Batman fans debate whether ‘The Dark Knight’ or ‘The Batman’ is the better film

With a character as blazingly timeless as Batman, it should come as absolutely no surprise that he’s popped in adaptation after adaptation, crossover after crossover; simply put, he’s something of an evergreen media icon.

This, of course, means that the caped crusader doesn’t quite hit the mark every time (see: George Clooney, Zack Snyder, among others). But more importantly, and perhaps even more impressive in light of that, Batman has been at the center of some of the greatest cinematic masterpieces of the modern era.

And now, two of his best are going head-to-head on Reddit, with the folks over at r/movies debating between 2008’s The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan’s masterful reinvention of the superhero film, and 2022’s The Batman, Matt Reeves’ stylistic character study.

One user suggested that while The Dark Knight is a better film overall, The Batman has more strength in being a film about the superhero.

Another responder heaped praise on The Dark Knight, taking particular note of the then-trailblazing decision to place superheroes in a work of genre fiction rather than leaning into superheroes as the genre, whilst claiming that Robert Pattinson’s turn as the titular crimefighter in The Batman wasn’t particularly interesting.

One other user went against the Dark Knight-dominant grain and stated their preference for The Batman, considering the Batman ethos to be more developed, and also expressed a preference for Paul Dano’s disturbing performance as the Riddler over Heath Ledger’s iconic turn as the Joker.

And thus, the battle rages on in the unnecessarily competitive landscape that is internet film discussion. Luckily, one responder refused to engage, instead choosing to embrace wisdom.