The Enduring Star Power Of Batman

It would be unfair to every other studio trying to make a go of it in modern Hollywood to say “just go find yourself a character to buy the rights to like Batman!” Frankly, there are maybe only a couple of those in existence with Spider-Man being the other one, and Spidey is locked up good and tight at Sony. This is a specific game only a few people get to play, and it’s typically a mistake to try and make other characters feel as important to the general public because they simply won’t be. There is a magic to Batman that can’t be conjured up by another brooding hero simply because other superheroes are popular (Vin Diesel’s “Bloodshot” probably didn’t fail just because of the pandemic). Find another way. There are no other Batmans out there.

Now, as for any practical lessons that might be extracted from the raw data? Overall, it’s hard to argue with the broad results. About $6 billion in box office against $1.5 billion in combined production budgets is outstanding, and that doesn’t even account for all of the merchandise and ancillary value that has been created over the decades as a result of these movies. We’re talking additional billions here. Warner Bros., overall, has done well in cashing in on this titan of pop culture. 

But what about the misfires? Is there a pattern here? Can something be learned by looking at the complete picture?

Let’s be real: 1989’s “Batman” is a singular return on investment the likes of which expensive blockbusters will rarely ever touch again. The fact that a movie that big was able to generate so much from a relatively tiny budget is miraculous. As the data shows us, no “Batman” movie since has been nearly that cheap, and with good reason. In truth, the only out-and-out misfire of the whole bunch is “Batman & Robin,” which was sort of doubling down on the lesser elements of “Forever” while switching actors once again and putting even more money into it. It’s a classic example of letting the whole thing get too big for its britches. Even “Batman: Mask of the Phantasm” found a long life well beyond theaters. 

Perhaps the big lesson here for anyone else that has a big character or some other major piece of IP to play with is that different takes on that franchise are valid and welcome. “Batman” and “The Dark Knight” couldn’t be more different and yet, they both made a f***-ton of money and earned their place in history. “The LEGO Batman Movie” is a downright love letter to Batman and the world he inhabits, and it was rewarded for its troubles. Even “Batman v Superman,” for all of the headaches it caused, earned a lot in raw dollars and generated a take on the character that a lot of people absolutely love. Now, would it have helped if that movie didn’t cost nearly $300 million? You bet, but the point still stands that Warner Bros. has welcomed a lot of different takes on this character over the years and has more often than not been rewarded for doing so.

Let “Spider-Man” be different things. Give us a Miles Morales movie to showcase something new yet familiar. Let “Star Wars” be more than characters we know and the same four planets we’ve seen before. Allow the “Transformers” to graduate from Bayhem and do something different with the robots in disguise. Hell, maybe let Jason Voorhees go play in the snow once the “Friday the 13th” film rights get sorted out. Let your characters and franchises that will outlive us all be more than just a limited point of view or take on that world. It benefits the viewer and, in many cases, the ones hoping to cash in.