Superman may be renowned as the first and most famous of DC Comics’ heroes, but in the 21st century there has not been another superhero who has been more popular than Batman. Although there was a brief instance in which it felt like the Batman film franchise did not have a future after Batman & Robin proved to be a massive box office failure and major critical disappointment, a series of strong decisions lead Warner Brothers to turning the Dark Knight of Gotham into the most important film character of his time.