There are many things which age well in this world such as wine and especially Michael Keaton’s tenure as Batman. And, with fans now buzzing about DC Entertainment’s latest Batman films and the character’s upcoming appearance in Justice League, Warner Bros. has revisited its original Batman films to give their box art a well-deserved make-over.
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Warner Bros. has breathed new life into Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992) with some stunningly simplistic artwork. The studio also went ahead and rolled out the same treatment for Batman Forever (1995) and Batman & Robin (1997) as those two installments rounded out the very first Batman film franchise.
With Batman having debuted in 1989, fans of the vigilante remember director Tim Burton as the visionary who brought Bruce Wayne to the big screen. Starring talent like Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, and Kim Basinger amongst others, Batman went on to kick-start Warner Bros. and its new film series by earning over $400 million at the box office. The film’s legacy then spawned a somewhat controversial sequel and led to the creation of the wildly successful Batman: The Animated Series.
Then, as Joel Schumacher took direction of the franchise, he gave fans Batman Forever after Burton bowed out. Despite replacing Michael Keaton as the film’s lead in favor of Val Kilmer, Schumacher’s film still raked in cash and finished as the year’s second highest-grossing movie. However, even though the director’s next film Batman & Robin also earned a lot, the film was universally seen as a failure by both fans and critics.
While Warner Bros. ended its original Batman series nearly a decade ago, the hero made his comeback in 2005 with Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins. And, most recently, Ben Affleck inherited the caped crusader’s ensemble in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice which will be released on Digital HD later this week.
From Keaton to Affleck, Batman has undergone various incarnations through film as fans still wait eagerly to see which story they’ll hear told next. But, for fans who may be unfamiliar with the franchise’s humble beginnings, now is a great time to visit (or even revisit!) the films.
After all, the Batman stories are great, the actors astound even the most staunch superhero haters, and the box art…well, it just got a lot more awesome.