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Summary
Expect a limited Batman presence in “Legion of Super-Heroes,” where Ackles takes on a more background role focusing on Supergirl’s story.
Ackles shines in “Batman: The Long Halloween” as his best Batman performance, showing emotional depth and strength in the DC universe.
Jensen Ackles has become quite the prolific Batman actor, bringing the Caped Crusader to life in multiple films with performances that vary in quality. Originally, Ackles was best known for the role of Dean Winchester in the hit monster-of-the-week paranormal investigation series Supernatural. In more recent years, Ackles has enjoyed a pop culture resurgence thanks to his role in the American superhero drama The Boys on Amazon Prime, in which he plays the zealous patriot “hero” Soldier Boy.
That being said, The Boys is far from the actor’s first brush with the world of superheroes. Even before Supernatural, Jensen Ackles cut his teeth on the DC comic book-inspired drama Smallville, playing Jason Teague, an opposing love interest for Lana Lang opposite Tom Welling’s Clark Kent. Yet it’s Ackles’ voice work as Batman in a handful of animated direct-to-streaming films that might be his single most prolific superhero role yet, gradually becoming one of the best Batman voice actors to ever debut in animation.
Ackles’ first noteworthy DC animation role was actually as the disgraced sidekick Jason Todd in Batman: Under the Red Hood. But with the formation of the animated DCAMU, or “Tomorrowverse” in 2020, Jensen Ackles was chosen to represent Batman and Bruce Wayne throughout the series. Since the premiere of Batman: The Long Halloween in 2021, Ackles has lent his vocal talents to The Dark Knight in seven different films. His proficiency with the character has led many fans to vie for Ackles as a live-action Batman next.
Is Jensen Ackles playing Batman in the DCU?
Batman will debut in the new DC Universe’s The Brave and the Bold movie. The Boys star Jensen Ackles has been rumored to play Bruce Wayne, which James Gunn, the DCU’s creative chief, has shot down. Ackles could still be cast as Batman; however, no actor has been chosen at the moment, with casting for the new Batman only starting when the movie has its script ready. Based on his dark and action-heavy roles in Supernatural and The Boys, as well as being the voice of Batman in DC’s animated Tomorrowverse, Ackles would be perfect for the DCU’s Dark Knight.
7 Legion Of Super-Heroes
2023
The sixth film in the Tomorrowverse, Legion of Super-Heroes takes the time to introduce a much less famous DC superhero team to its shared universe alongside the Justice League. The titular Legion of Super-Heroes is a distant ancestor of the Justice League who operate in the far future 31st century, primarily battling the terrorist organization known as the Dark Circle. The film revolves around Kara Zor-El, a.k.a. Supergirl, traveling to the future to train under the Legion of Super-Hero’s tutelage.
From the synopsis, one could assume a distinct lack of Batman’s presence in the film, and this would be a correct supposition. It’s true that Jensen Ackles’ Batman barely has any time to shine here, being largely removed from the Supergirl-centric storyline and essentially only operating as a background character. Batman gets a couple of exciting action scenes towards the beginning of the film and helps set up the sequel alongside Superman in the film’s final moments, but doesn’t get all that much to do.
Thusly, Jensen Ackles’ Batman doesn’t get a lot of time to shine in this film, limiting the impact his performance can have.
Thusly, Jensen Ackles’ Batman doesn’t get a lot of time to shine in this film, limiting the impact his performance can have. Batman comes off as particularly cold towards Supergirl in the few instances in which he does talk, though not entirely without reason. Legion of Super-Heroes is by no means a bad film, but as a showing of Jensen Ackles’ capabilities as Batman, it doesn’t provide much, understandably limiting Batman’s screentime in order to maintain focus on Supergirl and her new 31st-century friends.
6 Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths, Part Two
2024
The crossover event that resulted in the culmination of the Tomorrowverse’s short-lived movie run, Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths is a massive three-part saga that shepherds together heroes and villains from across the DC multiverse, including Jensen Ackles’ Batman. The film adapts the infamous DC crossover comic of the same name, which sought to unify the fractured DC multiverse into a single timeline for ease of reading.
Similarly, Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths does the same to the animated franchise, consolidating characters and universes. Batman doesn’t feature as much in the second part of Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths, struggling to find relevancy in a sea of other heroes new and old that the film must balance its spotlight between.
When he does show up, Batman is mostly fighting, either preventing the Joker from blowing up a critical tower or defending it from shadow demons. His bristly dynamic with the Bat-Family, possibly made worse by Psycho Pirate’s influence, once again doesn’t paint Ackles’ vocal performance in the best light, being an angry caricature of himself.
10 Ways Jensen Ackles’ Animated Batman Proves He’d Be Perfect For The DCU
Jensen Ackles’ impeccable performances as Batman throughout DC’s animated Tomorrowverse make him the ideal candidate for the DCU’s live-action Batman.
5 Justice League: Warworld
2023
The first true Justice League film of the Tomorrowverse introduced DC’s most famous crime fighting team with quite a bizarre debut. Justice League: Warworld centers on the titular team’s “big three”, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, being trapped in the enigmatic “Warworld”, a hostile artificial planet that makes prisoners of its inhabitants through intense illusory worlds. Each member of the team gets to live out a sub-story in a different genre before Martian Manhunter can snap them out of the trance, allowing them to join up and escape.
