Will Arnett (The LEGO Movie, The LEGO Batman Movie)
It would have been easy to exclude any presence of Batman in The LEGO Movie on this list had it been any other actor in the role. But, Arrested Development star Will Arnett made the toy-ish character a comedic gold mine for the film and as a result, earned himself his own spinoff movie. The LEGO Batman Movie, another animated smash, landed earlier this year and was a great success.
The film excelled in its satirical attack on how the character’s been played as of late. And the timing for the first LEGO film’s release was perfect – it was long enough after The Dark Knight Rises that it could play with Christian Bale’s rough-and-tough persona, and far enough before Batman V Superman that Arnett could sneak in as a new Batman before all the hype over Ben Affleck’s debut could rupture and wipe him out.
The result was a Batman who will go down in the books as one of the funniest, wildest and freshest takes on the character. From any number of his ridiculous antics, to his self-feeding ego, Arnett’s Caped Crusader forced kids and parents alike to embrace him, and with the immense praise for the standalone movie, don’t be surprised if we see this Batman again very soon.
