10 Terrible Comic Book Adaptations We’d Like To Forget

7) Batman & Robin (1997)

While Schumacher’s first attempt at breaking into the Batman lore was a mediocre outing filled with poor set designs, lazy acting and bizarre costume choices (hard, protruding, rubber nipples? Really?), it’s indeed Batman & Robin that hammered the last nail in the coffin for his future blockbuster endeavors. Perhaps that’s why Batman Forever is even included on this list, as Batman & Robin was such an atrocious outing that it tarnished perceptions for a film that came out two years prior and was in the same narrative and stylistic canon.

What Batman Forever did badly, Batman & Robin magnified to a nauseating degree. Whether it’s the perennial Batman casting shake-ups or the oft-cringe inducing puns by Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze, Batman & Robin is simply a terrible film. A horrific exercise in lacking patience from Warner Bros., the project was rushed through production so as to cash in on the previous movie’s financial success and cultural relevancy.

Even worse, executives at the studio were so impressed with the dailies that they commissioned the director for a third film. But critical derision and lacklustre commercial returns all but ensured that this be Schumacher’s last Batman outing, leaving him to return to his minimalist roots with stellar works like Phone Booth.