Batman: All 20 Batsuits ranked from worst to best

3. Batman Forever (The Panther Batsuit)

It’s time to give Batman Forever the appreciation it deserves. No it’s not the best Batman movie, and yes it was responsible for the beginning of the franchise’s downturn, but the 1995 outing is still a highly entertaining popcorn flick that fills us with a lifetime supply of ’90s nostalgia. It also features one of the best (and quite frankly underrated) Batsuits.

Nicknamed “The Panther”, Batman Forever‘s primary Batsuit took the basic outline of Michael Keaton’s two Batsuits and streamlined it further. What we got was a much sleeker design that drew inspiration from Ancient Greek statues, with the armor boasting abs (and, yes, nipples).  Whether or not that was your thing, there was something rather beautiful about the all-black Batsuit and it’s sharper features.

The cowl in particular fitted Val Kilmer’s face extremely well, ensuring that he looked the part as the Caped Crusader before he even opened his mouth, while a more three-dimensional Bat insignia on its chest-plate (against a duller yellow backdrop) really made use of the symbol in a way that previous Batsuits hadn’t.

We don’t talk about the Panther Batsuit enough. If anything, I wish we had seen more of it. It was an incredibly designed suit that would still work extremely well in a modern-day Batman movie.