10 Movie Moments We Waited Years For (That Lived Up To Expectations)

9. Batman Begins - Batman 1989

Decades later, you might believe that the cinematic journey of Batman began without too much difficulty when upstart film-maker Tim Burton was hired (albeit somewhat controversially) and brought in Michael Keaton (again with the controversy). Looking back, you'd assume that the bold creative choices were only tolerated because Warner Bros knew the bullet-proof power of the brand, so there was some wiggle room.

The reality is that pretty much nobody wanted to make Batman after the whole Adam West affair and interest had waned so much by the late 70s that ideas like Batman In Outer Space were being seriously entertained. It took Michel Uslan's purchase of the rights in 1979 to really kick it back into life as he expressed his desire to make the definitive dark Batman movie.

If you'd held your breath at that point waiting for him to make it, you'd have died, because it took a decade and LOTS of false starts before the film got out, with fans living on scraps in the meantime. But their patience was rewarded - even despite criticism of the casting choices - when Burton's film did exactly what Uslan promised. It was a game-changer and hugely lucrative for Warner Bros and proved we were all right to wait and stay hyped.