Every Batman Movie Opening Scene Ranked From Worst To Best

Predictably, our #1 pick goes to The Dark Knight, which offers up one of the most inventive, impactful, and unforgettable villain introductions in cinema history, superhero movie or not.

Styled as an homage to the central heist from Michael Mann's Heat, the opening sees Christopher Nolan take The Joker and bring him totally down to Earth by presenting him as a thief who, with the help of some masked cronies, robs a mob bank.

But as the scene plays out, we learn the full extent of Joker's calculated plan, manipulating his comrades into killing each other until only he remains, leaving him to take all the money and drive off into the night.

Sure, some of the heist dialogue is pretty corny and it's inherently quite a convoluted scheme, but also a fantastic opening for a character defined by his playful deviousness.

Heath Ledger's Joker steals the entire movie away from Christian Bale's Batman, and it all begins with the instantly iconic utterance of, "Whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you... stranger."