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 spectrum. While we as a collective culture have never exactly been deprived of Batman media for any significant length of time, the next few years promise to feature more than enough content for even the most religious Batfan.
The new DC cinematic universe that will be launched next year with “Superman Legacy” will of course feature a Batman film, in Andy Muschietti’s “The Brave and the Bold,” which will focus on Bruce Wayne and his son Damian (one of many characters to take on the mantle of Robin). While that franchise is getting started, 2022’s “The Batman,” Matt Reeves’ take on the character starring Robert Pattinson, is still set to receive sequels, with the first releasing in 2026. That’s on top of spinoffs like “The Penguin,” an HBO crime drama that takes a memorable supporting character from the Reeves film and gives him a new story to run around in.
With “The Penguin” streaming on Max now, IndieWire is taking a look at the best and worst of “Batman” on film. For the purposes of this list, we only considered films that received theatrical releases and star Batman as a main (or nearly main) character. This excludes a variety of direct-to-DVD animated films (ranging from futuristic flicks like “Return of the Joker” to steampunk takes like “Gotham by Gaslight”) that have been produced starring the character, as well as the delightful Amazon Prime Video Christmas film “Merry Little Batman.
” It also excludes spinoffs like the Joker films from Todd Philips, the infamous Halle Berry “Catwoman” movie, or the Harley Quinn “Birds of Prey” film, as well as both versions of “Justice League” and “The Flash,” in which Ben Affleck’s Batman is just one of the headlining heroes. There’s also several film serials starring the character we’ve omitted from consideration. Read on for all 13 “Batman” movies, ranked from worst to best.
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