There are virtually no superheroes who are as recognizable as Batman across pop culture, or who have been depicted in so many different movies and TV series over the past 80-plus years. From the earliest Batman serials of the 1940s through recent blockbuster movies and high-profile TV series, Batman has been a constant presence beyond the pages of comic books.
That’s great news for fans of the billionaire vigilante, but it also means that there are tons of different Batman movies and TV shows to navigate, in multiple different continuities that may or may not overlap. Plus, those movies and shows are spread out across a variety of streaming platforms, although since DC Comics is part of Warner Bros. Discovery, WBD-owned streaming service Max is the primary home for most Batman-related media.
Here’s our breakdown of how to stream the Batman movies and TV shows, which includes theatrically released movies, plus TV series that feature Batman as the main protagonist.
How to watch the Batman movies in order online
Batman first came to the big screen just a few years after his comic-book debut, in a pair of 1940s serials. Lewis Wilson stars in 1943’s “Batman,” which introduces key elements that would go on to become essential to Batman’s identity, including his Batcave headquarters. Robert Lowery takes over the lead role in 1949’s “Batman and Robin,” which features familiar supporting characters like Commissioner Jim Gordon and reporter Vicki Vale onscreen for the first time.
Both serials are streaming for free on Tubi, with “Batman” presented as a single feature, and “Batman and Robin” broken up into its original installments.
Batman’s next appearance in theaters is a spin-off from the popular 1960s TV series, starring Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin. Thanks to the success of the goofy, campy show on TV, a feature film starring West, Ward and their supporting cast was released in theaters between the first and second seasons. It showcases an all-star lineup of villains from the show, including Cesar Romero’s Joker and Burgess Meredith’s Penguin.
In 1989, director Tim Burton ushered in a new era of Batman on the big screen and a new era of superhero movies overall with his feature film starring Michael Keaton. That movie’s massive success spawned a franchise that became a bit disjointed, with Burton and Keaton returning for the sequel “Batman Returns” before director Joel Schumacher took over for the much sillier later installments, “Batman Forever” (starring Val Kilmer) and the notorious flop “Batman & Robin” (starring George Clooney).
Starting with this period, almost every Batman movie is available to stream on Max.
- Batman (1989): Stream on Max
- Batman Returns (1992): Stream on Max
- Batman Forever (1995): Stream on Max
- Batman & Robin (1997): Stream on Max
Director Christopher Nolan took a more serious approach with his Batman trilogy starring Christian Bale, beginning in 2005 with the reboot “Batman Begins.” Nolan’s critically acclaimed films include Heath Ledger’s Oscar-winning performance as the Joker in “The Dark Knight,” along with Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy and Liam Neeson as other villains who challenge Bale’s Bruce Wayne.
- Batman Begins (2005): Stream on Max
- The Dark Knight (2008): Stream on Max
- The Dark Knight Rises (2012): Stream on Max
The DC Extended Universe, DC’s attempt to match the superhero behemoth that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe, turned out to be a bit of a mess, but it brought Ben Affleck as a new version of Batman, debuting alongside Henry Cavill’s Superman in 2016’s “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.”
Affleck’s Batman never got his own solo movie, but he had supporting roles in multiple DCEU films, even joined by Keaton returning as his version of Batman in the multiverse-spanning adventure “The Flash.”
- Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016): Stream on Max
- Suicide Squad (2016): Stream on Max
- Justice League (2017): Stream on Max
- The Flash (2023): Stream on Max and Netflix
Even as producer James Gunn masterminds a new shared universe for DC’s superheroes, with his own Batman movie “The Brave and the Bold” in the works, director Matt Reeves has carved out a separate world for his dark, brooding take on Batman, starring Robert Pattinson. Pattinson debuted as Bruce Wayne in 2022’s “The Batman,” and a sequel is set to hit theaters in 2026.
- The Batman (2022): Stream on Max
Technically, Bruce Wayne also shows up in director Todd Phillips’ radical reimagining of Batman’s greatest nemesis in 2019’s “Joker,” starring Joaquin Phoenix, who joined Ledger in winning an Oscar for his portrayal of the villain. This Bruce Wayne (played by Dante Pereira-Olson) is just a child who makes a cameo, though, and there’s no word whether he’ll return in forthcoming sequel “Joker: Folie à Deux.”
