We’re back! The latest entry in our comprehensive score rankings is here, and this time, we’re taking on all 10 (as of this writing) live-action feature films starring Batman as a main (or major) character!

Feel free to check out our previous rankings here.

Batman is probably the most famous octogenarian in tights, and you’d be hard pressed to find a more universally recognized character from pop culture. Over the years, there have been countless appearances, adaptations, variations, and incarnations of Bruce Wayne/Batman, and everyone has a favorite.

Many of them have been classics, a vast majority have been adequate, and some were downright awful. But we’re here to day to talk about the character’s appearances on the big screen… in live-action form. (Sorry Mask of the Phantasm, aka best Batmovie ever.) And we’re also here to talk about the music supporting those films.

So, whereas Batman first appeared on the silver screen in 1943 (and then again in 1949) as a serial, the music was mostly stock – and neither has ever gotten a soundtrack release. Therefore, both serials were excluded from this ranking.

It wasn’t until 1966 that Batman once again hit theaters with a feature-length film. And between Adam West’s campy take on the character through Batfleck, we’ve been blessed (cursed?) with 10 feature films starring the character.

(We’re ignoring films where he only made a cameo appearance or wasn’t a protagonist.)

Surprisingly, even though the franchise has been through five actors, five directors, and five composers (so far), it’s maintained a consistency of sound other franchises should be envious of. I’m not saying each incarnation has had the same music or theme, but they all feel like they belong together. And that’s saying something for a franchise that’s lasted this long.

That being said, it’s anyone’s guess where 2021’s The Batman – which brings a sixth actor, director, and composer (Michael Giacchino!) to the mix – will take the character… and the sound.

#10: Justice League

• composed by Danny Elfman (2017)
• listen to: “Hero’s Theme,” “The Story of Steppenwolf”

It’s a good thing I don’t factor songs into these rankings because the Justice League soundtrack kicks off with a version of “Everybody Knows” by Norwegian singer-songwriter Sigrid. It’s a decent enough cover, but come on. Everybody knows that “Everybody Knows” belongs to Concrete Blonde and Pump Up the Volume (and, well, ok, I guess Leonard Cohen).

I’m sad to report that Danny Elfman’s music for Justice League is just… meh. It’s not actively terrible; it’s just… there. He uses his own Batman 89 theme in several tracks, along with cues from John Williams’s Superman theme and the 70s Wonder Woman TV theme in other tracks. Sadly, the score relies on these familiar themes to evoke nostalgia at key moments. Otherwise, it’s wholly forgettable.

#9: Batman & Robin

• composed by Elliot Goldenthal (1997)
• listen to: “Main Title,” “Poison Ivy/Mr. Freeze’s Plan,” “A Chilling Chase”

Joel Schumacher’s two Batfilms are best left forgotten, but one thing in their favor is that – despite each having a different Batman – the two movies feel very much of a pair. Same director, same campy style, same sense of humor, and same composer. Elliot Goldenthal composed two ho-hum scores for the Schumacher installments, but (1) they have themes, (2), they have the SAME theme, (3) they feel suitably heroic, and (4) they largely avoid the cheeseball antics of the scripts and acting.

Ultimately, the score for Batman & Robin (i.e., the one with Clooney, Schwarzenegger, Batgirl, Poison Ivy, and a non-Tom Hardy Bane) is a solid “ok” but done in by entirely too much slow jazz/soft porn saxophone muzak… and the Snow Miser song. (And let’s not even mention the awful Smashing Pumpkins song over the end credits.)

#8: Batman Forever

• composed by Elliot Goldenthal (1995)
• listen to: “Main Title & Fanfare,” “Chase Noir,” “Mr. E’s Dance Card”

Goldenthal’s score for Batman Forever (i.e., the one with Val Kilmer, Jim Carrey, and the first appearance of Bat Nipples) is another solid “ok” that’s elevated slightly by a surprisingly fun jazzy sound… and the fact that Goldenthal just goes for it. The score is filled with bold anthems that don’t hold back at all. Musically, though, the movie is probably best remembered as the one that gave us Seal’s “Kiss from a Rose” (and U2’s “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me”).

#7: The Dark Knight Rises

• composed by Hans Zimmer (2012)
• listen to: “Despair,” “Why Do We Fall?” “Imagine the Fire”

Capping off the trilogy, Zimmer’s score here is – much more so than the previous two – really just atmospheric and moody. It’s background music without any real melody or hook. The few times the score kicks into a higher gear is when it recycles themes from Batman Begins or The Dark Knight. Like the film itself, the trilogy deserved so much more in its third installment.

#6: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

• composed by Hans Zimmer & Junkie XL (2016)
• listen to: “Beautiful Lie,” “Day of the Dead,” “Is She With You?”

Following his run on the Christopher Nolan trilogy (and Man of Steel), Hans Zimmer continued his moody, dramatic, and somber take on DC’s two biggest characters. The score has its moments, especially when it gets quiet and emotional (the simple piano melody on “Day of the Dead” is sublime), but the score is largely built on the bones of Man of Steel. The best parts of score are when it hints at the Man of Steel theme and when the classic Wonder Woman TV theme kicks in on “Is She With You?” And if the most memorable parts of the score are recycled from other films/shows, then you might be in trouble.

