If you want to watch the Batman movies in order, you're in the right place. Batman first swooped onto our screens in 1943. Since then, the Caped Crusader has saved the people of Gotham from impending doom time and time again, battling villains like Bane, the Joker, Poison Ivy, Penguin and many more.
Over the years, many actors have taken on the role of the Dark Knight, including Michael Keaton, Christian Bale and, more recently, Robert Pattinson in The Batman. But we're not here to discuss the best Batman performances and which Bats is our favorite. Instead, this guide focuses on chronology and release date. Which means those who want to be strict about it and watch the Batman movies in order know exactly where to begin.
How to watch the Batman movies in release date order
Want to know how to stream the Batman movies in order of their release dates? Read on:
- Batman (1943)
- Batman and Robin (1949)
- Batman: The Movie (1966)
- Batman (1989)
- Batman Returns (1992)
- Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)
- Batman Forever (1995)
- Batman & Robin (1997)
- Batman Begins (2005)
- The Dark Knight (2008)
- The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
- Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
- Suicide Squad (2016)
- The Lego Batman Movie (2017)
- Justice League (2017)
- Joker (2019)
- The Batman (2022)
Beyond the big Bat franchises, Bruce Wayne and his crime-fighting alter-ego have made numerous other big screen appearances – starting in the 1940s, when a serialized detective drama was made to cash in on the newfound popularity of a character who had made his comic book debut in 1939. Lewis Wilson played the title role in 1943’s Batman, with Robert Lowery taking over for 1949’s Batman and Robin.
The character's next big-screen appearance came in 1966, when Hollywood decided to capitalize on the success of the tongue-in-cheek Adam West-led TV show. It’s a movie with plenty of villains, and also the origin of the iconic Shark Repellent Batspray – a crucial item in the bat-arsenal that would be absent from the big screen until The Lego Batman Movie in 2017.
Batman has also been a big player in the world of animation, headlining a pair of big-screen cartoons. The excellent Batman: Mask of the Phantasm took the critically acclaimed Batman: The Animated Series to the cinema and, nearly 25 years later, The Lego Batman Movie made life in Gotham look more fun that it had been at any time since the 1960s.
Batman was also a supporting player in The Lego Movie and The Lego Movie 2, and made a brief appearance in the critically acclaimed Joker – albeit as a pre-Caped Crusader Bruce Wayne, forced to endure the loss of his parents (yet again). Batman’s also referenced elsewhere in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) in Shazam!, Harley Quinn, Birds of Prey, and – though he’s not seen on screen in Wonder Woman – it’s Bruce Wayne who sends Diana the photo that prompts her to flashback to the events of World War I.
How to watch the Batman movies in chronological order
When it comes to cinematic reboots, no other superhero can compete with Batman. Robert Pattinson’s 2022 debut in The Batman kicked off the Caped Crusader’s fourth big-screen continuity, which was another reboot that left cinematic mainstays Superman and Spider-Man in the dust.
Before you ask, too – no, there's zero continuity between these various Bat-franchises. With that in mind, below, we've broken don the iconic vigilante's live-action movie eras for you to digest (NB: Batman's animated film guide follows later):
The Tim Burton/Joel Schumacher era
- Batman (1989)
- Batman Returns (1992)
- Batman Forever (1995)
- Batman & Robin (1997)
The Dark Knight trilogy
- Batman Begins (2005)
- The Dark Knight (2008)
- The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
DC Extended Universe
- Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
- Suicide Squad (2016)
- Justice League (2017)
The Batman Epic Crime Saga
- The Batman (2022)
Given Bats’ enduring popularity, it’s remarkable that Hollywood didn’t give him a major movie franchise before 1989, when director Tim Burton pitted Michael Keaton’s Bruce Wayne against Jack Nicholson’s scenery-chewing Joker. It became the second highest-grossing film of that year, so a sequel was inevitable – and the darker, weirder Batman Returns is one of the most wilfully, wonderfully bizarre superhero movies ever made, albeit it made considerably less at the box office than its predecessor.
Batman Forever saw Joel Schumacher take over behind the camera, with Val Kilmer donning the cape. Despite being a commercial success, this silly, neon-drenched threequel was rather less popular with critics – though worse was to come. Two years later, Batman & Robin all-but-killed the franchise with a movie that regularly features in “worst ever” lists, and made sure George Clooney had an inauspicious start to his career as an A-lister.
An eight-year absence from the big screen followed until Gotham City’s saviour came in the unlikely form of Christopher Nolan with his gritty, realistic vision for the Caped Crusader. Starting with Batman Begins, the Christian Bale-starring Dark Knight trilogy remains one of the high points in the history of superhero movies, with action sequences to die for and genuine moral complexity. Sadly, Nolan’s story was always going to be a three-movie deal, so Batman was going to require another reboot after 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises. It ultimately came as part of DC’s efforts to take on the all-conquering Marvel Cinematic Universe – though this time, Bats wouldn’t be the only headline attraction.
A sequel to 2013's Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice set out to spontaneously kickstart an MCU-style shared universe with the now defunct DCEU. However, with Ben Affleck assuming the mantle of an older, nastier Batman unafraid to break the character’s cardinal rule about killing, this incarnation was a hard one to love, so it was a mild relief when he lightened up for his appearances in Suicide Squad (essentially a glorified cameo) and Justice League. Sadly, both of those movies were dreadful.
