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Every Batmobile from every live-action 'Batman' movie, ranked
The best bat vehicle should have cool capabilities, some battiness, and impressive style.
There have been a lot of Batmen on the big screen over the decades, and all of them have had a Batmobile. And, just like the actors that have inhabited the Batsuit, the Batmobiles in live-action movies from 1966’s Batman to 2022’s The Batman have had their own style and character.
Some Batmobiles, admittedly, are better than others, though almost all of them have had some memorable moments on film. With Michael Keaton’s Batman and Batman Returns along with Val Kilmer’s Batman Forever and George Clooney’s Batman & Robin now streaming on Peacock, now is as good a time as any to rank the live-action Batmobiles.
Read on for that ranking, which ranks the Batmobiles based on the vehicles’ overall style, their arsenal of capabilities, and their inherent battiness.
7. Batman & Robin (1997)
Batman & Robin’s Batmobile met the daunting task of taking 1995’s Batman Forever vehicle and making it even more ridiculous. Even though the battiness of the car is quite high with two bat “wings” extruding from the driving area, the Batmobile Clooney had the ignominious honor of driving also sported a multi-color display of pulsing lights that makes it not only gaudy but too bright to be a true vehicle of the night.
6. Batman Forever (1995)
Val Kilmer’s Batmobile was better than the one in Batman & Robin, but not by much. This car of the Caped Crusader added blue lighting to zhuzh things up, but that extra bit of flair detracts from it being a stealth vehicle for the Dark Knight. Its capabilities, however, include being able to drive up the side of buildings, which is an impressive and useful feature for bringing justice to Gotham.
5. Batman v. Superman (2016), Justice League (2017), Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021)
Another Batman, another Batmobile. And Ben Affleck’s Batman has a rugged vehicle to go with his grizzled Batman look. This Batmobile lies low to the ground and doesn’t have many bells and whistles. It’s a workhorse that has gone through a lot, however, and deserves credit for its hard work.
Affleck’s Batmobile also makes appearances in both Justice League and 2021’s Zack Snyder’s Justice League, which is why these movies share a Batmobile ranking spot. In the Justice League movies, the Batmobile gets some extra firepower, including a canon and a device that emits a noise to attract the parademons. It’s a solid Batmobile that gets the job done.
4. Batman (1966)
Adam West was the first on-screen Batman and one markedly different than the Bats after him. His car was also unique and also of the time — a roadster with only a few bat logos and a bubble top to suggest this mobile vehicle was a bit different from other cars on the road. It's a design without many bells and whistles, but — just like Adam West — it is awesome.
3. The Batman (2022)
Robert Pattinson’s The Batman has a batmobile that fits the noir, relatively realistic vibe of the Matt Reeves-directed film. It’s also the vehicle that’s closest to the 1966 Batmobile, and is in fact based on a ‘60s Dodge Charger. Unlike your average muscle car, however, this one has armored plating and is suitability intimidating for the Caped Crusader. And while its battiness factor is low, the car's look fits the movie and Pattinson's moody version of the Bat.
2. Batman (1989), Batman Returns (1992)
Michael Keaton’s limousine-esque Batmobile was sleek, stylish, and suitably Bat-like without being too over the top. It’s a classic for a reason, and is often the Batmobile people think of first. The Batmobile is also essentially unchanged between the two Keaton films, which is why they share a spot in the ranking.
1. Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Night (2008), The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
The Batmobile got a major makeover for Chris Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy. In the first film, the Batmobile is more accurately a Bat-Tank. What it loses in battiness, however, it makes up for in the way it could transfigure into different modes depending on what Batman was up to. 2005’s Batmobile also had a cool origin story from the “tumbler” technology repurposed at Wayne Enterprises.
The Tumbler showed off some extra capabilities in The Dark Knight. In this film, it could be controlled by remote and had pre-programmed settings it could carry out. Every Batmobile should have a setting called “Intimidate.” We also saw that it had an emergency escape pod for Batman — which came in handy after the Joker destroyed most of it with a bazooka.
In The Dark Knight Rises, Bane gets his own Tumbler vehicles when he steals them from Wayne Enterprises, although these are camouflage and not Bat-black. Not be outdone, we also see Batman in the flying vehicle appropriately called The Bat. The Bat, however, is not a Batmobile, and thus not part of this ranking. The Dark Knight trilogy Batmobile, however, scores high on capabilities and overall style. And while it scores less on battiness than some others, it is the strongest overall, therefore making it the best Batmobile out there.
Looking for more Batman? Batman, Batman Returns, Batman Forever, and Batman & Robin are now streaming on Peacock.
