Here's the first actor to play Batman '89 - which scrapped a Robin cameo - would stick to the camp tone of the '60s Batman TV show.
These complaints were silenced when Batman hit screens in 1989, with Keaton bringing a dark, psychological edge to the part. He was also the first to develop the notion that Bruce Wayne and Batman would have distinct voices. In the years that followed, Ben Affleck and Robert Pattinson would receive similiar when they were cast as Batman in their respective outings. Even the late Heath Ledger's - who delivered one of greatest villain performances of all time as Joker - casting in The Dark Knight was met with some scathing responses.
Keaton was far from the first actor to play Batman onscreen, with that particular honor going to Lewis Wilson. He fronted a 15-part film serial, which basically functioned like TV shows, with chapters playing before a given movie and advancing weekly. Wilson fronted 1943's Batman, where he chased after a Japanese secret agent named Dr. Daka in Gotham City during World War 2. Batman '43 is notable for introducing certain elements that became part of the comic mythos, including the Batcave, but the serial is largely considered terrible nowadays, with its racist depiction of Daka being especially unpleasant.
Lewis Wilson didn't receive great reviews for his work as Bruce Wayne/Batman either, and he was later replaced by Robert Lowery for sequel serial Batman And Robin in 1949 - which obviously has nothing to do with George Clooney's Batman & Robin. Wilson would continue to act until 1954, retiring from the industry after appearing in the film noir Naked Alibi. In 1942, Wilson and this then-wife Dana Natol welcomed their son Michael G. Wilson into the world. After Lewis Wilson and Natol separated, she would meet and eventually marry famed film producer Albert "Cubby" Broccoli, who would become the producer of the James Bond series, starting with 1962's Dr. No.
Michael G. Wilson would later EON productions - the company behind the Bond franchise - during the '70s, and in a short time moved from being his stepfather Cubby's assistant to acting as executive producer on Moonraker and co-writer on five Bond adventures, including For Your Eyes Only and GoldenEye, Michael G. Wilson became co-producer of the Bond series alongside half-sister Barbara Broccoli, and they've been steering the ship ever since. It's a strange legacy for Lewis Wilson - who ed in 2000 - to be so tied to two of the biggest movie characters of all time, even if his take on Batman isn't considered particularly iconic.
