Val Kilmer reveals why he quit Batman role after one movie

Val Kilmer has finally revealed the reason why he quit playing Batman after just one movie.

The actor played Bruce Wayne and his crime-fighting alter ego in 1995's star-studded blockbuster Batman Forever, alongside the likes of Nicole Kidman, Tommy Lee Jones, Jim Carrey, Chris O'Donnell, and Drew Barrymore.

At the time, Joel Schumacher, who directed the superhero movie and the subsequent sequel Batman & Robin, claimed that Kilmer had quit due to filming commitments.

However, more than 25 years after exiting the superhero role, Kilmer has explained that he left the lucrative comic-book franchise after an incident on the set of Batman Forever.

During a profile for The New York Times, the 60-year-old recalled being in costume on set one day to meet business tycoon Warren Buffett and his grandchildren, but the kids were far more interested in looking at the Batmobile and high-tech props instead.

"That's why it's so easy to have five or six Batmans. It's not about Batman. There is no Batman," he said, noting that anyone could wear the mask. "Everyone has to work out their own salvation. How to live and by what morality, and I found that the part that I feel bad about is hurting somebody in the process."

He was eventually replaced by George Clooney, who fronted the critically-panned Batman & Robin in 1997. It was the last movie starring the Caped Crusader until Christopher Nolan rebooted the DC Comics franchise with Batman Begins, starring Christian Bale, in 2005. The character has since been played by Ben Affleck and is soon to be portrayed by Robert Pattinson.