Batman Movies in Order & How Many Are There?
Most people don’t know that Batman debuted on the big screen only four years after his comic book debut. Now, if we know that he first appeared in 1939, that means that his film debut was… in 1943?! Yes, Batman’s first cinematic outing happened in 1943, although the Batman films of the time, and there were two in total, were quite different than the ones we’re used to. Today’s article is going to be about Batman in film!
In today’s article, we are going to give you an overview of all the Batman live-action films eve filmed, from 1943 to 2021. Animated feature films are not going to be includes, as well as upcoming movies and movies where Batman appeared in a cameo role. On the other hand, films where Batman appeared as part of a group of protagonists are going to be on this list.
The first question we are going to answer is how many Batman movies there have been since 1943 and how we can group them. The second question is the answer to the question of how one should watch these movies, i.e., in what order. You’re going to get some information on the movie’s production as well as the synopsis for each movie, so – enjoy!
How many Batman movies are there?
Not counting the animated features, there are 16 Batman movies in total, which were filmed from 1943 to 2021. Among these 16, three of them do not fit the criteria that we have described above. One of them is an upcoming movie (The Batman, 2022), while the other two are films where Batman hardly appears (Suicide Squad and Joker). Now, here are the 13 movies that we are going to be analyzing in today’s article:
| Title | Year | Director | Batman Actor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Batman | 1943 | Lambert Hillyer | Lewis Wilson |
| Batman and Robin | 1949 | Spencer Gordon Bennet | Robert Lowery |
| Batman: The Movie | 1966 | Leslie H. Martinson | Adam West |
| Batman | 1989 | Tim Burton | Michael Keaton |
| Batmen Returns | 1992 | Tim Burton | Michael Keaton |
| Batman Forever | 1995 | Joel Schumacher | Val Kilmer |
| Batman & Robin | 1997 | Joel Schumacher | George Clooney |
| Batman Begins | 2005 | Christopher Nolan | Christian Bale |
| The Dark Knight | 2008 | Christopher Nolan | Christian Bale |
| The Dark Knight Rises | 2012 | Christopher Nolan | Christian Bale |
| Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice | 2016 | Zack Snyder | Ben Affleck |
| Justice League | 2017 | Zack Snyder | Ben Affleck |
| Zack Snyder’s Justice League | 2021 | Zack Snyder | Ben Affleck |
An now that we’ve given you the list, let us continue with the analysis.
Batman movies watching order
Now that we know which movies comprise our list, we can continue with the watching order. We are going to group the movies based on the franchises or series they are part of, while also grouping the franchises (or series) in the correct order in which we think you should watch them. Let us begin!
Batman (1966)
Batman: The Movie (1966)
Director: Leslie H. Martinson
Screenplay: Lorenzo Semple Jr.
Starring: Adam West (Bruce Wayne / Batman), Burt Ward (Dick Grayson / Robin), Cesar Romero (Joker), Burgess Meredith (Oswald Cobblepot / The Penguin), Frank Gorshin (The Riddler), Lee Meriwether (Catwoman), Alan Napier (Alfred Pennyworth)
Release Date: July 30, 1966
Known as the Dynamic Duo, the crime-fighting team of Batman and Robin, alias millionaire Bruce Wayne and his foster son Dick Grayson, rush to an alarm to a luxury yacht cruising the waters off Gotham City. But before they can intervene, the ship disappears without a trace with its VIP passenger, the eccentrically naive Commodore Schmidlapp, and his mysterious new invention.
Instead, Batman is attacked by a shark, which he can ultimately fight and eliminate with his extensive equipment, in this case with the bat-shark repellent, before the animal also explodes.
A briefing with the highest police officers in Gotham, Commissioner Gordon and Chief O’Hara, as well as corresponding information at the scene of the crime ultimately lead to the uncovering of the masterminds: the four greatest enemies of the masked heroes – the Joker, the Penguin , Catwoman and the Riddler – have teamed up to apparently usurp world domination with Schmidlapp’s patent.
Batman and Robin go on a search and in the further course of the plot they can find the villains in a harbor hideout, but they escape with the help of a bomb that Batman can get rid of after a seemingly endless chase through the harbor. At the same time, in a subplot, a romantic relationship develops between Bruce Wayne and the Russian reporter Kitanya Arezov, or “Miss Kitka” for short.
Little do Wayne and Grayson know that Kitka is, in fact, Catwoman. This is how she gets information and in one case she can even ambush Wayne and have him kidnapped. Ultimately, the Dynamic Duo arrives too late, as the criminal masterminds already start carrying out their plan: Schmidlapp’s invention is a dehydration device that can be used to remove all water from a person.
With the device and a submarine shaped like a penguin, the four of them penetrate the headquarters of the United World Organization’s Security Council, an organization that resembles the United Nations, and dehydrate the nine members of the Security Council, leaving nothing but heaps of dust. These are filled into test tubes, taken away and then used as a means of extortion: the statesmen would only be returned to their original form if a large ransom was paid.
Batman and Robin manage not only to uncover the secret of the missing yacht, but also to avoid another criminal death trap. Ultimately, they bring the submarine to the surface, where they can fight the bad guys in a final brawl and get the dust samples. However, Schmidlapp, who was also freed, mixed them up with his carelessness and sneezing.
In painstaking detail, Batman and Robin manage to separate and organize the samples again. The last scene, however, shows that something got mixed up and the council members who are constantly arguing now speak in the language of another council member. With the optimism of purpose of possible international understanding, Batman and Robin withdraw from the room and go back on the hunt for criminals.
Burton-Schumacher series
Batman (1989)
Director: Tim Burton
Screenplay: Warren Skaaren, Charles McKeown, Jonathan Gems
Starring: Michael Keaton (Bruce Wayne / Batman), Jack Nicholson (Jack Napier / Joker), Jack Pallance (Carl Grissom), Kim Basinger (Vicki Vale), Billy Dee Williams (Harvey Dent), Pat Hingle (James Gordon), Michael Gough (Alfred Pennyworth)
Release Date: June 23, 1989
The metropolitan legend of a crime-fighting, human-sized bat seems to come true when reports from Gotham City street gangsters pile up and Police Chief Gordon even has a file opened. Journalist Alexander Knox and photographer Vicki Vale also believe the story and go in search of the winged avenger.
