The best order to watch all the Batman movies in

It's the ideal moment for a Batman rewatch, but how should you go about it?

There have been a total of 12 theatrically released Batman films throughout the previous 60 years. Of course, with the newest film in the series just released, it’s vital to brush up on the character’s cinematic past and relive the exploits of the Caped Crusader. But, with so many Batmans, Robins, and villains to choose from, it might be difficult to decide which movies to see in which sequence. To assist you, we’ve assembled a few potential watch orders for you to consider.

For our purposes, Justice League (2016) will be replaced by Zack Snyder’s Justice League (because it is significantly better and more interesting), and Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and The Lego Batman Movie, as well as all of the Batman live-action films, will be included, as they had wide theatrical releases.

HBO Max now offers streaming access to all of the most current films, beginning with Batman Begins, as well as animated titles (for fans of animated Batman movies, check out this list of our favorites). However, you’ll have to go to to view anything earlier, as Batman (1966) may be rented but not streamed with any subscriptions.

RELEASE ORDER

This is a rather simple task. It’s the chronological sequence in which these films were released.

• The Dark Knight
• The Lego Batman Movie
  Batman Returns
• The Dark Knight Rises
• Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
• Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
• Batman Forever
• Batman and Robin
• Batman Begins
• Zack Snyder’s The Justice League
• The Batman
• Batman (1966)
• Batman (1989)

BATMAN IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS

The Batman films have a history of portraying extremely similar plots with the same ensemble of characters. That is the intent of this watch order. It allows you to experience all of the major villains and stories from the previous 60 years of Batman films, allowing you to witness how characters like the Joker, Catwoman, and Penguin, as well as numerous iterations of the Caped Crusader, have grown. Surprisingly, the most intriguing through line in this watch order may be the Robin plotline in the latter half of the list, which culminates in Zack Snyder’s Justice League.

• Batman Begins — Origin story
• The Batman — Early-to-mid career Batman, Catwoman and Penguin
• Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (stop immediately after Bruce Wayne’s origin story) — Origin Story
• The Dark Knight Rises — Late career Batman, Catwoman, Bane, and Robin introduced
• Batman Forever — Mid career Batman, Robin introduced
• Batman (1966) — Lots of villains, lots of Robin, almost everything established
• Batman (1989) — Origin story/joker introduced
• Batman: Mask of the Phantasm — Early Batman and Joker stuff
• The Dark Knight — Joker introduced to early-to-mid career Batman
• Batman Returns — Mid career Batman, Catwoman and Penguin
• Batman and Robin — Mid career Batman, Bane and Robin
• The Lego Batman Movie — The biggest Bat-family movie
• Zack Snyder’s Justice League — Late career Batman, Robin is dead, Bruce is haunted

BATMAN, BUT YOU WATCH A SLIGHTLY BETTER MOVIE EVERY TIME

The Batman films are mainly enjoyable. Your pleasure of the series’ extremes, like as the campy Batman and Robin or the deadly serious Zack Snyder’s Justice League, may differ, but they’re all quite terrific. That being said, we recommend seeing them in this sequence, from worst to greatest.

• Batman Begins
• Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
• Batman and Robin
• Batman Forever
• The Dark Knight Rises
• Batman (1966)
• Batman (1989)
• The Dark Knight
• Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
• Zack Snyder’s Justice League
• The Lego Batman movie
• The Batman
• Batman Returns