10 Longest Gaps Between Superhero Movie Appearances

One of the most beautiful aspects of the comic book world is the fact that no character, be that diabolical villain or inspiring hero, is ever truly gone.

Time and time again we've seen resurrections, the laws of physics being defied, and even time travel itself bring back much-loved faces on the page. And as the superhero genre as we know it has developed on the big screen, so to have the elaborate strategies used to ensure a cherished character is never gone too long.

In some cases, though, not even the Infinity Gauntlet seemed capable of bringing actors back into the fray, with various reboots, behind-the-scenes disputes, or even just father time meaning that any hope of seeing a star synonymous with a role return for one last hurrah was seemingly dead in the water.

However, if our superhero world has taught us one thing, it's that miracles sometimes really can come happen... depending on your budget.

From legendary villains crossing over from another franchise altogether, to long-since forgotten titans choosing to get back in the saddle, these are the actors and characters who decided they'd stayed away long enough. But they were still gone a bloody long time!

Before we dive head-first into some of the longest intervals between actors and/or characters returning in live action superhero flicks, it'd be rather rude if we didn't give some love to a few of the legends who were finally given the chance to reprise their comic book roles within the world of animation.

First up we have the glorious Billy Dee Williams who originally showed up as Harvey Dent in Gotham back in 1989 as part of Tim Burton's Batman, only to not be given the chance to truly shine as the district-attorney-turned-supervillian Two Face in the director's follow-up.

Fast forward 28 years and Williams was finally allowed to flex his villainous muscles in Chris McKay's animated Lego Batman flick, ultimately fulfilling a desire he'd had to play the part for the better part of 28 years. And, of course, he smashed it.

Another notable set of spells away from their superhero alter-egos can be found in 2016's Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders and that animated film's sequel Batman vs. Two-Face. Here, Adam West and Burt Ward both return to their most famous roles of Batman and Robin in a cinematic adventure for the first time in an insane 50 years (!) - not including the various shows and video games they leant their iconic turns to in the years in-between.

Julie Newmar also pops back up as Catwoman, having not played Minerva Matthews since the Batman series back in 1966-67.

How's that for a come-bat...