All 11 R-Rated Batman Movies, Ranked
Batman‘s movie roster tends to delve into the darker side of the superhero genre, but even many of the grittier examples of these stories stay away from an R rating, making the examples of fully R-rated Batman movies and Batman spinoffs even more special.
While it makes sense that many of the Dark Knight’s film stories try to remain as appropriate for all ages as possible – since the superhero genre is one that appeals to a wide demographic, especially when it comes to a hero as popular as Batman – there are also some stories that can only be told by featuring more mature subject matter and moments, particularly for movies that adapt already adult-leaning comics.
With that said, though, the potential R-rated Batman movies offer in terms of delving into more mature themes and nuanced storylines alongside its more mature content is not always lived up to. This corner of Batman’s film roster contains some of DC’s most popular and most derided movies, with the complex matter of how to handle such a film’s R rating having evident challenges alongside its unique advantages based on the wide roster of releases that fall under this umbrella, and how they’ve been received over the years.
Batman: The Killing Joke
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Batman: The Killing Joke is, on paper, a stellar idea for a film adaptation of a comic story. The Killing Joke is one of the most-praised and most popular DC comics of all time, and provides some fascinating and harrowing insight into a range of Gotham’s most central characters over the course of a still relatively short narrative by comic book standards.
However, Batman: The Killing Joke was not as well-received as the original source material. This was in part due to the changes the movie made to its story, with particular criticism being leveled at the decision to have a romance between Batman and Barbara Gordon, which is absent in the comics, and furthered the idea that Barbara’s story in The Killing Joke reduces her down to being a way to develop the stories of Batman and her father, rather than letting her be an autonomous character in her own right.
With that said, The Killing Joke movie adaptation still has its points of praise and strengths, with the voice performances of legendary DC actors Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill as Batman and the Joker respectively still being appreciated, and the later act and animation similarly still receiving commendation from critics.
Aztec Batman: Clash Of Empires
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Aztec Batman: Clash Of Empires provides a strikingly unique Elseworlds universe for the Dark Knight to explore, setting the story in the Aztec Empire, and making Bruce Wayne into Yohualli Coatl, an Aztec noble who becomes a vigilante to avenge his father after he’s killed by a Spanish conquistador.
The world and designs of Aztec Batman, subsequently, demonstrate an engaging level of creativity, since Clash of Empire establishes a very different setting where it’s still clear who all of the Gotham characters who’ve been carried over to the movie are.
With that said, the film did end up proving to be one of DC’s less popular R-rated films, both because of its overarching storyline missing some of the bite viewers were hoping for, and because of controversies around how Aztec Batman handled its real-world historical source material.
Batman: Death In The Family
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Batman: Death In The Family‘s R-rating makes a lot of sense given viewers are able to choose whether Jason Todd lives or dies in the movie with an interactive option, mirroring how the comic had readers mail in with whether they wanted to save Robin, or doom him to his impending fate.
This added further dimension to the choice to adapt the story into the world of film – and made its narrative feel all the darker – but didn’t win over viewers en masse, in part because of the earlier, more well-received adaptation of parts of this comic story into 2010’s Batman: Under the Red Hood.
Batman: Gotham By Gaslight
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Gotham By Gaslight is one of the most famous alternate-universe Elseworld Batman comic stories, and for good reason, as the gothic atmosphere of Gotham and its inhabitants blends well into the steampunk-esque sensibilities of the Victorian era setting, and its less technologically advanced but still decidedly well-equipped hero.
Batman: Gotham By Gaslight isn’t regarded as a flawless story – with criticisms about the film raising the idea that the levels of violence and sexuality the movie uses to earn its R rating are gratuitous – but the fresh landscape and how it lends itself well to a story that feels entirely fitting for the Dark Knight even with everything about his mythos changed has still garnered a lot of attention and praise nonetheless.
Batman: Knightfall
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While Batman: Knightfall Part 1 has been received largely well by audiences, it’s not yet clear what the overall picture will look like for the three-film-long series after the rest of Knightfall’s story emerges.
