20 Best Superhero Movies Since The Dark Knight

By far the most divisive film to make this list, the concluding chapter of Christopher Nolan's beloved Dark Knight Trilogy is one of those movies that has undeservedly become very cool to hate. It really shouldn't be.

The Dark Knight Rises might not have lived up to its immediate predecessor, but was it ever going to? That film really is on a different level, and Rises failing to match it is hardly surprising.

Taken on its own terms, Rises is still a smashing threequel. It kicks off with one of this century's greatest film openings, ends with a monumentally satisfying conclusion and delivers awe-inspiring spectacle and poignant storytelling all the way through its (admittedly excessive) near-three hour run-time.

It does get illogical and OTT at times, but Rises still works very nicely as both as a showcase of some of the greatest filmmaking of Christopher Nolan's career and as a lovely display of superhero cinema at its most audacious, badass and heartfelt.

Honestly, these days it holds up better than the generally more well-regarded trilogy opener, Batman Begins, and it's really time for the backlash to end.