At a fundraising ball, they are unaware that the host, multimillionaire Bruce Wayne, is actually the person behind the bat costume. The new district attorney Harvey Dent promises the frightened population to bring the underworld boss Carl Grissom to the justice. Grissom suspects that his right-hand man, Jack Napier, is trying to eliminate him and is already having an affair with his lover, the photo model Alicia.
He lures Napier into the money laundering facility disguised as the AXIS chemical plant, where Napier has to defend himself against the approaching police under the direction of the corrupt lieutenant Eckhardt. There the gangster who shoots Eckhardt meets the legendary Batman. During their fight, Napier falls from a jetty into a vat full of acid.
Napier survives and undergoes cosmetic surgery, but it is performed under very primitive circumstances. Because of his bleached skin and his mouth twisted into a rigid, blood-red grin, he now calls himself the Joker.
First he quenches his thirst for revenge and kills Grissom. Some leaders of the criminal syndicate who do not approve of his claim to take Grissom’s place at the top also have to die. Wayne spends a night together with Vale, but he does not want to be distracted by his assignment as Batman, so that the development of their relationship comes to a standstill.
Meanwhile, the Joker leads Vale astray. He invites her to come to the Gotham museum restaurant for dinner. Vale appears, believing she was invited by Wayne. In his delusional taste in art, the Joker “improves” the precious paintings of old masters in the museum with acid and neon colors, after having previously incapacitated all the guests and employees of the museum with a gas.
He also introduces Alicia, whose face he has burned with acid, to Vicki. This is his form of art and he wants the photographer Vale to document his work. Then Batman appears, saves her from the museum and, after a chase with Joker’s henchmen, brings Vale to the Bat-Cave, his headquarters. There Batman gives Vale a list of products that the Joker has poisoned by adding toxic chemicals from AXIS to various cosmetic products, which has already cost several human lives.
However, Batman was able to identify the harmful products and prevent worse things from happening through Vale’s publication in the press. Wayne decides to reveal his nocturnal identity to Vale. Before that happens, however, they are both surprised by the Joker in Vale’s apartment.
Wayne recognizes in the Joker the murderer of his parents, who were killed during a robbery executed by Napier during his childhood, and in that moment of carelessness, he is apparently shot by the Joker. Wayne, who had previously equipped himself with a metal serving tray under his jacket, survives unharmed and disappears from the apartment unseen after the Joker has also left.
Wayne sets out to avenge his parents’ death by killing the Joker. As a result, Vale visits Wayne, where she learns that he is behind the Batman persona. The Joker moves through Gotham City with a poison gas spraying parade in which he attracts people by distributing money in order to lure his adversary.
Batman can destroy Joker’s AXIS factory and save the city one more time with his plane, the Batwing, but the Joker crashes the Batwing and kidnaps Vale into the cathedral’s bell tower, where the final battle between Batman and the Joker takes place. While the Joker dances provocatively with Vale in the spotlight of the police, who have since been notified, Batman is attacked by Joker’s men.
However, he manages to defeat all of them and finally face the Joker. With a targeted blow, he throws the villain over the parapet of the bell tower, but Joker was able to grab a ledge and also pull Batman and Vale over the parapet. While the two desperately cling to the abyss, the Joker laughs and tries to bring them down.
He finally wants to flee by helicopter but with the help of a grappling hook, Batman ties the Joker’s foot to a stone statue. When the helicopter tries to ascend, the statue comes loose and kills the Joker. During a press conference, Police Chief Gordon revealed the Bat-signal, which residents can use to call Batman.
Meanwhile, Vale gets into Wayne’s limo. His butler, Alfred Pennyworth, explains that Wayne would be coming a little later. With a smile, Vale looks up at the rooftops of the city. On one of the buildings stands a somber figure, whose robe blows in the wind like the wings of a bat.
Batman Returns (1992)
Director: Tim Burton
Screenplay: Wesley Strick
Starring: Michael Keaton (Bruce Wayne / Batman), Danny DeVito (Oswald Cobblepot / Penguin), Michelle Pfeiffer (Selina Kyle / Catwoman), Christopher Walken (Max Schreck), Pat Hingle (James Gordon), Michael Gough (Alfred Pennyworth)
Release Date: June 19, 1992
The corrupt millionaire Max Shreck wants to build a gigantic capacitor in Gotham City under the guise of a power station to draw the city’s energy. His plans are met with opposition from both the mayor and Bruce Wayne. In order to still be able to implement his plan, he allies himself with the Penguin, a man who, due to a genetic defect, has a deformed body and looks like a penguin.
As a baby, the Penguin was thrown into a river by his wealthy parents. He ended up in the city’s sewers, where he lived underground for 33 years and founded a gang of criminals. Shreck helps the Penguin return to society. He wants to make him mayor in order to be able to build his “power station” with his help.
Both of them mainly use the Red Triangle circus gang, which is supposed to weaken trust in the current mayor through looting and terror. Bruce Wayne tries to stop the duo in the guise of his alter ego Batman. In addition to Shreck and the Penguin, he also has to deal with the beautiful and dangerous Catwoman aka Selina Kyle.
Kyle was Max Shreck’s assistant. When she, by chance, learns of the millionaire’s plans, Shreck tries to kill her by pushing her out the window. After falling out of the window, she gets up again, dazed, and goes home. There she sews a costume and transforms into Catwoman. She decides to take revenge on Max Shreck and sees Batman as an obstacle on this path.
After Batman has attacked Catwoman with acid in self-defense and thrown her off a roof, Catwoman and the Penguin come together because they both have the same goal: to destroy Batman. They plan to kidnap the Ice Princess and manipulate the Batmobile. Batman escapes, however, and manages to expose the Penguin’s true goals during one of his speeches to citizens.
The Penguin flees the angry crowd back into the sewers and plans to take revenge on Gotham City. While Batman and Catwoman fight each other, Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle fall in love. At Shreck’s fancy dress party, both recognize each other’s secret identity. At the same time, the Penguin unexpectedly appears at the ball and takes Shreck down to his secret hiding place.