With that said, Batman: Knightfall has thus far effectively adapted the iconic Knightfall comic line and its story onto the screen in a major way, and brought viewers a new harrowing movie rendition of Bane’s infamous moment breaking the Dark Knight’s back, following this being more loosely adapted in the story of The Dark Knight Rises.
Batman: Soul Of The Dragon
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Batman: Soul of the Dragon stands out among its R-rated animated peers in terms of not being an Elseworlds story or otherwise an adaptation of a pre-existing comic, which are categories the majority of other more maturely rated animated films fall into. Instead, Soul of the Dragon gives the Dark Knight a martial arts movie story that’s sure to be a delight for action fans.
Between this and Soul of the Dragon focusing on many DC characters who aren’t as often focal features of film stories – like Lady Shiva or Bronze Tiger – the movie manages to come into its own, with its distinctive narrative of Batman helping take down the Kobra cult in a story that ties back to his past working effectively in several genres at the same time.
Batman: The Long Halloween
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The Batman: The Long Halloween duology is an interesting example of the liminal nature of R-rated movies, as while Batman: The Long Halloween Part II has always been classified as R-rated, the first part has been previously given a PG-13 rating, though anthology collections of the two parts mark the series as R-rated as a result.
On the plus for the duology, it does make the series one of the strongest R-rated Batman movies of all time, since the two-parter adapts the comic story of The Long Halloween and its detective mystery in a way that does it justice, aided by the talents of Jensen Ackles, Troy Baker, and Jack Quaid.
Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)
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Though Birds of Prey was not a box office darling – a matter that was no doubt aided by its 2020 release date – the movie is one of the best R-rated film offerings tied to the Dark Knight today. This is owed in part to its frenzied pace, and by its ability to show us Margot Robbie going all in on playing beloved antihero Harley Quinn with every ounce of the charisma and questionable morals that make the character work in the pages of countless comics.
Birds of Prey has action, comedy, and a surprising amount of worldbuilding for the story it entails, since Harley’s conflict with Black Mask ends up featuring a wide range of DC characters that are painfully underrated in the world of the franchise’s live-action films, including the titular Birds of Prey group, Cassandra Cain, and Victor Zsasz.
Birds of Prey does take some liberties with its adjustments to DC’s source material, and its non-stop pace can be a matter that loses some viewers, but the heart with which it imbues its story, and the clear joy Robbie and other talented actors like Ewan McGregor are having with the story make it easy to enjoy, especially in the moments wherein the film lets loose and embraces its R-rating fully.
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For many people, Joker is both the best R-rated Batman film and the best superhero movie of all time, which is a fair perspective given the movie legitimized the concept of superhero film stories for audiences who otherwise wouldn’t have touched them with a barge pole.
With a gritty look at Gotham and its corruption that holds nothing back, Joker is equal parts harrowing and impossibly engrossing, and uses its R rating to the fullest.
However, the violence and more mature moments within Joker avoid feeling gratuitous by always meaning something for the character development of protagonist Arthur Fleck and his slow descent into chaos throughout the course of the film, providing a stellar example of why some superhero movies need more mature ratings because their story can’t be pulled off without this kind of material.
Clayface
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Ultimately, your mileage may vary on whether Joker or Clayface is the best R-rated Batman movie – though Clayface is here ranked in top place in terms of how much it needed to be R-rated in order to work as it does, since more would have been sacrificed in terms of trying to tone down Clayface for a lower rating compared to Joker.
This is because Clayface fully embraces being a body horror movie, and this comes with plenty of horrifying on-screen moments both for protagonist Matt Hagen and for those around him as his body steadily becomes less and less human.
With that said, Clayface makes sure to be far more than just a violent, scare-filled story, as the complex way it depicts Hagen – which leaves viewers torn between feeling sorry for him and being terrified of what he might do next – helps make the R-rated Batman film nuanced and engrossing on a level that battles and blood alone can’t earn.
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