
Died at 66
male
Val Edward Kilmer (December 31, 1959 – April 1, 2025) was an American actor. Originally a stage actor, Kilmer became popular in the mid-1980s after a string of appearances in comedy films, starting with Top Secret! (1984), then the cult classic Real Genius (1985), as well as blockbuster action films, including a role in Top Gun and a lead role in Willow. During the 1990s, Kilmer gained critical respect after a series of films that were also commercially successful, including his roles as Jim Morrison in The Doors, Doc Holliday in 1993's Tombstone, Batman in 1995's Batman Forever, Chris Shiherlis in 1995's Heat, and Simon Templar in 1997's The Saint. During the early 2000s, Kilmer appeared in several well-received roles, including The Salton Sea, Spartan, and supporting performances in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Alexander, and as the voice of KITT in Knight Rider.

Bruce Wayne is incarcerated in a prison in Bhutan, where a man named Henri Ducard arranges for Wayne’s release and offers him a place in Ra's al Ghul's League of Shadows. Ducard trains Bruce in the way of the Ninja — and in overcoming fear — while Bruce explains his past. Upon discovering that Ra's intends to have Bruce lead the League of Shadows into Gotham City so the League can destroy it, Bruce renounces the League and lays waste to its mountaintop temple. Bruce returns to Gotham after his training comes to its abrupt end; he vows to take back the city from the criminals and prove that Gotham is not beyond saving. To accomplish his goals, Bruce combines his training, obscene wealth, old fear of bats, and access to his company's R&D projects to turn himself into a vigilante crimefighter. The Batman makes his grand entrance by bringing mafioso Carmine Falcone to justice, but in doing so, he discovers that Dr. Jonathan Crane has disturbing plans for Gotham City involving large quantities of a fear toxin — and that Crane works on orders from someone far more dangerous than Falcone...
