In recent weeks, The Batman has ramped up its marketing campaign by releasing new posters for the film. The latest poster features Batman along with the Riddler, Penguin, and Catwoman all above Bruce Wayne with a question mark bullseye on him along with the caption “Unmask The Truth.” This is a good poster and features all our main players for the movie. The Batman has had a few great posters, and Batman, the character, has had many great posters for all of the movies that he has starred in. Let’s get into our latest TBU Five Things and look at five of some of the best Batman movie posters of all time.
#1: Batman (1989)
This poster might be my favorite. It’s simple and to the point. It’s just the Bat symbol, and that’s all we need. It’s got Jack Nicholson’s and Michael Keaton’s names on there, but the emblem is the only visual selling point. It fully announces that this isn’t the Batman from the 60s, this is a new Batman. I’m sure that the majority of Bat-Fans have a version of this poster hanging up somewhere in the house (yes, I am one of those fans). With this poster, Bat-Mania was born.
#2: Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)
It adds to the legend of Batman: The Animated Series that the creators were given the opportunity to make a full-length movie to have in theaters. I love this movie. This poster for Batman: Mask of the Phantasm shows us Batman with that cape spread, and the first glimpse at the new villain (made for the movie) that we have never seen before: The Phantasm. It is such a great movie.
#3: The Dark Knight (2008)
When we saw this poster for The Dark Knight, we should have known what Christopher Nolan and, more importantly, Heath Ledger, were about to bring to us. Joker writing his catchphrase from the movie “Why so serious?” in blood with the touch of adding his signature, creepy smile really set the tone. The Nolan movies provided some great movie posters, but this might be the best and most effective of the trilogy.
#4: The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Back to the Nolan movies for number four! This poster for The Dark Knight Rises gave a sense of finality to the franchise. Of course, it’s obvious with the tagline saying “The Legend Ends,” but take that away for a moment. In this poster, we see Bane walking away from a broken cowl. This poster is also basically a scene from the movie. After Bane destroys Batman and breaks his back, he punches the cowl off of Batman and drops a broken piece. The whole franchise was built around Batman being a legend and symbol, and to see a marketing poster of a broken mask sent a message to fans that this was going to be an end to this great era of Batman movies.
#5: Batman Forever (1995)
If you haven’t guessed by now, I’m a fan of the simple approach to Batman movie posters. Just give me a logo or maybe a character or two, and I am sold for the movie. Batman Forever hit me at the right age as a Bat-Fan. I was eight years old when the movie came out, and I’ll still defend it to this day. I love this poster with the Riddler question mark around the Bat symbol. I’m sure it is a coincidence, but the poster for The Batman pays homage to this one with the idea of the question mark on Bruce Wayne instead of the Bat logo. Despite the goofier tone found in the film, this is quite a resonant and effective approach to selling a movie.
So many Batman movies have brought so many Batman posters. As I said, I’m a fan of the simple ones, but other people have other tastes. What are yours? Comment below and remember, The Batman is coming.
