30 Things You Didn't Know About Tim Burton's Batman

Happy 30th birthday, Batman!

Batman 1989 Michael Keaton
Warner Bros.

June 23, 2019 marked 30 years since the release of Tim Burton's Batman, the Dark Knight's first ever big-budget blockbuster film treatment, and one which influenced not only future Batman movies, but superhero cinema as a whole.

Watching the movie today, it's aged incredibly well for the most part, with Burton's inspired sense of style standing out from pretty much everything else in the genre, braced perfectly between the edgy darkness audiences expect and Burton's more quirky sensibilities.

Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson meanwhile brought Batman and The Joker to life with instantly iconic gusto, setting a standard that even recent iterations of the characters have struggled to keep up with.

But the film's critical and commercial success wasn't without some adversity along the way, both in terms of the film's lengthy period in development hell and a shoot that had its fair share of setbacks.

As such, there's a treasure trove of stories and trivia about the movie's creation, ranging from near-miss casting calls to ludicrous production problems, unexpected sources of inspiration and everything in-between.

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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.