Warner Bros.With his comic debut dating back to 1939, Batman is one of the oldest superheroes we have — and his history on-screen feels just as everlasting. From the light-hearted live-action adventures of Adam West’s Caped Crusader to the gothic animated series inspired by Tim Burton’s vision of Gotham, everyone has their own idea of the “ideal” Batman, and each seems to live in its own universe. Ask one fan what the best Batman movie is, and they might say Mask of the Phantasm. Another might name Christian Bale or Robert Pattinson as the actor best suited to bring Batman to life. It makes the act of ranking all Batman movies an unruly pursuit — but with the hero’s future on the big screen murkier than ever, what else is there to do?Below, we rank every live-action film that Batman has played a significant role in. That specification might wittle down the list to its bare foundations and omit a few significant animated movies, but I promise: it’s better this way. Batman’s live-action history is unruly enough, filled with one tonal pendulum swing after the next, to merit this insular focus. But even these 11 films paint a shockingly specific portrait of a whole genre’s evolution. Batman has been present at every stage of the superhero industrial complex, turning each of his adventures into a snapshot of our ever-changing bond with comic book movies.11. The Flash (2023)Warner Bros.Unfortunately, yes: The Flash technically counts as a Batman movie. Michael Keaton reprised his role as a much older Caped Crusader — as did George Clooney and Ben Affleck, in the briefest of cameos — and served as a guide for not one, but two versions of Ezra Miller’s Flash. Director Andy Muschietti brought the DC Extended Universe to a calamitous close with a trip through the multiverse. Though there are some laughs to be had on this adventure, and a particularly great turn from Sasha Calle (whose Supergirl deserved much better), The Flash is far too garish to enjoy outright. As a farewell to the Batmen of yore, it’s also something of a failure; we called it the final nail in DC’s coffin for a reason.10. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)Warner Bros/Dc Comics/Kobal/ShutterstockIt’s a crying shame that Ben Affleck’s first outing as Batman came with Dawn of Justice. Batfleck was a promising addition to Zack Snyder’s DCEU, and a ballsy follow-up to Christian Bale’s distinguished reign as the Bat. He deserved at least one solo adventure to establish the new regime; instead, Snyder introduced a grizzled Batman in the twilight of his tenure as Gotham’s defender. He’s lost a Robin and, it seems, his moral code: this is a Batman who literally brands criminals with his insignia and has definitely murdered a few. Snyder didn’t seem to fully “get” what made Batman so great (unless you’re a Frank Miller super-fan) — but he also didn’t get the chance to defend his thesis for such a Dark Knight. With a script swarmed by studio notes (Warner cut a whopping 30 minutes from Chris Terrio’s story) and his Justice League plans cut short soon after, Batfleck and the DCEU never really stood a chance.9. Batman & Robin (1997)Moviestore/ShutterstockJoel Schumacher’s second and final Batman film is almost catastrophically silly. Overrun by allusions to latex-clad erotica (Bat-nipples! Bat-buttocks!) and phantasmagoric imagery, Batman & Robin might be camp personified. All of its ideas work better on a Pinterest board, from Uma Thurman’s divalicious turn as Poison Ivy to Chris O’Donnell’s piercing blue eyes behind the Robin mask. It can also be a breath of fresh air in a world overrun by grimdark superhero fare. But that good can’t outweigh the bad, from the pun-a-minute hijinks of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Mr. Freeze to a depiction of Bane that borders on insolent. George Clooney is here too, putting in work as a decent Batman. In a film this crowded, though, he’s easy to forget — and that might be Batman & Robin’s biggest sin. 8. Batman Forever (1995)Moviestore/ShutterstockA lot of directors work a little better with guideposts, and Batman Forever proved as much for Joel Schumacher. While the director first took the franchise reins from Tim Burton here, Burton remained on as a producer — and his presence probably kept Schumacher from running away with this film. Batman Forever is a more-or-less natural progression from Burton’s Bat-movies: it softens the horny angst of Batman Returns with romantic (if zany) finesse, taking the idea of fractured psyches and vigilantism as fetish play to further extremes. The Riddler (Jim Carrey on 11), Two-Face (Tommy Lee Jones), and Batman’s new love interest, Chase Meridian (Nicole Kidman at her breathiest), bring plenty out of Val Kilmer’s Caped Crusader. From where I sit, Forever can only be accused of trying to “yassify” Burton’s Batman duology — and I’ve got no qualms defending that. (Plus: “Kiss from a Rose”! Surely that, along with the rest of the epic soundtrack album, counts for something!)7. The Dark Knight Rises (2012)Warner Bros Pictures/Kobal/ShutterstockTom Hardy’s performance as Bane — often imitated, never duplicated — dominates the final chapter of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight saga, an existential slog that makes Les Misérables feel like a brisk read. The Dark Knight Rises is just a smidge overrated, and not even really a Batman movie for most of its 160-minute (!) runtime. In anyone else’s hands, a story that transposes the then-controversial Occupy movement to the streets of Gotham City, only to (kind of) emerge on the side of the status quo, would get its justified lashings. That said, it’s Nolan, so we forgive it.The director caught some flak for such “unabashedly conservative” messaging, but Rises’ real crime is tangling Bruce Wayne in such an insultingly nonsensical plot. That, and the sound mixing... and the editing. All told, it’s one of Nolan’s weakest films — but hey, endings are hard. Rises eventually delivers the skin-tingling farewell that Christian Bale’s Batman deserves. If only the path to that finale didn’t feel so much like pulling teeth.6. Batman (1966)Fox/Abc/Kobal/ShutterstockBatman found