From there, he plans the kidnapping and murder of all the firstborns of Gotham City, which Batman prevents. Now Penguin goes to extremes and sends his army of penguins on Gotham City, armed with missiles, which are supposed to bring the deaths to hundreds of thousands. However, Batman manages to gain control of the weaponized birds.
He directed them against the hiding place of the Penguin himself, which was badly damaged by the bombardment. In a final confrontation, Wayne and Kyle show themselves without masks. Wayne is wounded by Shreck, who is electrocuted by Kyle (Catwoman loses the rest of her nine lives, with the exception of one).
Shortly afterwards, the wounded Penguin dies in a hopeless attempt to shoot Batman on the spot. Wayne drives home through Gotham by night. A large shadow flits through an alley that resembles Catwoman.
Wayne just finds her cat and takes it home with him. While his limousine drives along the streets, the believed to be dead Catwoman stretches towards the Bat-signal of Batman, which is glowing in the night sky.
Batman Forever (1995)
Director: Joel Schumacher
Screenplay: Akiva Goldsman
Starring: Val Kilmer (Bruce Wayne / Batman), Chris O’Donnell (Dick Grayson / Robin), Jim Carrey (Edward Nygma / Riddler), Tommy Lee Jones (Harvey Dent / Two-Face), Nicole Kidman (Chase Meridian), Pat Hingle (James Gordon), Michael Gough (Alfred Pennyworth)
Release Date: June 16, 1995
Bruce Wayne sets out as Batman to confront Two-Face, who raids a bank in Gotham City and holds a hostage. Two-Face served as the city’s attorney general until the left side of his face was disfigured by an acid attack. He sees the blame for this in Batman, who failed to thwart the attack, and has wanted to kill him ever since.
Batman learns of Commissioner Gordon being taken hostage and meets psychologist Dr. Chase Meridian, who tries to understand Batman’s motivations and develop a love affair with him. When Batman tries to free the hostage, he is ambushed by Two-Face, but can save himself with the hostage.
Thereupon he takes up the chase after Two-Face, who tries to escape with a helicopter. However, Two-Face jumps off the aircraft and Batman is able to escape from a collision with a statue at the last moment.
At Wayne Enterprises, Bruce Wayne’s company, the highly intelligent, eccentric Edward Nygma is working on a device that can manipulate brain waves so that you can send television signals directly into the human brain and see the images in three dimensions. In return, Nygma receives the thoughts of the respective users through the use of the device.
Wayne has the project stopped on moral grounds; however, Nygma continues with the project. When Fred Stickley, the department head, hears about it, he wants to stop the project again, but is abused by Nygma as a test subject and then killed. Nygma can falsify the evidence and make the act look like suicide. The next day and the following night Wayne receives a letter with a riddle from Nygma, who remains anonymous.
Wayne, who is in love with Meridian, tries to convince her to love him and not Batman. Both go to the circus when Two-Face storms in and threatens to destroy the venue with a bomb within two minutes if Batman does not reveal himself. The Flying Graysons family artist group was able to remove the bomb, but was attacked by Two-Face and only the youngest, Dick, survived.
Wayne, feeling guilty for the death of Dick’s parents, takes him in. He swears to take revenge on Two-Face. After a chase with Batman, Two-Face is surprised by Nygma, who now disguises himself as Riddler. They team up on the terms that Two-Face will help Riddler fund his device and he in return will help him find out who Batman is.
Nygma and Two-Face rob various high-end stores for this, while Wayne receives more puzzles from the Riddler. Nygma, meanwhile, is launching his device under the name Box, which can be found in most household stores immediately. Dick Grayson discovers the Bat Cave, Batman’s headquarters, and deduces that Wayne is Batman. He asks Wayne if he can help him in avenging his parents. The entrepreneur refuses the request and does not want Grayson as his partner.
At a special event, Wayne comes into contact with the Box and Nygma receives his thoughts and learns who Batman is. The event is interrupted by Two-Face, who ambushes Batman. He is buried under gravel, but can be saved by Grayson. Wayne decides to stop being Batman as he continues to reject Grayson’s partnership.
During the night, Meridian and Wayne, who was able to reduce the psychiatrist’s emotions towards Batman, admit their love for each other. However, when he tries to tell her that he is Batman, they are attacked by the Riddler and Two-Face and the former prosecutor shoots Wayne down. They capture Meridian and when Wayne comes to his senses, he decides to put his mask back on.
Meanwhile, his butler Alfred Pennyworth was able to convince him to take Grayson with him under the name Robin, as the Batman’s partner. On the island where Two-Face and the Riddler are, Robin moves away from Batman and a fight between Robin and Two-Face ensues. The villain is defeated, but Robin decides to save his opponent from death.
Two-Face takes advantage of the situation, takes Robin hostage and brings him to the Riddler. He then lets Batman decide whether the life of Robin or Meridian is more important to him by letting both fall into the depths, with Batman being able to save only one of them. However, Batman causes an issue with Nygma’s device beforehand, and all thoughts flow into Nygma’s brain. He then loses his mind.
Meanwhile, Two-Face drops the hostages and Batman jumps after them. He can save both of them on one platform. Two-Face then wants to kill Batman when he draws the former prosecutor’s attention to his rule to decide between life and death with a coin. While Two-Face throws the coin in the air, Batman also throws more coins in the air, so that Two-Face loses his balance and falls into the depths.
Meridian is called to Arkham Asylum Mental Hospital because Nygma says he knows who Batman is. When she asks who is behind Batman’s mask, Nygma replies that he himself is behind the bat costume.
Meanwhile, Wayne waits at the exit for Meridian, and it turns out that she knows the true identity of Batman. The film ends with the illustration of the bat signal, a spotlight with a bat costume in the middle, from which Batman and Robin run towards the viewer.
