Outside of the superhero genre, James Bond may be the most popular action protagonist to be constantly re-cast and re-imagined over many years. This week, a Reddit post comparing the history of Agent 007 and Batman on the big screen took a lot of fans by surprise, as there are a lot of similarities between the two and they line up remarkably well. The two characters evolved together throughout the 20th century, and the Venn diagram of their depictions can tell us a lot about the zeitgeist over those decades. Appropriately, these comparisons came started with a user named u/thenamesmanbatman.
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The post showed six similarities between different versions of James Bond and Batman, all presented in pairs. First it showed Sean Connery beside the Michael Keaton version of Batman, labeling them “The iconic, fan favorite.” Then was Daniel Craig next to Christian Bale with the caption, “Modern, realistic, gritty take.” Things strayed a little out of order from there with Pierce Brosnan beside Ben Affleck, but the comparison still stands. “Perfect casting, bad writing,” it said.
The post placed Roger Moore alongside Adam West, calling them both “The comical one,” while Timothy Dalton and Val Kilmer were described as “The underrated and forgotten one.” Finally, the last pairing was George Lazenby and George Clooney, who are “Usually labelled the worst,” and “both played by an actor named ‘George.’”
[RELATED: Batman Movies Don’t Need to Be “Dark and Gritty” Anymore]
The post picked up a lot of commentary from fans — some critiquing these comparisons and some adding observations of their own. Many simply marveled at the number of similarities here, looking at both characters in a new light. Of course, many found some of the assessments of these characters to be untrue or oversimplified, but in general they added up well.
Batman is often compared to a secret agent-type of action hero rather than super-powered comic book protagonist, since he has no supernatural abilities and he relies on gadgets and subterfuge to get things done. He is also “the world’s greatest detective,” which means many of his stories take shape similar to cop dramas. On the other hand, James Bond’s spy exploits have extended well beyond the bounds of an intelligence agency over the years, so maybe these two characters meet somewhere in the middle.
Both characters are also adapted from print to screen, and maybe that’s the most important difference between them. James Bond started out as the hero of a series of spy novels by Ian Fleming, and the film adaptations were all made by Eon Productions. The creative teams may have changed, but many aspects of the series were kept consistent, adding weight to its legacy with each new release. By contrast, Batman has been through some radical changes over the years, with movies often re-telling his origin story and starting his continuity from scratch.
Looking ahead, Bond is getting a glow-up in his next movie with a brand new star — with the lead contender being Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Batman also has a big transformation ahead of him, but the details are unclear. He may pop up anytime in the new DCU continuity. At the time of this writing, every James Bond movie is streaming on Prime Video in the U.S. You can find most of your favorite Batman titles on Max.
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Image Credit: DC, Universal Pictures
