10 Things Everyone Always Gets Wrong About Batman

4. The Best Batman Film Is The Dark Knight

Batman Mask of the Phantasm
Warner Bros.

Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy is the series all comic book adaptations should aspire to be. Not that they should ape them of course, but in terms of articulating a clear vision for a superhero adaptation, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight are about as good as they get.

There is a film, however, that ranks above both. Released in theatres in 1993, the Batman: The Animated Series spin-off, Mask of the Phantasm, exemplifies all there is to love about the character. With Kevin Conroy reprising his role as Bruce Wayne, Mark Hamill returning as the Joker and Dana Delany as Andrea Beaumont, the film serves as a fine reminder of what made the show such a compelling one when it first released.

Boasting a magnificent score by the late, great Shirley Walker, a tremendous script by Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, Martin Pasko and Michael Reaves, and gorgeous animation made in the Bruce Timm style, and you have the recipe for the perfect Batman film.

It was overlooked then and still is now, but Mask of the Phantasm is essential viewing for any Bat-fan.

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Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.