Batman & Robin (1997)
Director: Joel Schumacher
Screenplay: Akiva Goldsman
Starring: George Clooney (Bruce Wayne / Batman), Chris O’Donnell (Dick Grayson / Robin), Alicia Silverstone (Barbara Pennyworth / Batgirl), Arnold Schwarzenegger (Victor Fries / Mr. Freeze), Uma Thurman (Pamela Isley / Poison) Ivy), Robert Swenson (Antonio Diego / Bane), Michael Gough (Alfred Pennyworth), Pat Hingle (James Gordon)
Release Date: June 20, 1997
The film begins when Batman and Robin stop a robbery executey by Mr. Freeze but the villain escapes. In South America, Pamela Isley works with Dr. Jason Woodrue on many different poisons. She overhears Woodrue using one of the poisons to turn a feeble convict into a powerful and monstrous man; Woodrue calls him Bane.
Woodrue and Isley discuss the dangerous use of the poison, whereupon Woodrue pushes Isley onto a table full of poisons. The poisons fall on her and Isley sinks to the ground. She transforms into the beautiful and seductive Poison Ivy before killing Woodrue with a poisonous kiss.
She finds out that Woodrue was funded by Wayne Enterprises, the company owned by Bruce Waynem aka Batman; so she travels to Gotham City with Bane. Meanwhile, Alfred Pennyworth’s niece, Barbara Wilson, surprises him with a visit. Wayne invites her to stay at Wayne Manor until she has to go back to college.
Wayne Enterprises presents a new telescope at a press conference, which Isley interrupted. She suggests a project that could help the environment, but Wayne declines her offer because it would kill millions of people. A Wayne Enterprises charity party will be held that night; with special guests: Batman and Robin.
Ivy decides to use her skills and seduces the two heroes. But Freeze rushes into the party and steals a diamond from the celebration. He is ultimately caught and captured by Batman after a chase, with Batman stopping Robin in the middle of the chase because he does not trust him to make a risky jump. As a result, there is increased tension between the two.
Freeze arrives at Arkham Asylum. With the help of Ivy and Bane, he can escape again. Ivy pulls the plug from the facility where Mr. Freeze’s wife is being kept alive and tells Freeze that it was Batman and Robin. This increases Freeze’s hatred of both. Ivy suggests that he use the Wayne Enterprises telescope as an ice cannon to freeze Gotham and then the whole world.
Once everything is buried under ice, Ivy’s plants would spread all over the world. Since the chase with Mr. Freeze, Batman and Robin often argue, which is compounded by the presence of Ivy and her seductive abilities towards Robin. Ivy, who can seduce people and kill them with a mere kiss, is ultimately able to contact Robin again but fails to seduce him again. They do kiss, but Robin can protect himself from their poison with a layer of latex over his lips.
Thereupon Robin is captured by her, but saved by Batman, who can also be outwitted by Ivy. Batgirl appears and locks Ivy in her own plants. Batgirl says she is Wilson and knows the location of the Bat-Cave. Batman, Robin, and Batgirl decide to go after Freeze together. They make it to the lab where Freeze and Bane are. Gotham is already completely frozen.
Robin and Batgirl fight Bane and are able to defeat him by removing the toxic tubes from his body that make him strong. At the same time, Batman fights Mr. Freeze and beats him in a fight. But Freeze is still trying to destroy Batman by destroying the platform with the telescope on it. However, this only leads to Bane disappearing beneath all that rubble.
Batgirl and Robin thaw Gotham and Batman shows Freeze a shot of Ivy fighting Batgirl. Freeze realizes that Ivy lied to him about his wife’s death. Ivy had accused Batman of killing Nora, Freeze’s frozen wife. Freeze is upset by the betrayal and Batman tells him that his wife survived. She is in deep cryogenic sleep and was brought to Arkham for Freeze to finish his research.
Batman also asks Freeze for a cure he created for the first stage of MacGregor Syndrome, the disease his wife suffers from. Batman needs this for his dying friend and butler Alfred Pennyworth. Freeze makes up for his misunderstanding by giving Batman the medicine.
Ivy is now stuck in Arkham Asylum, where she receives a visit from Freeze, who promises her to turn her life into a living hell of winter. Pennyworth is ultimately cured and everyone wants Wilson to stay with them.
Nolan trilogy
Batman Begins (2005)
Director: Christopher Nolan
Screenplay: Christopher Nolan, David S. Goyer
Starring: Christian Bale (Bruce Wayne / Batman), Gary Oldman (James Gordon), Michael Caine (Alfred Pennyworth), Liam Neeson (Ra’s al-Ghul), Katie Holmes (Rachel Dawes), Cillian Murphy (Jonathan Crane / Scarecrow)
Release Date: June 25, 2005
A young Bruce Wayne plays with a young Rachel Dawes, but falls into an old well and is attacked by bats. After his father pulls him up from the well, Bruce begins to have nightmares about bats.
One night, while the Wayne family is going to the opera, Bruce is intimidated by the dancers’ portrayal of bat-like demons. Bruce panics and asks them to leave the theatre early. In the alley behind the opera, the family is met by a street criminal who – even though he says that everything will go well – takes the life of Bruce’s father and mother.
After this, Bruce is raised by the family butler, Alfred Pennyworth. Fourteen years later, Bruce returns from Princeton University to attend the parole hearing of his parents’ killer, Joe Chill. The release on probation is a result of the killer giving the police information about the mobster Carmine Falcone. Bruce plans to kill Joe Chill, but Falcone’s men do it first.
When Rachel learns about this, she explains to Bruce the difference between revenge and justice, and says that his father would be ashamed if he found out about his plan. Bruce is ashamed and leaves to meet Falcone.
After the fateful encounter, he hides on a cargo ship, and travels around the world looking for ways to fight injustice. Bruce is later arrested and imprisoned by the Chinese police for the theft of some goods which, ironically, belong to Wayne Enterprises, his own company.
In prison, he is approached by Henri Ducard, a man who represents Ra’s al-Ghul from the League of Shadows, a group of fanatical assassins. Wayne joins the League of Shadows in the Himalayas, and trains with them to become slicker and a better fighter. After the training, Ra’s and Ducard say that Bruce must lead the League of Shadows’ attempt to destroy Gotham City, a city that, according to the League, is a source of evil.
Wayne refuses to destroy the city he loves, and fights Ra’s before escaping. Ra’s is killed in the clash, but Bruce saves Ducard. Bruce then forms an alter ego, Batman, a masked vigilante who uses strength, intellect and a collection of high-tech weapons to fight the powers that threaten the city.
