Batman – A brief cinematic history

 The internet has gone a little crazy in the wake of news that director Matt Reeves (Cloverfield, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) is in talks with Rebert Pattinson to play the caped crusader in his upcoming movie The Batman, due for release in June of 2021. The news came as something of a shock to Batman fans after months of deliberation about favourite candidates Nicholas Hoult (Skins, X-Men), Armie Hammer (The Social Network) and Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Godzilla).

As anticipation for the new Batman movie continues to grow, we at NtNR decided it would be fun to write up a brief history of the Batman franchise in cinema and take our readers on a trip down memory lane.

1940’s and the Adam West Era

In July of 1943, Lewis Wilson brought the character of Bruce Wayne to life on screen for the first time in a fifteen-part wartime propaganda serial movie simply entitled Batman in which an early incarnation of the caped crusader works as an undercover agent locked in a personal war against a (very stereotypically) Japanese villain named Dr Daka portrayed by J. Carrol Naish.

Robert Lowery and Johnny Duncan brought Batman and his famous sidekick to the big screen once again in 1949 in another fifteen-part serial entitled Batman and Robin. The plot centres around the dynamic duo fighting Wizard, a villain first appearing in comics in April of 1947, portrayed in the movie by Leonard Penn. Batman and Robin would supply the first on-screen appearances of Vicki Vale and Commissioner Jim Gordon.

In 1966, 20th Century Fox brought us the original Batman TV series starring the late great Adam West as the caped crusader and Burt Ward as his sidekick Robin. Later that same year, Fox released a movie of the same name. Batman features an ambitious team-up of characters which even puts Avengers Infinity War to shame. A gruesome collaboration of the most infamous villains in the DC universe is out to get our heroes; Catwoman (Lee Meriwether), The Penguin (Burgess Meredith), The Riddler (Frank Gorshin) and of course, The Joker portrayed by the great Cesar Romero. Batman is a fun, colourful feel-good romp (albeit a bit surreal and confusing) full of classically delightful puns, cringeworthy dialogue and, of course, a frenzied, bombastic soundtrack. (Remember that bit? See what we did there? You're welcome.)

Burton/Schumacher Era

In 1989, Tim Burton brought us the first of two great Batman movies that would redefine the genre as something much darker and more sinister. Our hero, portrayed by Michal Keaton (Jackie Brown, Beetlejuice) is locked in an epic battle with The Joker, portrayed by Jack Nicholson in a chilling performance rivalled only by the late Heath Ledger. The film features a much needed backstory for the infamous Joker, as well as the first cinematic depiction of Bruce Wayne’s (now well known) origin story and appearances from classic characters Vicki Vale (Kim Basinger), Commissioner Gordon (Pat Hingle), Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Gough) and District Attorney Harvey Dent portrayed by Star Wars star Billy Dee Williams.

Burton released his sequel Batman Returns in June of 1992, this time bringing to life a horrifying depiction of The Penguin portrayed by Danny DeVito. The movie is a classic example of Tim Burton’s unique style of cinematic weirdness and features appearances by Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman, Christopher Walken as Max Shreck and Ghost actor Vincent Schiavelli as The Penguin’s sidekick The Organ Grinder.

Joel Schumacher’s first instalment Batman Forever was released in 1995 featuring Val Kilmer as the caped crusader and Chris O’Donnel as Robin, the Boy Wonder, for whom the movie provides a backstory for the first time on screen. Tommy Lee Jones and Jim Carrey back up the main cast as crazed villains Two-Face and The Riddler respectively alongside a supporting cast that includes Nicole Kidman, Drew Barrymore, Debbie Mazar and returning faces Michael Gough and Pat Hingle.

Now here’s when things get a little tricky…

As the title of this publication suggests, here at NtNR we like to keep things positive and optimistic for the sake of doing our bit to rescue the film industry from the shackles of fans’ cynicism and misery… That being said, it’s difficult to deny that the next instalment in the Batman franchise is nothing short of a stone-cold abomination.

For some reason, in June of 1997, Joel Schumacher gave the people the final Batman movie of the era, Batman and Robin. This time, George Clooney was to take up the mantle of the caped crusader, with Chris O’Donnel returning as Robin and Pat Hingle and Michael Gough reprising their respective roles. Arnold Schwarzenegger is newly introduced as Mr. Freeze, a molecular biologist who suffers a near fatal lab accident which turns him into a frozen supervillain wielding an ice blaster and a series of terrible puns. Uma Thurman portrays Poison Ivy, an insane botanist and superpowered eco-terrorist and the role of bad joke-toting Batgirl is played by Alicia Silverstone. The movie was reportedly so bad that George Clooney himself personally attended select screenings to give viewers their money back!

