Every Batman movie, ranked from worst to best

You can juggle me, dear reader. What’s black and brooding and now streaming on HBO Max?

It’s BatmanYes, it is! Robert Pattinson’s grumpy take on Gotham’s preeminent masked vigilante is now more widely available to watch, and what better excuse could there be to rank the 13 theatrically released Batman movies?

A crack team made up of movie scientists from Polygon came together to create our own Bat ranking and then average them to produce this very exact rank of our favourite Bat movies. We discovered that we like these films in many different ways, and for different reasons. Batman movies can be anything, from silly to very serious and everything in between. They all succeed at their goals. Even if you don’t see your favorite Bat film on this list. Rest assured, we love it too.

You can also see our suggestions for three ways to view the Batman films, as well our selection of animated Batman movies, along with our recommendations on where and when you can find them.

13. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Warner Bros.

A sequel is in the works Man of Steel than a true Batman movie, this nevertheless gets a place on the list due to Batman’s prominent placement in both the title and the plot. This was also the first live action movie that featured Superman and Batman. It also saw the debut of Wonder Woman in live theater and Ben Affleck’s first portrayal of Batman. It kinda rules! Yes, even though it’s technically 13th on our list!

Bruce Wayne witnesses the devastation of Man of Steel Firsthand, Superman views Superman a danger to humankind. Similarly, Superman learns of Batman’s actions and sees him as a threat to the safety of the citizens of Gotham. Lex Luthor, played by Jesse Eisenberg), exploits this situation to his advantage and pits them against one another for his own gain. It’s a flawed, but still fascinating film. BvS interrogates the self-perception of both heroes through the lens of their heroic “rival” and the partial pictures they have of each other. As a fan of Zack Snyder’s DC movies, I suggest checking out the longer Ultimate Edition, but this gets the “if you’re not down with Snyder’s approach, this might not be for you” disclaimer. —Pete Volk

12. Batman & Robin

Warner Home Video

George Clooney’s lone movie as Batman, Batman & Robin is the fourth and final movie in the series that started with 1989’s BatmanTim Burton was not involved in this movie. Joel Schumacher directed the second Batman film. Batman & Robin is a deeply bisexual movie that brings back Chris O’Donnell’s Robin and introduces Alicia O’Donnell’s Batgirl as well as dual villains in Uma Thurman’s Poison Ivy and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Mr. Freeze. Schwarzenegger is deliciously over the top as Freeze (“What killed the dinosaurs? The Ice Age!”) — your mileage with his performance is as good of a barometer as you’re going to get on your enjoyment of this campy, colorful, silly time at the movies. —PV

11. Batman Forever

Warner Bros.

Schumacher’s first turn as a Batman director feels in many ways like a transitional movie between the German Expressionist approach of the early Tim Burton movies and the colorful campiness of Batman & Robin. It introduces Chris O’Donnell’s Robin and is Val Kilmer’s lone turn in the Batsuit, but what really pulls the whole thing together are the absolutely unhinged villain performances by Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face and Jim Carrey as The Riddler.

Do you want commitment? Jim Carrey was so devoted to the Riddler life that Jones allegedly said to him during the production, “I hate you. I really don’t like you … I cannot sanction your buffoonery.” That energy comes through in the final product for both actors, and it makes the movie a delightful time. —PV

10. Zack Snyder’s Justice League

Image Credit: Max

We’re going with this version of the movie, because it is significantly better and more interesting than the theatrical release. And it is worth briefly talking about the circumstances that got us to this point: Joss Whedon replaced Zack Snyder during production after a family tragedy, and the resulting theatrical film was a complete mess, launching abuse allegations against Whedon and the eventual release of Snyder’s version of the movie on HBO Max.

After the events Dawn of JusticeThis movie features the Justice League, a newly-formed organization, collaborating to defeat an invasion by Darkseid, Steppenwolf and their army Parademons on Earth.