He is determined to take down Carmine Falcone, but stumbles upon something much bigger than a mafia boss in Gotham: the League of Shadows and their leader Ra’s al-Ghul, who is alive and well.
The Dark Knight (2008)
Director: Christopher Nolan
Screenplay: Jonathan Nolan, Christopher Nolan
Starring: Christian Bale (Bruce Wayne / Batman), Gary Oldman (James Gordon), Michael Caine (Alfred Pennyworth), Maggie Gyllenhaal (Rachel Dawes), Aaron Eckhart (Harvey Dent / Two-Face), Heath Ledger (The Joker)
Release Date: July 18, 2008
In the city of Gotham, the Joker and his henchmen rob a bank belonging to the mafia. Batman and Lieutenant James Gordon decide to include the new public prosecutor Harvey Dent, who is dating Rachel Dawes, in their plan to end the mafia. Bruce later meets Dent and promises to throw a party to raise funds for him, after realizing his sincerity.
Mafia bosses Sal Maroni, Gambol and the Chechen meet with other criminal bosses to discuss new problems in their activities. Lau, a Chinese accountant, says he hid all the money and fled to Hong Kong to prevent Gordon’s plan from materializing. The Joker breaks into the meeting warning that Batman is going to hunt down Lau, and offers to kill him for half the money.
Everyone refuses and Gambol puts a price on the Joker’s head. Shortly thereafter the Joker kills Gambol and recruits his men. In Hong Kong, Batman captures Lau and hands him over to the Gotham Police Department where he agrees to testify, allowing Gordon and Dent to arrest the entire mafia.
In retaliation, the Joker issues an ultimatum to the people of Gotham: people will die every day until Batman reveals his true identity, resulting in the death of Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb and Judge Surilo, who was presiding over the mafia trials. Gordon thwarts the Joker’s attempt to kill Mayor Anthony Garcia and is apparently killed.
As a result, Bruce decides to reveal himself, but Harvey reveals that he is Batman to protect the truth and to be arrested as a way of protection. Escorted through the city, he is chased by the Joker, but Batman runs to help.
Gordon, who had forged his death manages to arrest the Joker with the help of Batman and is promoted to Commissioner. However, Dent disappears and the Joker reveals that he and Rachel were taken to separate buildings in opposite places in the city, which will be destroyed at the same time. Batman runs to save Dent, while Gordon and his men try to save Rachel.
At the same time, the Joker manages to escape with Lau from the police station. Batman ends up finding Harvey and saves him. The building explodes; Rachel dies while half of Dent’s face is burned, leaving him traumatized.
After killing Lau and the Chechen, the Joker threatens to destroy a hospital if Coleman Reese, an accountant at Wayne Enterprises who discovered Batman’s true identity, is not killed in an hour. Bruce saves Reese while the Joker visits Dent at the hospital and convinces him to avenge Rachel’s death by going after those responsible.
Now Two-Face, Harvey judges the Joker by tossing his coin and ends up sparing him. The Joker blows up the hospital and takes a bus full of people as hostages, while Two-Face kills Maroni and the others.
That night, civilians are evacuated from Gotham, but the Joker fills both rafts with explosives, offering both civilians and criminals the chance to live if they blow up the other vessel. Batman prevents Gordon’s SWAT teams from catching the Joker to protect the hostages and to let him capture the Joker alone.
The ferry passengers refuse to kill each other and the Joker is captured, but first, he explains his complex relationship with Batman and reveals what he did to Harvey Dent, saying that although Batman is incorruptible, Dent was not. In the rubble of the building where Rachel died, Batman finds Two-Face holding Gordon’s family hostage at gunpoint.
Two-Face judges the fates of Batman, himself, and Gordon’s son. As a result of the first two tosses of the coin, Batman is shot in the belly, and Two-Face spares himself. When he was tossing the coin to determine the boy’s fate, he was attacked by Batman, resulting in his death.
Knowing that the people of Gotham will lose hope if Harvey’s actions are discovered, Gordon is convinced by Batman to frame him for the deaths. The police invade the building, and the hunt for Batman begins. Gordon speaks at Dent’s funeral and destroys the Bat-signal.
The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Director: Christopher Nolan
Screenplay: Jonathan Nolan, Christopher Nolan
Starring: Christian Bale (Bruce Wayne / Batman), Gary Oldman (James Gordon), Michael Caine (Alfred Pennyworth), Anne Hathaway (Selina Kyle / Catwoman), Tom Hardy (Bane), Marion Cotillard (Miranda Tate / Talia al-Ghul), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Robin John Blake)
Release Date: July 20, 2012
Eight years have passed since the events of The Dark Knight. Batman has not been seen since he took the blame for the crimes of public prosecutor Harvey Dent.
The hero’s alter ego, Bruce Wayne, has become a recluse, and the Wayne Enterprises begin to topple after investing in a merger energy project by executive Miranda Tate – a project that ended up being cancelled after Bruce discovered the reactor’s war potential. With the new Dent Act, Commissioner Jim Gordon and the Gotham City police put an end to organized crime, allowing most crime bosses to be arrested without trial.
While Gordon gives up on revealing the lies about Dent during the Wayne Mansion party, thief Selina Kyle steals Bruce’s fingerprints and a necklace from his mother. Looking for a missing politician, Gordon ends up finding the terrorist Bane in the sewers, as well as his gang. Gordon is injured on the run, and his speech that contains everything about Dent’s crimes falls into Bane’s hands.
At the hospital, he promotes policeman John Blake to detective. Blake – who discovered Bruce’s secret identity – and Gordon, ask for Batman’s return. Bane attacks the Gotham stock exchange, using Bruce’s fingerprints to bankrupt Wayne Enterprises.
Deducting correctly that a rival executive, John Daggett, financed Bane to take control of his company, Bruce hands over the domain to Tate. Daggett had been deceived by Bane from the beginning, and Bane kills him to take control of his empire under construction. Bruce decides to return as Batman, and with Kyle’s help, he finds Bane.