So, there’s the basics. The less said about this movie, the better… and I believe we can skip straight over 2004’s multi-Raspberry Award-winning Catwoman starring Halle Berry which was quite possibly even worse! Moving swiftly on…

The Dark Knight Trilogy

In June 2005, Memento director Christopher Nolan brought us Batman Begins, featuring Christian Bale as our hero, calling forth a new age of serious, dark and hyper realistic Batman movies. The film features another rendition of Bruce Wayne’s famous childhood origin story and for the first time in cinema history, a look at his training in the mountains with the infamous Ra’s al Ghul portrayed by Liam Neeson. The supporting cast includes Michael Caine as Alfred, Gary Oldman as Commissioner Gordon, Katie Holmes as love interest Rachel Dawes, Morgan Freeman as Lucious Fox, Cillian Murphy as recurring villain The Scarecrow and a few famous background faces such as Ken Watanabe, Rutger Hauer and Tom Wilkinson as Gotham’s infamous mafia boss Carmine Falcone. This movie would permanently revolutionise the comic book superhero genre in cinema for the better.

In 2008, Nolan and Warner Bros. released what is popularly considered the best movie in the entire Batman franchise; The Dark Knight. The cast return to the stage in a complex interweaving story introducing Maggie Gyllenhaal replacing Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes, Aaron Eckhart as District Attorney Harvey Dent who would later become the villain Two-Face and, of course, the late great Heath Ledger as The Joker in the most prolific and outwardly savage role of his career. The Dark Knight features an impressive backline cast including Eric Roberts, Colin McFarlane, Nestor Carbonell, Ng Chin Han, Anthony Michael Hall, Michael Jai White and a brief appearance from NtNR’s favourite “that guy” actor William Fichtner.

Related: The Dark Knight - Ten Years On

Nolan released the final instalment of the Dark Knight trilogy in 2012. The movie was the climax that all fans had waited for since the character’s first comic book appearance way back in March 1939. The Dark Knight Rises introduces Tom Hardy as Bane, the villain who, in the comics, originally killed Bruce Wayne. The character did not disappoint, bringing a new level of terror into the Batman universe. Anne Hathaway portrays Catwoman in the character’s trilogy debut as well as Marion Cottilard as Miranda Tate/Talia al Ghul and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as John Blake, a tenacious young police officer turned detective, possibly revealing himself at the end of the movie as *spoiler alert*, Robin himself. The movie wrapped up the trilogy perfectly and pleased fans everywhere, setting a new bar for the franchise that may never be passed again.

The New Era

Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice was released in 2016 to connect a Batman story to the new Superman continuity beginning with 2013’s Man of Steel. Ben Affleck was introduced as the new incarnation of Batman in a controversial move by director Zack Snyder with the idea that an older Batman would favour a juxtaposition against a younger Superman portrayed by Henry Cavill. The movie features another delivery of Bruce Wayne's (now a little tired) origin story and the rest of the film is, for the most part, an adrenaline fuelled showdown between superpowered Superman and not-so-superpowered but highly tech savvy Batman. Amy Adams returns to the screen as Superman’s love interest Lois Lane as well as introducing Jeremy Irons as newly recast Alfred Pennyworth, Gal Gadot as Diana Prince (soon to be Wonder Woman) and Jesse Eisenberg as Superman’s infamous arch nemesis Lex Luthor.

Affleck’s Batman made a brief appearance in David Ayer’s 2016 movie Suicide Squad in which a group of reckless criminals including Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) and Deadshot (Will Smith) are shanghaied into government service on pain of death. The film features a new incarnation of The Joker portrayed by Jared Leto. Batman is also heavily referenced in 2017’s Wonder Woman and is expected to be strongly referenced in the upcoming Joker origin movie starring Joaquin Phoenix due for release later in 2019.

Related: New Joker Movie Casts Joaquin Phoenix

Justice League graced our screens in 2017 featuring a story in which Batman, Wonder Woman and newly introduced characters The Flash (Ezra Miller), Cyborg (Ray Fisher) and Aquaman (Jason Mamoa) must assemble against a common enemy after the death of Superman. They face an alien military officer named Steppenwolf (Ciaran Hinds) as the fate of the world rests of their shoulders. The film also introduces J.K. Simmons (Spiderman, Whiplash) as newly cast Police Commissioner Gordon.

The Batman will eventually be released in June 2021 after a huge amount of deliberation as to whether the film would star and be directed by Ben Affleck and as to whether Magic Mike star Joe Manganiello would be involved in the film portraying DC villain Deathstroke. In February 2017, it was announced that Matt Reeves would replace Affleck as the film’s director. He has since announced that the movie will not feature another origin story and will instead be a dark, almost noir-driven detective movie truer to the original comic book series. On May 16^th, 2019, Variety announced that Robert Pattinson was in talks to replace Affleck as Batman.

So, there’s a relatively brief history of Batman in film! It’s been a long run! It’s certainly had its ups and downs but like any great franchise, it continues to evolve and to change, introducing new storylines and new characters. We here at NtNR are looking forward to what the future will bring for Batman.