#5: Batman

• composed by Nelson Riddle (1966)
• listen to: “Just Ring,” “Shades of Smolensic,” “Attack”

Though the score for the 1966 Batman sticks out like a sore thumb in this group – it’s certainly the least “modern sounding” of the bunch – there’s still a lot to love here. Nelson Riddle was the composer on the Adam West Batman TV series, so it was only natural that he also score the film. And even though the iconic “nana-nana-nana-nana-BATMAN!” theme was written by Neal Hefti, it’s Riddle you hear throughout the series and film. And it’s his big band jazzy sound – with punctuated orchestrations for all the goofy fisticuffs – that helps this one land so high on the list. This score is straight out of the 60s, but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that (and the brilliant reissue of the soundtrack from La-La Land Records makes me long for a box set of Riddle’s music from the series).

#4: The Dark Knight

• composed by Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard (2008)
• listen to: “Why So Serious?,” “Harvey Two-Face,” “Like a Dog Chasing Cars,” “A Dark Knight”

Almost immediately, the music for The Dark Knight strikes a different chord than Batman Begins. It’s more electronic, it’s percussion heavy, and it incorporates a lot of high strings tension. It feels like music for a film that’s largely defined by its action and suspense, which is fair… because it is. If Batman Begins is the relatively quiet establishing shot, then The Dark Knight is the hero taking flight – in action. And the music matches that. Zimmer and Howard take the minimal theme from Batman Begins and expand on it, making the whole thing much more melodic and memorable.

#3: Batman Returns

• composed by Danny Elfman (1992)
• listen to: “Birth of a Penguin/Main Title,” “Kitty Party/Selina Transforms,” “Roof Top Encounters,” “Final Confrontation/Finale,” “A Shadow of Doubt/End Credits”

As the fifth collaboration between Elfman and director Tim Burton – and the sequel to a monumental blockbuster – it might’ve been all too easy to phone this one in. But just as Burton eschewed the expected and took Batman Returns in a different direction from the original (he even went so far as to dump an entire draft script by Sam Hamm, screenwriter of the previous film, which would’ve been a direct sequel), Danny Elfman took the integral bits of his Batman score and molded it into something entirely new and unexpected.

Elfman performs magic here. In the space of one score – one movie – he transforms the orchestra into an army of feral cats, conjures the grotesqueries of The Penguin, delivers a sensual and melodic theme for Catwoman, plays with dark instrumentation that evokes a disturbing circus big top, and gifts Batman with a triumphant and heroic anthem.

Elfman composed more than 90 minutes of music for the film and is on record as calling Batman Returns operatic in scope and tone. Indeed, the breadth of this “opera” is on full display in an expanded release that’s part of this 4-CD set of Elfman’s Batmusic.

#2: Batman Begins

• composed by Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard (2005)
• listen to: “Eptesicus,” “Antrozous,” “Molossus,” “Lasiurus”

What’s up with those track titles, you ask? Well, each of the tracks are taken from the scientific names for different genera of bat. And there’s even a hidden “Easter egg” in the names. Sandwiched in the middle of the soundtrack, tracks 4-9 form an acrostic that spells out Batman. Usually, I’d say a gimmick that forced is attempting to cover up for something. But so help me, I love the music for Batman Begins. But that might be because I love Batman Begins, full stop. It’s the best film of the trilogy; fight me.

In 2005, we hadn’t seen a Batman film in almost a decade, and the previous two films were national embarrassments. Batman Begins had a LOT to prove. And though it might’ve been easy to turn in a cookie-cutter superhero score that telegraphs specific emotions, Zimmer and Howard composed a wholly unique score for a Batman film.

Absent is a hummable theme that conveys the inevitable heroism; this isn’t Elfman’s Batman. Rather, it’s very… Zimmeresque with a two-note, “brahm brahm” main theme couched in a lush and orchestral score. It’s moving and emotional, and it set the tenor for the entire trilogy. Some would say it set the tenor for all superhero movies that followed.

#1: Batman

• composed by Danny Elfman (1989)
• listen to: “The Batman Theme,” “Descent into Mystery,” “Waltz to the Death,” “Finale”

I mean, this is it. This is Batman. This is his music. The iconic theme Danny Elfman wrote in 1989 is still synonymous with the character and is still being used for Batman today. It was the basis of the theme for the legendary Batman: The Animated Series, and it’s popped up in plenty of other Batmedia over the years, including LEGO Batman and various video games. I mean, cripes, it was used to define the character in the Justice League score (just as it used John Williams’s Superman theme and the Wonder Woman 77 theme to define those characters).

I defy you to listen to “Finale” and NOT get chills. I had the original score on cassette tape as a kid (still have it), and I vividly remember riding my bike around the neighborhood, delivering papers on my paper route, and blasting this soundtrack full volume on my Walkman.

I also need to point out that if you’ve only ever listened to the original release, you’re missing out. La-La Land Records put out a 4-CD release with expanded Elfman scores for both Batman and Batman Returns. It’s WELL worth it, so get on that.