All 6 Batman movie theme songs ranked from worst to best

1. Batman (1989)

We mentioned earlier that there were two definitive Batman themes. One was the classic TV series theme; this was the other.

By the time 1989 rolled around, Batman was set for a dark reinvention in Tim Burton’s game-changing reboot. In order to fully pull it off, we needed a new theme song. For that, Danny Elfman was brought in to conduct the theme, and the rest was history.

From the moment that those first few moody bars serenaded Burton’s film, the character’s future had been changed. From there, it builds towards an epic march that just fills your mind with imagery of the Batmobile racing through the forest on its way back to the Batcave. And this theme would become the soundtrack of not just this movie and its sequel, it would follow The Dark Knight for decades.

Not only was it used for Burton’s movies, it influenced the music in the legendary Batman: The Animated Series and has been used over the course of the last three decades in various Batman titles. No matter how many reinventions the Dark Knight gets on-screen (and how many scores come with those reinventions), this remains the go-to theme, with even Justice League, Gotham and other adaptations featuring nods to it.

Just as Neal Hefti’s opening song was the definitive theme of the classic Caped Crusader, Danny Elfman’s became the definitive theme of the modern Dark Knight – and it will likely never relinquish that title.