Which directors truly succeeded with Batman on the big screen, and which ones fell a little short in bringing their Gothic visions to life?
It simply doesn’t get any bigger than Batman when it comes to the big screen. DC’s dear Dark Knight is undoubtedly the most famous of movie’s many superheroes, headlining over 10 theatrical movies, with plenty more to come (including two separate standalones on the horizon).
Every comic book fan has their own definitive Caped Crusader that they grew up watching on the silver screen. Whether that was the classic Batman: The Movie in 1966, the game-changing 1989 Batman, or the legendary Dark Knight Trilogy of the 2000s, the Caped Crusader has been an ever-present constant of cinema.
Each of the directors behind all of those respective installments in the saga had their own vision. Some of those visions were far more enthralling than others, but each one of them are part of the legacy of the Bat, and they all played an important role in shaping what each chapter of that legacy would look like.
With that in mind, let’s dive into the Bat archives and rank each of the Dark six Knight’s movie directors from worst to best, looking at what their offerings to the Bat saga got right (or wrong).
Which Bat director was the best?
7. Joss Whedon
Directed: Justice League (2017)
Joss Whedon took over from Zack Snyder to direct Justice League whenever the latter stepped away from production. There was the hope that the man who directed the first two Avengers movies and created TV phenomenons Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel would have been capable of not only delivering the movie that Snyder wanted but delivering a good Justice League movie. Neither of those goals were achieved.
The movie wasn’t good. It completely missed the point of the triumphant nature that the Justice League were renowned for and offered up a product that was everything the DCEU leading up to this wasn’t. Yes, the DCEU could be took dark at times, but the theatrical release of Justice League was something much worst than that: It was corny, cheesy, and a complete mismatch of styles, all rolled into a very flat movie.
One of its biggest issues was its portrayal of Batman, who had suddenly decided he was going to start cracking jokes, make one-liners, and be as un-Batman-like as Snyder’s menacing Dark Knight.
Justice League failed at the box office, and it’s not surprising. And it’s only when you see the Snyder Cut that you realize just how off the rails the movie actually is.
6. Zack Snyder
Directed: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021)
Zack Snyder was the man tasked with bringing most of the DC Extended Universe together in its early days and it all started with Man of Steel. However, he introduced us to the DCEU’s Dark Knight in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and brought him back again in Justice League (although we wouldn’t get to see his true vision of that film until Zack Snyder’s Justice League was released in 2021).
Snyder portrayed the superheroes of the DCEU as larger-than-life god-like figures. This provided his movies with a majestic aesthetic, with artistic visuals and ambitious plots. The fact that we saw Batman, a human vigilante, in the same unearthly way that we saw every super-powered individual around him says a lot about Snyder’s commitment to the vision and the journey he envisioned for the character. It’s all very out-of-this-world and, for the most part, it worked – especially in his cut of Justice League.
While Snyder’s films involving Batman were beautifully shot and committed to the story they were telling, fans did take issue with the portrayal of the Caped Crusader in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice because of his recklessly aggressive (and, for lack of a better term, murderous) approach, and it’s hard to argue with that. While the potential was there and Ben Affleck delivered in the role, the Batman of the DCEU never truly lived up to his comic book counterpart.
We will, however, give Snyder his due, because from the tributes to The Dark Knight Returns to the suit that his Batman wore (and let’s not forget that epic warehouse battle), you can tell he was a fan of the character. And you can never go too wrong when you’re making something with love.
5. Joel Schumacher
Directed: Batman Forever (1995), Batman and Robin (1997)
Joel Schumacher’s Batman movies are remembered in infamy and that’s mostly all because of the poor critical reputation that his second outing, Batman and Robin, holds. It’s true that the 1997 movie killed the Batman franchise for close to a decade but we shouldn’t overlook the studio’s involvement in the failure of that movie and how its toyetic approach was responsible for that.
Schumacher himself has apologized for that movie, particularly to fans of his first outing Batman Forever who were disappointed by the sequel. And believe us when we say those fans are out there, because Forever was a pretty great experience to behold and that was mostly down to Schumacher’s colorful vision.
When a director has nothing to say, it can greatly hinder a movie. But that’s not something we can say about Joel Schumacher’s approach to the Batman franchise, because his style had a lot to say.
With large, Greek-god statues all over the city, Gothic architecture that somehow still reeked of the ’90s, and neon lights everywhere to be seen, Schumacher’s Batman movies were full of life. Batman Forever attempted to pair that cartoonish backdrop with a mature story while Batman and Robin just went all in on the madness. The result in both cases is vivid entertainment.
Objectively, Batman and Robin is not a good movie, but Joel Schumacher ensured audiences were in for a ride with his Caped Crusader adventures – two adventures that at least looked like they had been ripped from the pages of a comic book. And that’s more than enough to earn points with us.