He reveals that he has taken over control of Ra’s al-Ghul’s League of Shadows and now plans to destroy Gotham, as Ra’s intended in Batman Begins. Battered physically and mentally, Batman doesn’t stand a chance against Bane and Bane finally cripples him, sending him to a distant and desperate prison.
After stealing equipment from Wayne Industries, Bane forces Tate and Lucius Fox to reveal the fusion reactor, which turns out to be a nuclear bomb if you remove its core. Then, he lures all the cops into the sewer and uses hidden bombs to bury them underground, devastating Gotham.
During a football game, Bane announces that he has a bomb capable of destroying the city and if someone tried to escape they would not be able to, because the bridges that connect Gotham to the mainland had already been destroyed in an explosion.
Bane reads Gordon’s speech in public before releasing the Dent Act convicts from Blackgate Penitentiary, including Jonathan Crane, a.k.a. The Scarecrow. Over the course of months, Bruce recovers physically and mentally, and after an arduous climb, manages to escape from prison.
Back in Gotham, he gathers Gordon, Blake, Tate, Fox and Kyle to help him defuse the bomb before it is detonated. In the battle between the terrorists and the police, Batman emerges and confronts Bane again, defeating him this time. Unexpectedly Tate stabs him and reveals herself to be Ra’s al Ghul’s daughter, Talia; she is intent on completing his father’s plans and avenging his death.
Before Talia detonates the bomb, Gordon neutralizes the remote receiver, forcing Talia to go after the truck with the artifact and leaving Bane to kill Batman. Before he does, Selina Kyle shoots Bane.
Batman tries to force Talia to take the bomb to the chamber, where Fox could neutralize it, but Talia causes it to be flooded. Talia dies after crashing the truck, and Batman uses the Batwing to load the bomb away from Gotham. It explodes and apparently kills the hero. Batman is considered a living legend, while Bruce is considered dead during the revolts.
His will orders him to divide up his properties to settle debts, with the Wayne Mansion remaining for Blake’s orphanage, and the rest of the fortune for butler Alfred Pennyworth. Shortly after these events, Gordon reveals a new Bat-signal on the police roof, while Fox sees that Bruce had installed an autopilot on the Batwing. In Italy, Alfred meets Bruce and Selina, while John Blake, having his name revealed as Robin, discovers the Batcave.
DCEU
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
Director: Zack Snyder
Screenplay: Chris Terrio, David S. Goyer
Starring: Ben Affleck (Bruce Wayne / Batman), Henry Cavill (Clark Kent / Superman), Gal Gadot (Diana Prince / Wonder Woman), Jesse Eisenberg (Lex Luthor), Amy Adams (Lois Lane), Diane Lane (Martha Kent), Laurence Fishburne (Perry White), Jeremy Irons (Alfred Pennyworth)
Release Date: March 19, 2016
As a child, Bruce Wayne witnesses the murder of his parents in an alley by criminal Joe Chill. Years later, disguised as Batman, Wayne fights crime in Gotham City with the help of his butler Alfred Pennyworth.
While on the street near one of his buildings in Metropolis, a fight between Superman and General Zod causes him to see many buildings collapsing, killing many innocent people, including his acquaintances from his own building. Eighteen months later, after Superman’s uncontrolled actions, people wonder if the world really needs a superhero; Bruce Wayne also has his doubts.
Entrepreneur Lex Luthor also sees Superman as a threat and asks Senator Finch to produce weapons with kryptonite against Kryptonian creatures. Finch does not give permission for this. When Superman reports to Finch at a hearing about his actions, Lex Luthor detonates a bomb killing many people, including Finch. This does not work in Superman’s favor.
When Wayne sees Superman take control of the world in a vision, he steals kryptonite from Luthor’s company to stop Superman. Luthor, seeking Superman’s attention, pushes Lois Lane off one of his buildings.
Superman arrives and saves her. Luthor soon tells the angry Superman that he has kidnapped his mother, Martha Kent, thereby putting his twisted plan into action. Luthor has taken her hostage to ensure that Superman will kill Batman within an hour if he wants to see his foster mother alive.
Superman has no choice and goes looking for Batman, wanting to ask him whether he wanted to join forces against Luthor. But before that happens, Batman sees Superman as a threat that must be eliminated.
When Batman appears to be winning with the help of kryptonite in the battle, Superman asks Batman to rescue Martha. Batman is confused when he hears his dead mother’s name. Lois Lane arrives and tells Batman Superman referred to his own mother. For the first time, Batman realizes that Superman has no evil intentions. Batman spares Superman and rescues Martha.
Meanwhile, Superman goes to Luthor. He deals with the monster Doomsday, created from Zod’s corpse and Luthor’s blood. Doomsday is exceptionally powerful and seems to be winning against Superman and Batman.
Superman and Batman see Wonder Woman, whom they previously met as Diana Prince, appear as an extra help against Luther’s evil intentions. The monster seems too strong for the trio. Superman sees only one solution and goes up to the monster with a spear made of kryptonite and pierces the monster with the spear.
The monster dies but with its last strength it stabs its exoskeleton in Superman’s chest and he dies too. Luthor is arrested and locked up in prison and Superman is buried. At the funeral, Wayne tells Prince that he has plans to form a group to fight future threats. Superman’s beloved Lois Lane is the last to throw some sand on the coffin. When everyone is gone the sand moves.
Justice League (2017)
Director: Zack Snyder
Screenplay: Chris Terrio, Joss Whedon
Starring: Henry Cavill (Clark Kent / Superman), Ben Affleck (Bruce Wayne / Batman), Gal Gadot (Diana Prince / Wonder Woman), Jason Momoa (Arthur Curry / Aquaman), Ezra Miller (Barry Allen / The Flash), Ray Fisher (Victor Stone / Cyborg), Ciarán Hinds (Steppenwolf)
Release Date: November 17, 2017
Thousands of years ago, the evil Steppenwolf and his ferocious army of Parademons attacked Earth in an attempt to expand their power in the Universe, but the alien horde was repelled by the combined forces of the Amazons, the Atlanteans, Greek gods, Green Lanterns and Men.