This premise sees Batman getting to play in a variety of settings he normally doesn’t. Jensen Ackles does a phenomenal job carrying an amnesiac Batman through a Conan the Barbarian-style high fantasy world complete with deadly magic and massive swords, reverting to an almost neolithic level of simple survival with his vocal performance. Bruce Wayne also gets to briefly show up in Clark Kent’s vision of a 50s sci-fi noir thriller, appearing as a state trooper. These wildly different circumstances help show off Ackles range as Batman.
Unfortunately, this impressive acting showcase is buried within the overall forgettable stature of Justice League: Warworld within the Tomorrowverse. Having almost the opposite problem as Legion of Super-Heroes, the film buries its excellent Jensen Ackles Batman in a loose anthology story that struggles to tie together its various worlds with a solid emotional impact. The rug-pull of Martian Manhunter’s aid cheapens the overall experience, bringing Ackles’ Batman down alongside it.
4 Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths, Part Three
2024
The grand finale of both the Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths trilogy and the Tomorrowverse as a whole, Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part Three is a modest entry in Jensen Ackles’ fabled career as the franchise’s Batman. As the threat of the Anti-Monitor grows ever more powerful, the clock is ticking for the various heroes to figure out a plan before the DC multiverse is erased from existence entirely.
Once again, the frantic action and wide scope of the story means that Batman is just one character with little time to shine relative to the bigger picture. Still, the third part of Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths manages to find some quiet moments for Ackles’ subtle excellence as Batman to shine compared to the previous entry.
Standout scenes include Batman’s conversation with Constantine over the bizarre sight of a baby Darkseid as well as Batman’s difficulty in accepting the end following the climax of the film. However, Ackles’ presence is far overshadowed by the final posthumous Batman performance of Kevin Conroy, the legendary late actor who embodied the character in countless projects.
3 Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths, Part One
2024
Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part One is first film to mark the beginning of the end for the Tomorrowverse, as well as countless other DC animated universes that make cameo appearances in the trilogy going forward. Here, the crisis gradually unfolds as the heroes go about business as usual, with the terrifying threat Amazo nearly putting down the Earth’s finest heroes, before the Justice League is gathered alongside their Earth-2 counterparts by the Monitor.
Swept up in the chaos, Batman has alarmingly moments of focus. However, when Jensen Ackles Batman is afforded the spotlight in Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part One, he more than makes the most of it.
The scene in which Batman interacts with the Earth-2 Batfamily, including his daughter from another universe, is one of the best vocal performances by Ackles in the entire series, let alone the film itself. His Bruce Wayne is also worthy of praise here as well, finally revealing himself for the first time to his compatriots in a hilarious dramatic beat.
10 Best Jensen Ackles Roles, According To IMDb
With Jensen Ackles set to return to the Supernatural world as Dean Winchester, he has a fair of great roles like Soldier Boy and voicing Red Hood.
2 Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One
2021
Far from the multiversal escapades of the Justice League, it should be no surprise that a more grounded Batman solo story would deliver Jensen Ackles’ best performance as the character. Batman: The Long Halloween is a two-part movie that loosely adapts the comic of the same name, detailing Batman’s efforts to close the case on a holiday-themed serial killer that meticulously plans their murders around the calendar.
Jensen Ackles gets more time to flex his acting muscles here compared to any other film in the Tomorrowverse.
The first part focuses on the fallout of the Falcone crime family being targeted by the murderer, causing waves in Gotham’s villain community. Jensen Ackles gets more time to flex his acting muscles here compared to any other film in the Tomorrowverse.
His delicate relationships with Commissioner Gordon, Catwoman, and Harvey Dent are all put to the test in the wake of the holiday-themed killings, and Ackles is able to expertly navigate these emotional straits while filtering his voice through the calm, cool demeanor to be expected of Batman. Even if the first part of Batman: The Long Halloween plays out mostly like a typical procedural, it makes a strong case for Ackles’ strength as the DCU’s Batman.
1 Batman: The Long Halloween, Part Two
2021
Batman: The Long Halloween, Part Two ups the ante established in the first half, taking Batman through more devastating circumstances than ever before. After overcoming Poison Ivy’s brainwashing, Batman has to deal with more of his rogues gallery coming into the picture as the pressure to solve the murder case continues to mount.
The film also features the official creation of Two-Face in the Tomorrowverse, adding yet another tragedy to the already somber tale of Batman’s year against the holiday killer. Here, Jensen Ackles manages to outdo even the previous entry in Batman: The Long Halloween the emotional opportunity of the second part, revisiting Bruce Wayne’s childhood with quiet contemplation.
Upon finally catching Holiday, Batman’s vulnerability with the villain he’d been pursuing and simultaneous cold fury concocts a delicate emotional balance Ackles is able to get across with very few spoken words. Both as a story and a testament to Jensen Ackles’ Batman, Batman: The Long Halloween, Part Two is an utter triumph.
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