The Batman: Every Character Ranked From Worst To Best

It feels like we've been waiting forever, but Matt Reeves' The Batman is now finally out in cinemas worldwide, and the general response from critics and fans alike has mostly been ecstatically positive - with a few caveats.

This visually stunning Batman reboot matches its eye-watering technical prowess with ambitious themes and a small but potent cast of major characters.

Though we've seen most of the film's principal characters depicted on screen numerous times over the years, Reeves and his exemplary cast largely manage to offer fresh takes that bring something new and imaginative to the table.

There thankfully aren't any bad characters in The Batman, even if some fans may be left wishing that a few were a little more fleshed out, especially considering that epic three-hour runtime.

But from Batman to Catwoman, Jim Gordon, The Riddler, The Penguin, and the other lesser-known central characters, how do they all stack up?

Evidently, Reeves' film is firmly committed to investing audiences in its principal players both heroic and villainous, especially with many of them set to return for the sequel.

To that end, he's done a genuinely spectacular job of delivering unique, inspired renditions of so many classic characters...

Commissioner Pete Savage (Alex Ferns) doesn't have a massive part in the film, but it is an important one for a couple of reasons.

For starters, he's basically this universe's version of Commissioner Loeb, the corrupt commissioner who precedes Jim Gordon in most iterations of Batman, and who is typically either killed or ousted, making way for Gordon to take up the mantle.

Early on we see him chewing out Lieutenant Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) for letting Batman (Robert Pattinson) access the scene of Gotham mayor Don Mitchell Jr.'s (Rupert Penry-Jones) murder, and a few scenes later Savage gets his own comeuppance at the hands of the Riddler (Paul Dano).

As it turns out, Savage is on mobster Carmine Falcone's (John Turturro) payroll and was part of the drug bust staged to bring down Falcone's rival Sal Maroni.

The Riddler makes him pay the price for his corruption by injecting him with arsenic (rat poison) and fitting a rat trap around his neck, leading to his brutal off-screen demise.

Again, Savage is a relatively minor character all things considered, but veteran character actor Alex Ferns carries himself with a piercing, unnerving quality that makes him memorable within just a few brief scenes.