Catalogue classic Batman [1989] ➜ Ultra HD Blu-ray, Warner Bros.

With the latest Batman movie hitting disc in June, Anton Van Beek grabs a cape and cowl to take a look back at the Dark Knight’s landmark 1989 blockbuster smash…

- Anton Van Beek

THESE DAYS SUPERHEROES are big business. From the silver screen to streaming platforms, there's no escape from super-powered folk beating each other to a pulp. Not that audiences want an escape; at the time of writing superhero movies occupy seven spots in the list of the 20 highest-grossing films of all time (unadjusted for inflation), with combined box office takings in excess of $12bn.

Back in the 1980s, however, things looked very different. Even though 1978's Superman movie had made cinema audiences believe a man could fly, the film's phenomenal commercial and critical success (it was nominated for three Oscars!) didn't usher in a new era of superhero flicks. And by the second half the 1980s even the 'Last Son of Krypton' was being viewed as box office kryptonite, with the rights to the franchise sold to Cannon Films and 1987's catastrophic Superman IV: The Quest for Peace DC crashing back down to Earth.

However, while superhero movies may not have soared during the decade, the 1980s proved a revolutionary decade for superhero comics. Spearheaded by the launch of Alan Moore's Watchmen and Frank Miller's BATMAN Batman: The Dark Knight Returns in 1986, comics were seen to be growing up, taking a darker, grittier approach to their characters with a level of maturity and complexity few thought the medium capable of. The term 'graphic novel' started being thrown around in the mainstream press as a way of making comics seem more 'mature' and less embarrassing to be spotted reading in public.

'What are you?'