Val Kilmer Once Revealed He Didn’t Return for ‘Batman & Robin’ Because He Felt Isolated in ‘Bat-Suit

The Batman mantle was passed on from Micheal Keaton to Val Kilmer for Batman Forever. Although Forever wasn’t as lauded as other Batman films, it did well enough for the studio to warrant a sequel. But it was a sequel Kilmer didn’t want any part of, since playing Batman wasn’t the boyhood dream he thought it’d be.

Val Kilmer believed that ‘Batman Forever’ was ‘so bad, it was almost good’

Kilmer might be one of Forever’s biggest critics. When the Alexander actor first landed the role, he admitted he was more than enthusiastic about portraying the caped crusader.

“I was buzzed about being Batman but hardly for artistic reasons,” Kilmer wrote in his memoir Val Kilmer: I’m Your Huckleberry (via Den of Geek)}. “With two franchises going—Batman and The Saint—I could start an artists’ community, write poetry and plays, and become the wild auteur I saw as my destiny.”

But later on, Kilmer didn’t look back at playing Batman with the same fondness. The actor had several reservations about the movie, one of which was its quality. In his memoir, Kilmer also shared how he tried to watch Batman Forever with his kids. His children didn’t stick around to finish the movie, leaving Kilmer to watch the rest of the film “like a chump.”

Afterward, Kilmer shared some not too kind words for the Schumacher sequel.

“I mean, it’s so bad, it’s almost good,” Kilmer felt.

Val Kilmer felt isolated in ‘Batman Forever’ because of his bat-suit

One of the difficulties playing Batman in Forever came with was having to act in the bat-suit. Many actors have shared how hard it is operating inside of the costume, but it was especially aggravating to Kilmer. In his Amazon Prime documentary, Val, Kilmer discusses what it was like playing Schumacher’s Batman.

“When you’re in it, you can barely move and people have to help you stand up and sit down,” Kilmer said according to The Guardian. “You also can’t hear anything and after a while people stop talking to you, it’s very isolating. It was a struggle for me to get a performance past the suit, and it was frustrating until I realised that my role in the film was just to show up and stand where I was told to.”

Because of this, it took away the enthusiasm Kilmer once had for playing the Dark Knight.

“Whatever boyhood excitement I had was crushed by the reality of the Batsuit. Yes, every boy wants to be Batman. They actually want to be him … not necessarily play him in a movie,” he continued.

How Val Kilmer felt about Christian Bale and Ben Affleck as Batman

Kilmer at one point also discussed what he thought about two other actors who took up the Batman mask. Although he wasn’t too critical about his successors in Christian Bale and Ben Affleck, there were some elements of their portrayal that confused him.

“I’ve enjoyed the same ones that have made the franchise a multibillion-dollar affair. I’ve always wanted all of them to be more like Bob Kane intended, however. Although it’s hard to fault Tim Burton for his originality and talent,” Kilmer said in a reddit AMA. “Even though his Batman wasn’t very Batlike. Poor Ben Affleck got saddled with a Batsuit made out of a Sherman tank. Didn’t quite understand that. And I love Christian Bale, but how does wearing the suit entirely change his voice?”