Whichever Batman You Like Best, All DC Fans Agree on One Thing
A proper Batman movie sets the tone in the first few minutes. Across the entire franchise, the opening scenes are always among the most memorable.
But whether you prefer Keaton, Kilmer, Bale, or Affleck (we don't talk about Clooney in this house), every fan agrees on one thing:
The Dark Knight had the best intro.
Of course, we're talking about the bank robbery scene, the one that introduced Heath Ledger as the Joker. Christopher Nolan created the ultimate bank heist scene – a group of thieves, only one of whom knows the entire plan.
Each thief had a special job, not uncommon for heist movies. What separated this group was each criminal's secret order: Kill off one of their compatriots so they earn a bigger cut. The mastermind of the heist is revealed only at the end, the man hiding his makeup behind a freakish clown mask.
"I believe whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you stranger."
And with that line, Oscar-winning method actor Ledger cemented his place among cinema's greatest villains. While Ledger stole the show in the opening scene, it was Nolan's brilliance that made him shine.
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Fans called it the "greatest villain reveal of all time" – a meticulous scene that slowly cut down each masked criminal until only one remained. Fans knew they'd experience the Joker in The Dark Knight based on the final scene of Batman Begins, but the reveal that Joker was among the hired guns throughout the entire robbery still managed to leave fans shocked.
The fact that The Dark Knight's opening scene is by far the fan-favorite opening scene is a testament to its magnificence because there have been several other stellar ones.
Keaton's 1989 Batman was the first real cinematic experience of the Caped Crusader, the Adam West TV version notwithstanding. His introduction was pretty iconic too; catching a couple robbers and leading to the simple yet iconic line, "I'm Batman." It swiftly turned Batman into a haunting, dark, brooding hero – not the slapstick comic of his predecessor two decades before.
Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice had a pretty intense start, though it divided some fans. It began with Bruce Wayne showing up to the fight in Metropolis that ended Man of Steel, trying to save the day without his famed cape and cowl. It quickly set him up as a flawed hero who hated Superman.
The Dark Knight Rises had an incredible villain reveal – the terrorist Bane hijacking a plane with a bigger plane. Insane.
But in the end, there's only one perfect Batman opening scene: The one that featured a school bus smashing through the walls of Gotham National Bank.