Superhero movies have ebbed and flowed in terms of popularity since Christopher Reeve first took flight in 1978’s “Superman.” But if there’s a character that will always be welcome by the filmgoing public, it’s Batman. Since Tim Burton brought the iconic DC comics character into the modern blockbuster age with his 1989 take on Gotham City, the Caped Crusader and his gallery of iconic rogues — from the devilish Joker to the seductive Catwoman — have been constant fixtures of cineplexes everywhere.
Every film starring the character seems destined to do decent (if not exceptional) business: “Batman & Robin,” considered a financial disappointment that briefly killed the franchise off, still made over $200 million. It’s not a surprise that Batman is the hero we most love to see on our movie screens. He’s both one of the most relatable superheroes of them all and the one most unlike ourselves: an ordinary man without any powers who rises up to become a hero, who’s also an outrageously handsome billionaire with a tortured past that makes him all the more intriguing.
So much of the Batman comics mythos features distinctive elements embedded in the broader pop culture — the crime ridden Gotham, the sleek Batmobile, the iconic supporting cast of friends and foes — begging to be reinterpreted. And Batman is such a malleable character, capable of lighthearted fun and searing melodrama, that filmmakers have had genuine success going in either direction of the s.