Over the course of seven years, Warner Bros. commissioned Darren Aronofsky for an adaptation of Batman: Year One and Wolfgang Petersen for Batman vs. Superman before deciding to reboot the film franchise in 2005 with Batman Begins, directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Christian Bale. Nolan returned to direct two further installments through the release of The Dark Knight in 2008 and The Dark Knight Rises in 2012, with Bale reprising his role in both films. Both sequels earned over $1 billion worldwide, making Batman the second film franchise to have two of its films earn more than $1 billion worldwide. Referred to as The Dark Knight Trilogy, the critical acclaim and commercial success of Nolan 's films have been credited with restoring widespread popularity to the superhero, with the second installment considered one of the best superhero movies of all - time. Ben Affleck became the newest actor to portray Batman in 2016 with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which began a sequence of DC Comics adaptations that Warner Bros. refers to as the DC Extended Universe, including Justice League, a crossover film featuring other DC Comics characters, in 2017, and a stand - alone Batman film starring Affleck and directed by Matt Reeves that is set for release in 2019.
what are the dark knight movies in order
2005 with Batman Begins The Dark Knight in 2008 The Dark Knight Rises in 2012