Forced to retreat, Steppenwolf left behind three mysterious Mother Boxes – a very advanced technological source of his power – that the Earth forces decided to hide in different parts of the planet: one was taken by the Amazons, one to Atlantis and one was hidden by Men somewhere in Europe. Upon hearing about Superman’s disappearance, the Mother Boxes reactivate and Steppenwolf arrives back on Earth with his army of Parademons.
As a first step, the alien attacks Themyscira and, despite the great courage of Queen Hippolyta and her Amazons, he gets his hands on the first box. However, the queen manages to communicate the arrival of the alien horde to her daughter Diana Prince and she therefore decides to reunite with Bruce Wayne, the vigilante Batman, who in the meantime has already had the opportunity to face and defeat a Parademon in Gotham City.
Bruce convinces Diana to recruit the metahumans he had identified in the past to form a group capable of stopping the aliens: Wayne personally recruits Barry Allen, the Speedster Flash, and also tries to bring Arthur Curry, the half-Atlantean Aquaman to their side. Diana, on the other hand, manages to get in touch with Victor Stone, the Cyborg.
Despite the initial hesitation, the group officially forms after Steppenwolf attacks Atlantis to retrieve the second box and takes some people, who have come into contact with the third box, including Victor’s father, hostage; the hostages are saved but Bruce claims that to stop Steppenwolf, it is going to be necessary to bring Superman back to life using the energy of the last box, which Cyborg has recovered.
The five then carry Clark’s body inside the Kryptonian spacecraft kept at the S.T.A.R. Labs. Using the electricity produced by Flash and the last box, they manage to awaken him: Superman, however, does not remember who he is at first of and, after being attacked by Cyborg involuntarily, throws himself attacs the give; the worst is averted by the providential arrival of Lois Lane, whom Bruce had sent for via Alfred.
The reporter manages to bring the Kryptonian to his senses and the two leave for Smallville. The procedure for awakening Superman, however, allows the last box to summon Steppenwolf, who takes possession of it and plans to merge the three artifacts somewhere in Russia to reshape the Earth and conquer it for good.
The group then goes to the place for the final battle and, thanks also to the intervention of Superman, manages to evacuate the area and defeat Steppenwolf, who, overwhelmed by fear, is attacked by his own Parademons before teleporting back to Apokolips.
After their great victory, Bruce returns the home of Clark’s mother to her and decides to put Wayne Manor back on its feet to make it the base of operations for the group of heroes, while Wonder Woman suggests that he leaves room for more members; Diana herself decides to become a heroine in the open, while Barry gets a job in the Central City Police Department to the delight of his inmate father. Victor works with his father to improve the armor, Superman returns to Metropolis and Aquaman to Atlantis to claim the throne that is rightfully his.
In the first scene during the credits, Flash and Superman are racing up to the Pacific Ocean and all to test which of the two is faster. In the second scene after the credits, it is revealed that Lex Luthor has managed to escape from the Arkham Asylum and that he has hired the mercenary Slade Wilson, aka Deathstroke, to assemble their own group of supervillains.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021)
Director: Zack Snyder
Screenplay: Chris Terrio
Starring: Henry Cavill (Clark Kent / Superman), Ben Affleck (Bruce Wayne / Batman), Gal Gadot (Diana Prince / Wonder Woman), Jason Momoa (Arthur Curry / Aquaman), Ezra Miller (Barry Allen / The Flash), Ray Fisher (Victor Stone / Cyborg), Ciarán Hinds (Steppenwolf), Ray Porter (Darkseid)
Release Date: March 18, 2021
Thousands of years ago, Darkseid and his army of Parademons attempted to conquer Earth using the energy of the three Mother Boxes. An alliance between the Gods of Olympus, Amazons, Atlanteans, humans and a Green Lantern managed to stop Darkseid’s army. The three Mother boxes were separated and hidden.
In the present, Superman’s death has triggered the reactivation of the Mother Boxes, ancient objects that, when brought together, form the Unity, and it terraforms the planets according to the will of the masters. A few days later, the Mother Box guarded by the Amazons on the island of Themyscira calls Steppenwolf from exile, who once recovered, gets in touch with DeSaad, Darkseid’s spokesperson. Meanwhile, Queen Hippolyta warns her daughter Diana Prince of the imminent danger.
Diana informs Bruce Wayne of Darkseid’s plan, and the two set out on a search for other metahumans who can help protect Earth. Bruce Wayne goes to a fishing village and meets Aquaman, who refuses to join the team, while Barry Allen accepts immediately. Diana tracks down Victor Stone, who, after an initial refusal, joins the group to save his father, Silas Stone, who was kidnapped by Steppenwolf along with other scientists from the S.T.A.R. labs.
Steppenwolf attacks an Atlantean outpost and recovers the second Mother Box, forcing Arthur to intervene to try to stop it. With the help of Commissioner Gordon, the team discovers that Steppenwolf is hiding in a structure near the Gotham City harbor and they attack him. Bruce, Diana, Barry and Victor manage to save the scientists but the facility is flooded; Arthur comes to their rescue by saving them.
Thanks to the mother boxes in his possession, Steppenwolf manages to discover that the Earth is the planet in which the Anti-Life Equation is engraved; with Darkseid’s ultimuate objective found, Steppenwolf immediately informs his master of the discovery. Victor reveals that he is in possession of the third Mother Box, which his father used to rebuild his body after an accident that nearly cost him his life.
The group decides to use the Mother Box to resurrect Superman and stop Steppenwolf. Barry and Victor recover Superman’s body and take him to the Kryptonian ship kept at S.T,A.R. Labs. Here, Allen sets out to reactivate the box using his powers and Cyborg, thanks to the link with the Mother Box and the Kryptonian ship, has a vision of the future where Diana is dead, Arthur is killed by Darkseid and Clark is controlled by Darkseid with the anti-life equation, while the whole planet is enslaved.
The process of bringing Superman back to life is successful. The Kryptonian awakens, however, in a state of total confusion and amnesia, attacks the group. Only Lois’s intervention succeeds in appeasing Clark, and the two fly to Smalville where Clark is reunited with his mother. Steppenwolf, attracted by the activation of the third box, attacks the S.T.A.R. Labs building and recovers the artifact.
