10 Greatest Comic Book Movie Endings

Batman Begins didn't just popularise the reboot and repair a brand tarnished by Joel Schumacher, it also delivered a masterclass in the art of the cliffhanger.

Christopher Nolan didn't fall into the trap of telling an incomplete story just because the studio had sequel ambitions. This is the tale of Bruce Wayne became a shadowy vigilante, and it has a clear beginning, middle and end... and what an end it was.

There's a lot of fan debate around the scene where Batman leaves Ra's al Ghul to die on that train, with some arguing this was criminally out of character for the Caped Crusader. Although it was playing fast and loose with his rigid no-kill rule, it was also refreshing.

The point of Batman isn't that he refuses to kill per se, it's more a case of him being almost as bad as the criminals he's hunting. There's a fine line separating him from anti-heroes like The Punisher, and Bats is on the very cusp of it. By having him refuse to save Ra's al Ghul, Nolan revealed just how close to that line his version of the Dark Knight sits.

With the main villain defeated, Batman Begins went on to create more intrigue for its inevitable sequel than any Marvel post-credits stinger has managed.

During the rooftop conversation between the newly-promoted Lieutenant Gordon and the Caped Crusader, Nolan made a bold statement: Batman has been reborn and his arch-nemesis The Joker will soon be given the same treatment.