A few years later, Matt Reeves took the helm of The Batman, cast Robert Pattinson as his Bruce Wayne/Batman, and pitted him against a rogues’ gallery of classic Bat-foes, including Catwoman (Zoë Kravitz), Riddler (Paul Dano), and The Penguin (Colin Farrell). As we said in our full The Batman review, we adored this new take on the Dark Knight.
How to watch the animated Batman movies in order
As befits a billionaire playboy with money to burn, Batman was never going to be satisfied with only conquering the big screen. Subsequently, he's appeared in numerous animated direct-to-video/TV movies over the course of his eventful lifetime.
His earlier feature-length animated outings were spin-offs from popular TV cartoon series – as sequels to Mask of the Phantasm, Batman and Mr Freeze: SubZero, and Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman were effectively spin-offs from the acclaimed Batman: The Original Series/The New Batman Adventures. Meanwhile, Return of the Joker was based in the universe of the future-set Batman Beyond, and the genre mashing The Batman vs Dracula was part of the 2000s The Batman TV show.
However, it's over the last decade that Batman has become particularly active on the animated movie front. Indeed, some have been such a big deal that they’ve been given one-night-only cinematic releases to tie in with their debut on home entertainment formats.
While many of these films have been based on original stories or set in DC’s Animated Movie Universe, the line has been most notable for bringing classic standalone stories from the Batman comic books (such as Batman: Year One, The Dark Knight Returns and The Killing Joke) to the screen.
Batman's feature-length offering is rounded off with a pair of animated stories set in the universe of the ’60s TV series (these include the late Adam West’s last outing in the role, and his Batman’s first encounter with Two-Face); the Japanese-made Batman Ninja; and unlikely team-ups with Scooby-Doo and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Here, then, is how to watch the Batman movies in order on the animation front:
Batman: The Animated Series/The New Batman Adventures
- Batman and Mr Freeze: SubZero (1998)
- Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman (2003)
Batman Beyond
- Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (2000)
The Batman
- The Batman vs Dracula (2005)
DC Universe Animated Original Movies
- Justice League: The New Frontier (2008)
- Batman: Gotham Knight (2008)
- Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (2009)
- Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths (2010)
- Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010)
- Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (2010)
- Batman: Year One (2011)
- Justice League: Doom (2012)
- Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 1 (2012)
- Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 2 (2013)
- Justice League: Paradox (2013)
- Justice League: War (2014)
- Son of Batman (2014)
- Batman: Assault on Arkham (2014)
- Justice League: Throne of Atlantis (2015)
- Batman vs Robin (2015)
- Justice League: Gods and Monsters (2015)
- Batman: Bad Blood (2016)
- Batman: The Killing Joke (2016)
- Batman and Harley Quinn (2017)
- Batman: Gotham by Gaslight (2018)
- Justice League vs the Fatal Five (2019)
- Batman: Hush (2019)
Batman 66
- Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders (2016)
- Batman vs Two-Face (2017)
Japanese-made movie
- Batman Ninja (2018)
Cartoon spin-offs
- Scooby-Doo! & Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2018)
- Batman vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2019)
What are the best Batman movies?
Seeing as Batman’s cinema appearances traverse a near-85 year spell, it’s no surprise there’s been a massive range of style and tone. But few franchises in history – even James Bond – have had such a large variation in quality.
Our best Batman movies guide is worth reading to see what we made of each live-action flick, but you can also check out each one's IMDb user rating below to see who wins out from a wider pool of reviewers.
- The Dark Knight – 9.0
- Joker – 8.4
- The Dark Knight Rises – 8.4
- Batman Begins – 8.2
- The Batman – 7.8
- Batman: Mask of the Phantasm – 7.8
- Batman – 7.5
- The Lego Batman Movie – 7.3
- Batman Returns – 7.1
- Batman: The Movie – 6.5
- Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – 6.5
- Batman (1943) – 6.1
- Justice League – 6.1
- Batman and Robin (1949) – 5.9
- Suicide Squad – 5.9
- Batman Forever – 5.4
- Batman & Robin (1997) – 3.8
Where to watch the Batman movies
Now you know how to watch the Batman movies in order and which are the best, it's time to find them. Depending on your location, you'll need to check your favorite streaming services to see which of the best Batman movies are available.
If you're in the US, you'll find most of the best Batman movies on Max and Apple TV Plus. This includes the most recent Batman movies, The Batman and Joker. This is where you'll also find Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy and even earlier Batman's, like Tim Burton's Batman Returns. If you're in the US and you want animated Batman, you'll find The Lego Batman Movie on Max and Crunchyroll.
If you're in the UK, things aren't as straightforward. For example, The Batman is available on Amazon's Prime Video. But then many other modern Batman movies are only available through Sky's services, like The Dark Knight and Justice League. But if you can't find the Batman movie you want through a streamer you're subscribed to, many of them are available to rent or buy via Amazon's Prime Video or Apple TV Plus, like Joker.
If you're in Australia, Netflix should be your first port of call for Batman movies. At the time of writing, we found Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy on Netflix, as well as several other top Batman movies, like Joker and Justice League. Some of the best Batman movies are also on the Foxtel Now streaming service, including 2022's The Batman and Batman Returns.
For more Batman coverage, see where all three Dark Knight movies placed in our best Christopher Nolan movies ranked piece or which ones made it onto our best superhero movies list. Alternatively, find out how to stream them as part of our DC movies in order guide and learn what Batman projects are in development as part of DCU Chapter One.