Silas Stone, however, sacrifices himself to overheat the Box so that his son can follow the trail of residual heat and track down the enemy’s lair. The group, without Superman, travels to a ghost town in Russia where Steppenwolf is synchronizing the Unity. Batman, Wonder Woman and the Flash battle the Parademons as Stone tries to reach the Mother Boxes to separate them; Superman comes to Stone’s aid but Steppenwolf manages to put the boxes together, causing a huge explosion.
Flash then enters the Speed ​​Force and rewinds time, allowing Superman and Stone, whose mind successfully enters the artifacts and defeat his alternative personality, to separate the Mother Boxes. Arthur and Diana kill Steppenwolf and throw his body into a portal leading to Apokolips, from which Darkseid has observed the latest events.
The warrior decides to take personal action to finally get hold of the Equation. Bruce, Diana and Alfred Pennyworth establish the headquarters of the new team at Wayne Mansion and leave the door open for any new members; Barry gets a job in the Central City Police Department; Victor decides to use his powers to do good; Arthur sets out to find his father, and Superman resumes his life as Clark Kent.
Lex Luthor, meanwhile, having escaped from Arkham Asylum, meets with Slade Wilson and reveals Batman’s secret identity. Bruce has a dream set in a post-apocalyptic world, where he, Victor, Barry, Mera, Wilson and the Joker are allies and set out to battle an evil Superman controlled by Darkseid. Bruce wakes up and receives a visit from Martian Manhunter, who has infiltrated Earth in the guise of General Swanwick, and informs him of a possible future arrival of Darkseid.
Other
Batman (1943)
Director: Lamber Hillyer
Screenplay: Victor McLeod, Leslie Swabacker, Harry L. Fraser
Starring: Lewis Wilson (Bruce Wayne / Batman), Douglas Croft (Dick Grayson / Robin), William Austin (Alfred Pennyworth), Shirley Patterson (Linda Page), J. Carrol Nash (Tito Daka / Prince Daka)
Release Date: July 16, 1943 – October 22, 1943 (15 segments)
Batman and Robin find out that the dubious Dr. Tito Daka is actually a Japanese spy who owns a machine with the help of which he can control people’s minds and thus turn them into willless, zombie-like slaves.
In his headquarters disguised as a fun house, however, Dr. Daka is working on a far more diabolical invention: a radium cannon, with the help of which he wants to force the whole country under his rule. The dynamic duo is now doing everything possible to put a stop to it.
When Batman and Robin get into his hiding place, they discover that even Linda Page, the fiancée of Batman’s alter ego Bruce Wayne, has now become one of Daka’s zombie slaves. They turn off his henchmen and overpower him to force him to reverse the zombie effect on Linda and everyone else involved.
With a knife that he had hidden in his sleeve, Daka is able to free himself and takes Linda hostage. As he tries to escape, Batman means to Robin to flip the switch that locks the only exit. Robin hits the wrong switch and a trapdoor opens.
Daka falls to his doom in a pit full of hungry alligators, and the land is saved thanks to Batman and Robin’s intervention.
The full list of segments, in order of watching, is:
| Chapter | Title | Release Date | Reel Length | Running Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Electrical Brain | July 16, 1943 | 2423′ | 26.9 minutes |
| 2 | The Bat’s Cave | July 23, 1943 | 1606′ | 17.8 minutes |
| 3 | The Mark of the Zombies | July 30, 1943 | 1638′ | 18.2 minutes |
| 4 | Slaves of the Rising Sun | August 6, 1943 | 1664′ | 18.5 minutes |
| 5 | The Living Corpse | August 13, 1943 | 1565′ | 17.4 minutes |
| 6 | Poison Peril | August 20, 1943 | 1538′ | 17.1 minutes |
| 7 | The Phoney Doctor | August 27, 1943 | 1467′ | 16.3 minutes |
| 8 | Lured By Radium | September 3, 1943 | 1525′ | 16.9 minutes |
| 9 | The Sign of the Sphinx | September 10, 1943 | 1500′ | 16.7 minutes |
| 10 | Flying Spies | September 17, 1943 | 1618′ | 18 minutes |
| 11 | A Nipponese Trap | September 24, 1943 | 1447′ | 16.1 minutes |
| 12 | Embers of Evil | October 1, 1943 | 1333′ | 14.8 minutes |
| 13 | Eight Steps Down | October 8, 1943 | 1322′ | 14.7 minutes |
| 14 | The Executioner Strikes | October 15, 1943 | 1441′ | 16 minutes |
| 15 | The Doom of the Rising Sun | October 22, 1943 | 1840′ | 20.4 minutes |
Batman and Robin (1949)
Director: Spencer Gordon Bennet
Screenplay: George H. Plympton, Joseph F. Poland, Royal K. Cole
Starring: Robert Lowery (Bruce Wayne / Batman), Johnny Duncan (Dick Grayson / Robin), Jane Adams (Vicki Vale), Lyle Talbot (James Gordon), Eric Wilton (Alfred Pennyworth)
Release Date: May 26, 1949
The brilliant scientist Professor Hammil has made a groundbreaking new invention: a machine that allows you to take control of any type of vehicle in order to drive it wherever you want. However, the machine is stolen because it has a value that should not be underestimated by criminals.
Commissioner Gordon calls Batman and Robin to help bring the machine back. Hammil explains to the two that the machine runs on diamonds, so they go to the nearest major jeweler and wait. Their instincts did not deceive the masked vigilantes. A handful of crooks are trying to get out of the back door with the loot.
Batman and Robin arrest the gang, but one of them manages to escape with the stolen property. He brings the diamonds to his boss, a masked criminal genius who calls himself The Wizard. He has now acquired enough diamonds to start the machine and is using them to hijack a train carrying a new type of super explosive called “X-90”.
The Wizard plans to use the explosives to extort a million dollar ransom from the city. But before the criminal can implement his plan, Batman and Robin have found his secret hiding place, which is located right under Professor Hammil’s house. It turns out that The Wizard is actually the criminal twin brother of Carter, Hammil’s house servant. Carter’s brother is handed over to the police and the city is saved thanks to Batman and Robin.
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