Key factors
The stars of Batman: Caped Crusader stopped by EW’s Comic-Con studio to inform us the 4 actors on their “Batman Mount Rushmore.”
Matthew Needham and Jamie Chung singled out a deep-cut Dark Knight in Batman Forever star Val Kilmer.
Their costar Hamish Linklater additionally helped them select three extra favourite Batmen.
The stars of Batman: Caped Crusader know their superhero historical past — they usually’re giving an underappreciated Dark Knight actor his flowers.
During a go to to EW’s 2026 San Diego Comic-Con studio, Caped Crusader stars Hamish Linklater, Jamie Chung, and Matthew Needham had been requested which 4 actors would grace their “Batman Mount Rushmore.” Amid the spirited dialogue, Needham — who will voice the Joker in season 2 of the animated sequence — nominated a deep-cut Batman.
“I’d go with Val,” Needham mentioned, referring to the late Batman Forever star Val Kilmer. “He doesn’t get enough love.”
Chung, who performs Harley Quinn, co-signed the selection. “Let’s do it, let’s go Val,” she mentioned.
Released in 1995 and directed by Joel Schumacher, Batman Forever discovered Kilmer changing Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne/Batman, after the movies Batman and Batman Returns. Kilmer starred reverse Jim Carrey because the Riddler, Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face, Chris O’Donnell as Robin, and Nicole Kidman as felony psychologist Chase Meridian.
The threequel was a monetary success, grossing $336 million on the worldwide field workplace, however garnered blended critiques. Kilmer, a charismatic however notoriously tough actor, additionally clashed with Schumacher on set, and he was changed by George Clooney in 1997’s Batman & Robin.
Kilmer would go on to star in movies together with The Saint, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, MacGruber, and Top Gun: Maverick. He died last year, at 65.

Val Kilmer in ‘Batman Forever’Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis through Getty
For Needham, Chung, and Linklater, filling out the opposite three spots on Batman Mount Rushmore was no straightforward activity.
They did finally come to a consensus on Christian Bale, the star of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy; Adam West, main man of the Sixties Batman TV sequence; and Robert Pattinson, of 2022’s The Batman and its planned 2028 sequel.
In the method, although, the castmates needed to give the boot one other Batman star — and a fellow voice actor at that. Watch the video above for extra.
Check out extra of EW’s protection from San Diego Comic-Con 2026.
Read the unique article on Entertainment Weekly