- Joker (2019): Stream on Max
Batman has also starred in literally dozens of animated movies, although almost all of them bypassed theaters and were released direct to video and streaming. A few Batman animated movies have opened in theaters, though, starting with 1993’s “Batman: Mask of the Phantasm,” a spin-off from the successful TV show “Batman: The Animated Series,” starring Kevin Conroy as the voice of Batman. In 2016, the adaptation of classic Batman story “The Killing Joke” (also starring Conroy) was so hotly anticipated that it was upgraded from its direct-to-video release, becoming one of the highest-grossing R-rated animated movies of all time.
On a much lighter note, the hyperactive, insecure version of Batman voiced by Will Arnett in “The Lego Movie” got his own highly amusing solo outing in “The Lego Batman Movie.”
- Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993): Rent/buy on Amazon and Apple
- Batman: The Killing Joke (2016): Rent/buy on Amazon and Apple
- The Lego Batman Movie (2017): Stream on Max
How to watch the Batman TV shows in order online
The best-known live-action version of Batman on TV is still the 1960s series starring Adam West and Burt Ward, which is colorful and ridiculous, full of onscreen sound effects, pun-filled dialogue, and absurd villains. It’s the opposite of the dark, intense 2010s prequel series “Gotham,” which features David Mazouz as a young Bruce Wayne surrounded by early versions of Batman’s villains, although both shows have a penchant for absurdity.
Batman has a much richer TV history in animation, including in supporting roles on many shows, although we’re only looking at animated series that feature Batman as the central character.
The 1990s show “Batman: The Animated Series,” starring Kevin Conroy as the voice of Batman, is often cited by fans as the best portrayal of Batman in any medium. Both “The Animated Series” and co-creator Bruce Timm’s follow-up “The New Batman Adventures” are packaged together as a single show on streaming services, and they feature the same cast and creators, although the later series has a simpler visual style and gives more focus to the supporting characters.
Timm also co-created “Batman Beyond,” a future-set series once again starring Kevin Conroy as Bruce Wayne, in the role of aging mentor to a young Batman named Terry McGinnis, voiced by Will Friedle.
- Batman: The Animated Series (1992-1999): Stream on Max and Prime Video
- Batman Beyond (1999-2001): Stream on Max
Subsequent Batman animated series have continued to exist in the shadow of “Batman: The Animated Series,” offering slightly different takes on Batman and his supporting cast. They include “The Batman,” starring Rino Romano as the voice of Bruce Wayne; “Batman: The Brave and the Bold,” a more lighthearted team-up series featuring Batman (voiced by Diedrich Bader) joining forces with other DC heroes; and “Beware the Batman,” focusing on a younger Batman in his early days, voiced by Anthony Ruivivar.
- The Batman (2004-2008): Stream on Max and Netflix
- Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2008-2011): Stream on Max
- Beware the Batman (2013-2014): Stream on Max
Bruce Timm returned to Batman in 2024 for the more adult-oriented “Batman: Caped Crusader,” which carries on the art deco visual style and hard-boiled tone of “Batman: The Animated Series,” with an added level of maturity. “The Batman” film director Matt Reeves is also an executive producer, but while other Batman-related originals have been made for Max, “Caped Crusader” is a Prime Video original series.
How to watch Batman spinoffs
While they don’t feature Batman as a character, some Batman spinoffs deserve a mention because they’re worth watching.
The most recent is “The Penguin,” a spinoff series of 2022’s “The Batman.” Colin Farrell reprises his role as Oz Cobb, a rising criminal kingpin in Gotham City.
The movie “Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)” is a part of the DCEU as a spin-off and sequel to “Suicide Squad” (2016).
Speaking of the sassy villainess, the animated series “Harley Quinn” features the voice of Kaley Cuoco in the lead role and is a fan favorite.
- Birds of Prey (2020): Stream on Max
- Harley Quinn (2019-present): Stream on Max
- The Penguin (2024): Stream on Max
This post was originally published on here