I’ll give it to you straight: If you’re even iffy on Snyder’s style, this is probably not the Batman movie for you. But I, personally, love it, and if you’re down for an over-the-top, four-hour superhero epic made by someone with unabashed passion and enthusiasm for that sort of thing, set aside a weekend day to bask and enjoy. —PV

9. The Lego Batman Movie

Warner Bros. Pictures

Batman films that feature live action love to question if Batman truly is good for Gotham. Or if it just adds crime. Taking Batman seriously enough for a “grounded,” live-action movie creates narrative inconsistencies absent in more fantastical or comedic takes on the character. Lamp-shading them gives a veneer of “realism,” that quality so theoretically prized by the modern superhero movie audience. But the best answers that Batman movies usually come up with are near-tautologies like “Gotham needs Batman.”

The Lego Batman MovieIt asks the fundamental questions and provides solutions. This view of Batman should not be overlooked. It explains why Batman is isolated, the reasons he is afraid to leave his home, and what traumas and fears ultimately lead him to isolate himself.

It’s also an hour and 46 minutes of pure joy; a hilarious heroic romp and a love letter to the history of Batman in film; and an out-loud critique of the brooding, angry, hyper-masculine, loner Batman of modern cinema, from his cut abs to his sadness mansion. The film also features a large dance routine at the ending credits. —Susana Polo

8. The Dark Knight Rises

Warner Home Video

The finale of Christopher Nolan’s trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises Bruce questions his role as The Bat and lives as a recluse following the events of The Dark Knight. When Bane (Tom Hardy) initiates a deadly scheme in Gotham, Bruce must confront demons from his past as well as Bane’s to save the day. Often considered the weakest of Nolan’s three movies, The Dark Knight Rises may surprise you with how well it holds up years later as a coda to the trilogy, especially through Hardy’s remarkable physical and vocal performance. The scene of Heinz Field collapsing as Hines Ward returns a kick won’t be leaving my head for some time, either. —PV

7. Batman: The Movie

Warner Home Video

The 1966 Batman anywhere but last on this ranked list is asking for trouble from the kinds of fans NPR’s Glen Weldon calls out in his book The Caped Crusade: Batman, Nerd Culture and BatmanThese are the people who insist that Batman stories should be darker than they actually are. authenticAdultImportantYou’re right. But grittiness and adultiness aren’t the only arbiters of film quality; sometimes a good movie is just one where everyone’s agreed about their goals and willing to fully commit. All are welcome. Batman: The Movie knows they’re in a camp comedy, and they play that camp to the rafters.

They aren’t unpacking and challenging the Batman mythos in a thoughtful, abiding way, but it’s still a hoot to watch the rogues’ gallery of Lee Meriwether, Cesar Romero, Burgess Meredith, and Frank Gorshin vamping it up in roles that keep getting reinterpreted as more airless and joyless with each new outing. Adam West’s self-important huffiness and Burt Ward’s go-for-broke gameness are just gravy. This film is worth it for the “Batman tries to dispose of a bomb” sequence alone, but it’s also a useful reminder that superheroes are, at heart, pretty campy, no matter how glowering and serious they try to be. —Tasha Robinson

6. Batman

Warner Bros.

Tim Burton’s Batman looks comparatively quaint by the standards of today’s Batman movies, with Michael Keaton playing Bruce Wayne as a mildly doofy guy with a serious calling instead of as a madman with an obsession, and the wall-to-wall Prince songs giving the whole movie an unusual pop sheen. (Burton later admitted he felt trapped by studio pressure to boost the film’s profile by partnering with Prince.) But it’s hard to overestimate how radical it felt in its day, and how much the mainstream still needed to hear the “Comics aren’t just for kids anymore!” messaging and see an onscreen Batman who was both a relatable person and a thrilling hero. Jack Nicholson walks away with the movie as the Joker, strutting and sneering and occasionally fraying into something scarier — while Heath Ledger later eclipsed him in the role, there’s still something compelling about Nicholson’s “gentleman madman” portrayal of someone covering his pain in different layers of pretense, just like his nemesis, but with less control and more sense that he’s constantly about to spin off the edge. —TR

5. Batman

Photo by Jonathan Olley/Warner Bros.

