“It was like wearing a wetsuit”: When Val Kilmer revealed why the Batsuit was his biggest challenge in Batman Forever

"It was like wearing a wetsuit" - When Val Kilmer revealed why the Batsuit was his biggest challenge in Batman Forever

Modified Apr 02, 2025 10:13 GMT

Val Kilmer played Batman in the 1995 film Batman Forever (Custom cover edited by Sportskeeda, Original Image [Warner Bros.])

The Hollywood actor Val Kilmer passed away on April 1, 2025, from pneumonia in Los Angeles at the age of 65. In his nearly 40-year career, he starred in films like Top Gun, Real Genius, Willow, The Doors, True Romance, Heat, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, etc. He also played Bruce Wayne / Batman in the 1995 film Batman Forever.

The film was polarizing among fans, but the Batsuit drew widespread criticism for featuring nipples and its overall look. On May 22, 2017, Val Kilmer addressed the challenges in wearing the Batsuit at the C2E2 comic convention. He added that the experience of donning the famed suit was "almost psychedelic."

"The suit takes an hour to get into, and you can’t do it by yourself, and then you can’t hear because there are really no earholes in it. Also you can’t turn your head and you can’t go to the bathroom by yourself. Plus, you fall over quite easily. It was like wearing a wetsuit that was several times tighter than one anyone else would wear, and then when you add the cape, it’s almost psychedelic."

Val Kilmer played the legendary vigilante in Batman Forever

Val Kilmer and Nicole Kidman as seen in Batman Forever (Image via Warner Bros.)

Batman Forever is the third film in Warner Bros.' original Batman series. Directed by Joel Schumacher, it was written by Lee Batchler, Akiva Goldsman, and Janet Scott Batchler. Tim Burton, who directed the first two films, produced it with Peter MacGregor-Scott. Val Kilmer replaced Michael Keaton as Batman.

The film saw Batman facing off against two of his biggest rivals - The Riddler (Jim Carrey) and Two-Face (Tommy Lee Jones) - as they work together to uncover his secret identity. Furthermore, Chris O'Donnell played Batman's sidekick Robin, while Nicole Kidman played his love interest and psychologist Dr. Chase Meridian.

Batman Forever hit theaters on June 16, 1995, and was met with mixed reviews from critics. Despite this, the movie earned $336.6 million at the box office, as per Box Office Mojo, against a budget of $100 million.

Val Kilmer's last film role was Top Gun: Maverick

Val Kilmer reprised his role as Admiral Tom 'Iceman' Kazansky in the blockbuster film Top Gun: Maverick, a sequel to the 1986 film Top Gun. He played the former rival turned friend of Tom Cruise's character, Captain Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell.

Directed by Joseph Kosinski, the action-drama film was released on May 27, 2022. Christopher McQuarrie, Ehren Kruger, and Eric Warren Singer wrote the film's screenplay from a story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks.

Top Gun: Maverick features the titular character returning to the Top Gun school at NAS North Island to train a young group of graduates for a highly dangerous and likely fatal mission. Its star-studded cast includes Miles Teller, Glen Powell, Monica Barbaro, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Charles Parnell, Lewis Pullman, Ed Harris, and Jay Ellis, along with Cruise and Kilmer.

The film was a critical and commercial success, receiving six nominations at the Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and winning the 'Best Sound' award. Made on a budget of $170–177 million, it earned $1.496 billion in worldwide box office collections, as reported by Box Office Mojo.

Stay tuned for more celebrity news and updates about the latest films and television shows releasing in 2025.

About the author

Deepti is an entertainment writer at Sportskeeda. She comes with more than 6 years of experience in the creative writing field and has written extensively for the entertainment and travel domains.

She holds a degree in Chemistry, but her true interest always lay in the creative field. A passion for reading from a young age fueled her desire to make a career change later in life and take up writing as her profession.

Apart from reading, her hobbies include watching movies, listening to music, and going to the beach. In her free time, she can be found looking up reviews of new and old films to add to her watchlist. She also enjoys watching foreign language films that help expand her knowledge base regarding different cultures around the world.

Asked to describe herself, she would promptly mention that she is a die-hard Swiftie and enjoys nothing more than listening to Taylor Swift songs on loop while writing.

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Edited by Divya Singh