13 Biggest Mistakes The Batman Movies Ever Made

As we briefly alluded to earlier, there was a Batman director who came after Burton and before Nolan - and most of us would agree that him getting hired was the first really major misstep of the series.

As the story goes, Warner Bros had not been entirely happy with how grim and weird things got on Batman Returns, and so were determined for the third Bat-movie to take a more upbeat, family-friendly direction. Tim Burton was having none of this and flew the coop, soon to be followed by two-time Batman Michael Keaton.

Bringing Joel Schumacher in to replace Burton probably seemed a wise enough move at the time. After all, Schumacher had directed a number of hits for Warner Bros with a dark age, notably The Lost Boys and Falling Down. Surely he, along with new Bat-actor Val Kilmer, could bring a balance of mainstream gloss and underlying sophistication to the series.

But we all know how that turned out. While Batman Forever is far from a disaster, its move in a gaudier, more light-hearted direction felt way off after the Burton films, and various gags that were intended as a bit tongue in cheek (Kilmer's Batman declaring "chicks love the car," and giving a thumbs up from the Batwing) just come off a bit dumb.

And that, of course, was merely the entrée for the banquet of ridiculousness that was the fourth Batman movie, which we will of course come back to...