This is the latest addition to the Bat canon. It’s also the most powerful. Robert Pattinson plays the Bat with a distinct, stoic attitude. Matt Reeves is the writer/director and surrounds Bruce at every opportunity with his older friends and foes to emphasize how green the Bat really is. The movie is, surprisingly enough, also hilarious. Bruce is often remarkably dense as “The World’s Greatest Detective,” and the movie has no problem leaning into this and making fun of him for it (The Penguin roasting Bruce for his lack of Spanish comprehension is legitimately one of the funniest moments in any Batman movie.)

With strong performances from the rest of the cast, including Zoë Kravitz as the best Catwoman since Michelle Pfeiffer and John Turturro as Carmine Falcone, and an understanding that “dark” movies can still have fun and be silly, Batman Is perfect for a rainy day. —PV

4. The Dark Knight

Warner Bros.

It is difficult to balance hero and villain when writing a movie about a superhero. In the best of worlds, you want the audience to be equally fascinated by both — intrigued by their depth of motivation and rapt at their antics. The Dark Knight absolutely fails at maintaining that balance, but saves itself by being the best dang superhero movie that’s really just about about the supervillains ever made.

The Nolans never seem particularly interested in Bruce Wayne’s interiority after Batman Begins, but with Heath Ledger’s Joker, Aaron Eckhart’s Harvey Dent, and the rest of the extremely high-caliber actors in the production, you won’t notice for hours after the credits roll that Batman didn’t actually grow or learn anything.

You will continue to think about it. The Dark KnightIt’s still being discussed by Hollywood even ten years after it was released. With their second stab at Batman, the Nolans made a film so compelling and memetic that every superhero movie since exists in conversation with it — Warner Bros.’ DC stable; every studio attempt to build a franchise on a darker, “realer” version of a campy classic; and even the Marvel Cinematic Universe are all made in conversation with The Dark KnightRetracing the same path or returning a counter-rebuttal.

When those rebuttals say “Why so serious?” they’re not talking to Batman BeginsThe movie featuring ninjas and fear gas and a magic microwave. —SP

3. Mask of Phantasm

Warner Bros.

Batman: Mask of the PhantasmThis is the best Batman film ever, without a doubt. Produced by Batman: The Animated Series producers Eric Radomski and Bruce Timm as a direct-to-video feature before being later released in theaters, 1993’s Mask of PhantasmIt pits the Dark Knight against the mysterious Joker, his long-time enemy. With a depth and nuance that is unmatched in live-action, the film explores the tragedy inherent to the character and his history. It creates a poignant portrait of heartbreak and loss that will resonate long after the fact. —Toussaint Égan

2. Batman Returns

Warner Home Video

This gothic Batman film adaptation features delicious German Expressionist architecture, and Danny Elfman’s vibrant score. Batman Returns A bizarre, comic-book-style story with Gotham’s real feel from its boards rooms and sewers is met.

Bruce Wayne returns to Michael Keaton as Danny DeVito’s Penguin, with Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer) sometimes helping. It was a wonderful cast with some truly memorable moments, including the Penguin’s run for mayor. Catwoman goes Full Cat Mode), Batman Returns It is Gotham City at its most complete. —PV

1. Batman Begins

Warner Bros.

In retrospect, it’s pretty remarkable just How Well, the first live-action Batman film was a failure. Although the basic structure was present in the comics’ Batman movies, many of those films were either very funny or ridiculous. Nearly two decades later, the Batman franchise is still synonymous with “gritty superhero” movies, and this is where it all began.

This is the first book in the Nolan Trilogy. Batman Begins is an origin story that follows the young Bruce Wayne’s journey outside of Gotham to find his purpose after the murder of his parents. He joins up with Ra’s al Ghul and the League of Shadows, training with them (including a fantastic, intricately choreographed scene with dozens of ninjas) before leaving over a difference in crime-fighting methodology. The newly-anointed Batman returns to Gotham and takes on the role of the Scarecrow in a sinister plot.

It all begins launches the visual style the Nolan movies would be known for, as well as the continual theme of Batman’s responsibility for the costumed villains that stem from his existence. Sure, it has since been overshadowed for many by Heath Ledger’s legendary performance in the sequel, but Batman Begins It holds up well and is voted the greatest Batman film ever. —PV