Few fictional characters have had as long and illustrious a history of film adaptations as Batman. Going right back to his cinematic debut in a 1943 movie serial, the Dark Knight has been portrayed as everything from a gritty, grounded figure to a gothic tragic hero to a LEGO comedy character. There have been some groan-inducing lows over that time, yes, but lots of dizzying highs as well. Hopefully, we’ll get another one this year, when Ben Affleck’s Bruce Wayne teams up with the Justice League for the very first time on the big screen.
Ahead of that monumental occasion, we’ve decided to take a look back at Batman’s finest moments in movie history. To be clear, we’re only looking at films that have been released theatrically and so the many straight-to-DVD animated movies do not count. Likewise, this list will specifically deal with the best moments of the character of Batman. So don’t expect to find, say, the Joker’s incredible entrance in The Dark Knight on here.
Without any further ado, let’s shoot down the bat-pole, rev up the Batmobile and get cracking. If we’ve left off any of your favourite Batman movie moments, just let us know in the usual place.