image back then. 

Michael Keaton played the character of Batman in 1989 film 'Batman'

After Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer bagged the Batman role for the next movie 'Batman Forever'. Kilmer accepted the role even without reading the script. The movie did well at the box office, but after it, Kilmer never returned as the Batman. 

After gaining applause for his performance in 'Dusk Till Dawn', George Clooney bagged another big role of his career. However, the 1997’s 'Batman & Robin' sucked. From Bat-nipples to action sequences, the movie was a total disaster. Later Clooney went on to say that the movie was 'a waste of money' and even apologised for the movie. The movie received 11 Razzie nominations and listed the names in almost all the worst films ever made.

Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale together saved the franchise. After George Clooney's 'Batman' movie, finally, dark franchise arrived. 'The Dark Knight Trilogy' collectively grossed over $2.4 billion at the worldwide box office, the trilogy has been ranked among the greatest ever made.

Bale went on to star in three batman movies- 'Batman Begins' - 2005, 'Dark Knight' - 2008, 'Dark Knight Rises' - 2012

Ben Affleck was roped in to star as the angriest Bruce Wayne in an epic 'Superman and Batman'. Affleck performance as the Batman received a mixed reaction, however, the movie was a disappointment but Affleck as the new Batman was good.

Robert Pattinson is the newest in a long line of actors who have played Bruce Wayne/Batman. Pattinson's first movie as The Batman is all set to release on March 04.  Matt Reeves-directed movie also stars Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman/Selina Kyle.