4. Leslie H. Martinson
Directed: Batman: The Movie (1966)
Leslie H. Martinson was one of the most prolific directors of his generation. He directed countless episodes of television throughout his long career, including two episodes of the classic 1966 Batman TV series. He would then go on to direct the spinoff film, making history as the first director to ever bring Batman to the big screen in a standalone movie.
What is there to say about Batman: The Movie that hasn’t already been said? It’s ridiculously campy, full of color and life in every single shot and a perfect personification of the Batman comics of the 1960s. It’s everything that made the TV series so successful but amplified by 1000.
Martinson made full use of the resources available to the movie, gifting Bat-fans with an adventure that had the time of its life running all over the silver screen. Everything that is happening in the film is as silly as the TV series, but it’s more expensive and it looks it. From the Batcopter to the Batboat, Batman: The Movie isn’t just an extended episode of the TV series, it’s a big-budget bonanza that only could have worked on the big screen. And Martinson did a wonderful job bringing the craziness of the small screen to movie theaters.
The movie is silly and serious at the same time. It’s everything the TV show was and more. It’s art.
3. Matt Reeves
Directed: The Batman (2022)
The most recent director to take on the world of The Dark Knight, Matt Reeves has already earned himself a high spot on this list. His work on The Batman is so darn excellent that it not only lived up to his reputation as one of this generation’s greatest directors, he exceeded all expectations by creating a world that felt so new, unseen, and yet familiar at the same time. And that’s what we all want from Gotham City.
Reeves takes a different approach from his predecessors, leaning more into the source material for his world. Gotham is a crime-ridden cesspool that can only find solace in a vengeance-driven vigilante. The streets are unsafe and the system is broken, and the director managed to get that across pretty quickly. Whether it was the terrifying close-ups on The Riddler or the vivid version of Gotham that surrounded the movie, this movie reeled you in and knew exactly how to make audiences uncomfortable.
The Batman is an incredibly well-directed movie, as every part of the puzzle (or, well, riddle) comes together perfectly. It’s an invasive movie and intentionally so, and Reeves has created such an incredible world with his meticulous approach that we can’t wait to see what he does in The Batman – Part II.
2. Tim Burton
Directed: Batman (1989), Batman Returns (1992)
There are few directors out there quite like Tim Burton. He has such a unique and identifiable style in his productions that you can tell what a Tim Burton movie is by just watching a few seconds of it. And that’s an experience like no other.
The man is renowned for adapting the Caped Crusader for a modern day with his 1989 movie setting the tone (and standard) for what a modern superhero movie could look like. With its eerie tone and art deco design, Batman introduced us to a Gotham City that belonged in the pages of a comic book, personifying all of the elements of the source material for the big screen in a way that would have been thought to be impossible just a year beforehand. And the oddest thing about all of that is that it’s less of a Tim Burton movie than its sequel. But it’s still a Tim Burton movie.
Burton’s tighter grasp on the creative control in the 1992 sequel was clear. Batman Returns is more of a Tim Burton movie than a comic book movie, and it’s beautiful because of that. With unsettling visuals, a much more Gothic city (and architecture made out of nightmares) and twisted caricatures of characters as the heroes and villains of the piece (all against a backdrop of the holidays), Batman Returns is an eerie masterpiece of cinema. It’s the most vivid Batman movie ever made, and Burton is responsible for that.
The director’s two DC movies are very different movies, but both are Tim Burton movies. They are also two legendary chapters in The Dark Knight’s screen success that changed the game for the comic book movie genre. And they have both aged incredibly well.
Batman and Burton at their very best.
1. Christopher Nolan
Directed: Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008), The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
What Christopher Nolan did with the Batman franchise can’t be overstated. He brought it back from the brink of obscurity, reviving the character’s cinematic reputation and taking the saga to its most successful (and arguably greatest) heights yet.
The esteemed director is renowned for taking a more realistic approach with the series (although his first outing did lean into the supernatural territory a bit more), opting for less comical villains and more grounded ones instead. His vision really began to take form in The Dark Knight, which was an immersive thriller that looked as glossy and believable as it was chilling. From the invasive close-ups whenever Heath Ledger’s Joker was around to the expertly-filmed combat sequences, Nolan’s films were an experience.
The same goes for his third outing The Dark Knight Rises, which made use of IMAX cameras to make the franchise look bigger than ever – and it succeeded in doing so, making the stakes higher, the tension exhausting and the overall experience, once again, thrilling.
Nolan’s first Batman movie made $373 million; his last made $1.1 billion. That alone highlights the success of his time as director of the franchise, and his three high-quality movies will forever be a shining example of how to adapt comic book characters in a realistic world. It shouldn’t have worked, but Nolan made it work.
Which of the above directors is your favorite? Do you have a favorite movie starring the Caped Crusader?