Every Superhero Movie Franchise Ranked Worst To Best

2. The Dark Knight Trilogy (2005-2012)

Films: Batman Begins, the Dark Knight and the Dark Knight Rises

The late 90s and early 00s film landscapes were not kind to the Caped Crusader after the abject failure that was Batman and Robin. However, in an inspired move, Warner Bros. hired Christopher Nolan to revive the franchise and he did in spectacular fashion. The Dark Knight trilogy shaped the film industry and showed moviegoers/naysayers everywhere that superhero/comic book films were capable of depth and captivating thematic storytelling.

The franchise took Gotham from a Gothic-inspired cityscape to a more peak era Michael Mann-esque city with a criminal underbelly that carried a sense of realism not seen in that genre up until that point. Best of all, it gave us iconic interpretations of characters such as the Bat himself, Commissioner Jim Gordon and most notably the Joker, played to deranged perfection by the late great Heath Ledger.