After visiting the “Batcave” on the Warners Bros. VIP Studio Tour in Burbank, California the 75th anniversary of the first appearance of Batman in May 1939 in Detective Comics #27 continued at the Batman 75 exhibit museum. This is a treasure trove of Batman costumes and props across the 7 Batman movies released between 1989 and 2012. During that period 4 actors donned the cape and cowl to portray Batman: Michael Keaton (2 movies), Val Kilmer, George Clooney and Christian Bale (3 movies).
The first thing you see in the Batman 75 Exhibit museum is a display case full of all the Batman movie cowls. Impressive to say the least!
BATMAN (1989)
My Favourite Batman movie. Tim Burton delivered a true Dark Knight. Batman: Michael Keaton vs. The Joker: Jack Nicholson.
BATMAN RETURNS (1992)
An excellent sequel by Tim Burton that was even darker and more brooding than the first. Batman: Michael Keaton vs. The Penguin: Danny DeVito and Catwoman: Michelle Pfieffer.
BATMAN FOREVER (1995)
A new Batman dons the cape and cowl in this more cartoony version of the caped crusader. Batman: Val Kilmer is joined by Robin: Chris O’Donnell to team up against Two-Face (Harvey Dent): Tommy Lee Jones and The Riddler: Jim Carrey.
BATMAN & ROBIN (1997)
The least popular in the movie series still had a colourful and interesting cast of characters. Batman: George Clooney and Robin: Chris O’Donnell are joined by Batgirl: Alicia Silverstone to take on Mr. Freeze: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Poison Ivy: Uma Thurman and Bane: Jeep Swenson.
BATMAN BEGINS (2005)
The excellent reboot to the series by Christopher Nolan was what all Batman fans had hoped for. Batman: Christian Bale vs. Ra’s al Ghul: Liam Neeson and Scarecrow: Cillian Murphy.
THE DARK KNIGHT (2008)
A sequel that excelled the first with a stand out character in the menacing Joker. It was a winner. Batman: Christian Bale vs. The Joker: Heath Ledger, Harvey Dent who becomes Two Face: Aaron Eckart and a reappearance by Scarecrow: Cillian Murphy.
THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2012)
The end of the excellent Christopher Nolan trilogy wasn’t as strong as its predecessors but still an excellent movie. Batman: Christian Bale vs. Bane: Tom Hardy with the reintroduction of Catwoman: Anne Hathaway too.
The only downside of this Warner Bros. VIP Tour was that you only got about 25 minutes in the museum. This was enough for the casual fan but unfortunately nowhere near enough for a Batman devotee (there was actually a Harry Potter section upstairs but I was the only person in my tour group to never even make it up there. It was all about the Bat for me)! Regardless it was a great experience.
Now we wait patiently for Batman vs. Superman in 2016 with Ben Affleck donning the cape and cowl. Long live the Batman!
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