10 Ways Batman & Robin Changed Batman Movie History

5. It Killed Warner Bros' Toy Fetish

As toy collectors will attest - 1997 was a wonderful time for buying Batman toy, because Warner Bros doubled down on their merchandise deals in the wake of Batman Forever's success, and the resulting toy line was huge and mostly great. A lot of it had absolutely nothing to do with the film, but that was by the by.

The influx of toys was a by-product of Warner Bros' desire to market Batman more at kids to capture a healthier slice of the merchandise pot. They had been frustrated by Tim Burton's grown-up, creepier vision that wasn't going to sell toys to anyone but the most broken of children, and it was apparently that that led to them leaning on Schumacher to lighten up his films.

In other words, it was Warner Bros' desire to sell more toys that gave us the unwanted gift of Batman & Robin's neon awfulness. Mercifully, with the sequel torn to shreds, the studio seemingly realised that selling toys should come second to a good creative vision, as they opened up the floor to some far more adult pitches for the follow-up.