real fame on the small screen, but it was clear from the beginning that he and Robin were destined for bigger and better. Just a few short months after Adam West and Burt Ward starred in Batman, they got the chance to “bat-apult” onto the big screen in a movie of the same name. The conflict might seem quaint today, with 60 years’ worth of advancements in tech and a complete shift in narrative priorities between then and now. But Batman was a very big deal in 1966, and remains a solid film today. Batman and Robin had their hands full with four whole villains — Catwoman (Lee Meriwether), Joker (Cesar Romero), the Penguin (Burgess Meredith), and the Riddler (Frank Gorshin) — who pour their shared dreams of world domination into an “unholy alliance.” The dynamic duo’s quest to stop them pits them against exploding man-eating sharks, heat-seeking missiles, and so much more. It also treats us to a slew of ridiculously quotable one-liners and as many “bams!” and “pows!” and “zowies!” to fill a comic of its own.5. Batman (1989)Snap/ShutterstockFor a comic book adaptation that doesn’t really give a damn about the source material, Batman gets so much right about its eponymous hero. Burton is making a Burton movie here, and it works better than it ought to. His Batman is comparatively tamer than the films that’d come after (and even the film he’d follow it up with, Batman Returns), but as the de facto beginning for so many, a no-fuss approach is exactly what the hero needed. Michael Keaton delivers subdued mania as both Bruce Wayne and Batman, Jack Nicholson is perhaps the chillest Joker ever put to screen, and Kim Basinger is caught unhappily in the middle as the journalist Vicky Vale. This gothic entanglement redefined what it meant to tell a Batman story for the better; few directors have been such a perfect fit for Gotham since.4. Batman Begins (2005)Moviestore/ShutterstockNolan’s fourth feature bears the seal of a filmmaker still finding his voice. Batman Begins is longer than it should be, distractingly choppy, and haunted by the ghosts of more compelling characters (the women here suffer in particular; water is wet). But some of that works in its hero’s favor: Begins is also the only Batman film to focus exclusively on Batman instead of the villains in his orbit. Sure, Nolan gets great stuff out of Liam Neeson (a fantastic Ra’s al Ghul) and his Bruce Wayne dream-casting, Cillian Murphy (who’s quietly menacing and very pretty as Scarecrow) — but he also knows what it means to depict a satisfying origin story. He relishes in the building of Batman’s ethos and the creation of his true alter ego, Bruce Wayne, with Christian Bale delivering the best of both identities. They just don’t make superhero movies like these anymore, but at least Begins showed us how it was done.3. Batman Returns (1992)Warner Bros/Dc Comics/Kobal/ShutterstockBatman Returns probably scarred a lot of kids when it burst onto the scene in 1992. Snippy, sardonic, and sexually frustrated, it’s the movie Burton must have dreamed of making when directing the much-tamer Batman. Though not a perfect film — pacing issues get even the best of us — its immaculate casting and production design keep it front-of-mind for many a Bat-fan. Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman. Danny DeVito as the Penguin. Hell, even Christopher Walken is serving something memorable as the evil tycoon who essentially creates these new villains. Keaton keeps up well enough, but his Batman is probably the most sane of the costumed wackos trolling Gotham here. Watching him come to that realization and lock in to save his city makes Returns a quintessential entry in the Bat-mythos, not to mention one of the very best.2. The Batman (2022)Warner Bros.Another entry that strikes an ideal balance between the Dark Knight and his villain roster, The Batman is a faithful adaptation without outright cribbing from a specific comic storyline. There are bits of Year One and The Long Halloween in Matt Reeves’ movie — but also elements of films like Se7en, Klute, and even Blade Runner, with Gotham’s rain-soaked neon streets. The city is a character unto itself here, alive and utterly alien in ways no other Batman film has achieved. Notably, The Batman is more than its vibes, immaculately constructed as they may be. It also succeeds with a roundabout origin for a new Caped Crusader, a grungy loner brought to life by Robert Pattinson. We may not witness his parents’ murder, the forging of his Bat-sona, or his first altercation with his fiercest enemy (Barry Keoghan’s Joker). Instead, Reeves reveals why “Bruce Wayne” is such an important weapon in Batman’s arsenal, sloughing away the grime to reveal the beating heart beneath.1. The Dark Knight (2008)Moviestore/ShutterstockWhat is there to say about The Dark Knight that hasn’t been said already? Before Oppenheimer, most regarded it as Christopher Nolan’s masterwork. (If you squint, his Oscar-winning juggernaut bears haunting parallels to the director’s meteoric rise.) Others called it the Godfather 2 of superhero movies. The hype was justified — The Dark Knight rewrote the playbook for superhero storytelling, setting the bar impossibly high — but it still doesn’t quite highlight what makes this film sing. Heath Ledger’s rattling portrayal of Joker certainly has something to do with it: he’s the true personification of chaos, a force so immutable that Batman’s every effort to stop him feels frightfully futile. As our hero’s anti-Joker tactics grow increasingly erratic, Nolan brushes against timely fears about autonomous technology and surveillance, anxieties we’re still facing today. There’s an omnipresent dread to the proceedings in The Dark Knight, but also a “darkness and dignity” that few (if any) have replicated. No Batman film is perfect, not even this one. As far as modern superhero stories go, though, Nolan achieves something more than mythic, defining an era of mistrust and cynicism with a subtle silver lining. Where to stream Batman moviesEvery live-action Batman movie streams on HBO Max with the exception of the 1966 Batman, which is available to rent on YouTube, Prime Video, Apple TV, and elsewhere.