No superhero in pop culture is as recognizable as Batman and has been portrayed in so many films and television series over the past 80 years, from the earliest Batman serials in the 1940s to recent blockbuster movies and topical TV series, Batman has always been present beyond the pages of comics

While this is great news for fans of the billionaire vigilante, it also means that there are a large number of Batman movies and TV shows in multiple continuities that may or may not overlap Furthermore, while these movies and shows are distributed across various streaming platforms, DC Comics is part of Warner Bros Discovery, making the WBD-owned streaming service Max the primary home for Batman-related media

Here is a breakdown of how to stream Batman movies and TV shows, including theatrically released movies as well as TV series starring Batman

Batman first appeared on screen in two serials in the 1940s, just a few years after his comic book debut The 1943 “Batman,” starring Lewis Wilson, introduced key elements that would later become integral to Batman's identity, including the headquarters of the Batcave In 1949's “Batman & Robin,” in which Robert Lowry took over the lead role, familiar supporting characters such as Commissioner Jim Gordon and reporter Vicki Vale first appeared

Both serials are streamed for free on Tubi, with “Batman” as a single feature and “Batman and Robin” divided into original installments

Batman's next theatrical appearance was a spin-off of the popular 1960s television series, with Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin Thanks to the success of the goofy and campy TV show, a feature film starring West, Ward, and their supporting cast was released theatrically between the first and second seasons The show's villains included Cesar Romero's Joker and Burgess Meredith's Penguin

In 1989, director Tim Burton ushered in a new era of Batman on the big screen and a new era of superhero movies overall with a feature film starring Michael Keaton The film's huge success led to Burton and Keaton returning for the sequel, Batman Returns, before director Joel Schumacher took over with his later films, Batman Forever (starring Val Kilmer) and the infamous flop Batman & Robin (starring George Clooney) took over and the franchise fell apart a bit

Since this period, almost all Batman films are available for streaming on Max

Director Christopher Nolan took a more serious approach with his Batman trilogy starring Christian Bale, beginning with the 2005 reboot “Batman Begins” Nolan's “The Dark Knight” earned him an Oscar for Heath Ledger's role as the Joker, as well as acclaimed performances by Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy, and Liam Neeson as villains who take on Bale's Bruce Wayne

The DC Extended Universe was DC's attempt to rival the superhero behemoth that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and while it was a bit of a mess, in 2016's “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” debuted alongside Henry Cavill's Superman, bringing Ben Affleck as a new version of Batman

Affleck's Batman never got his own solo film, but had supporting roles in multiple DCEU films, and Keaton returned as his version of Batman in the multiverse-spanning adventure “The Flash”

Even as producer James Gunn is working on his own Batman movie, “The Brave and the Bold,” and envisioning a new shared universe of DC superheroes, director Matt Reeves is still working on a Robert Pattinson-starring opened up an alternate universe for the dark and brooding Batman Pattinson will debut as Bruce Wayne in 2022's Batman, with a sequel to be released in 2026

To be exact, Bruce Wayne will also appear in Todd Phillips' radical reimagining of Batman's greatest nemesis, 2019's “The Joker” This Bruce Wayne (played by Dante Pereira-Olson) is just a kid making a cameo appearance, and it is unclear if he will return in the upcoming sequel “Joker: Folie a Deux”

Batman has also appeared in literally dozens of animated films, most all have bypassed movie theaters and been released via direct-to-video or streaming However, there have also been several Batman animated films released theatrically, starting with the 1993 spin-off from Batman: The Animated Series, “Batman: Mask of the Phantasm” (with Kevin Conroy voicing Batman), and in 2016, The Killing Joke, an eagerly anticipated adaptation of the Batman classic (starring Conroy), was upgraded from a direct-to-video release and became the highest-grossing R-rated animated film of all time

On a lighter note, the hyperactive and insecure Batman, voiced by Will Arnett in The Lego Movie, made a very entertaining solo appearance in The Lego Batman Movie

The best-known live-action television version of Batman is still the 1960s series starring Adam West and Burt Ward, which is colorful and silly, full of on-screen sound effects, pun-filled dialogue, and absurd villains; 2010s dark and intense prequel In direct contrast to the series “Gotham,” David Mazouz plays a young Bruce Wayne, surrounded by villains from earlier versions of Batman

Batman has a much richer history in animated television, appearing as a supporting character in many shows, but here I am limiting myself to animated series that feature Batman as a central character

The 1990s show “Batman: The Animated Series,” which featured Kevin Conroy as the voice of Batman, is often cited by fans as the best depiction of Batman in any medium The Animated Series and co-creator Bruce Timm's follow-up show, The New Batman Adventures, have been packaged as a single show on streaming services and feature the same cast and creators

Tim also co-created Batman Beyond, a future-set series starring Kevin Conroy again as Bruce Wayne in the role of Terry McGinnis, an aging mentor to a young Batman voiced by Will Friedle

Subsequent Batman animated series have continued to exist in the shadow of “Batman: The Animated Series,” offering slightly different takes on Batman and his supporting characters These include “The Batman,” which featured Lino Romano as the voice of Bruce Wayne, and “Batman: The Brave and the Bold,” a more lighthearted team-up series in which Batman (voiced by Diedrich Bader) teams up with other DC heroes, Beware of Batman,” which focuses on the young Batman in his early years, voiced by Anthony Ruivivier [Batman: The Animated Series], which continues the art deco visual style and hard-boiled tone of “Batman: The Animated Series” and adds an extra level of maturity Matt Reeves, director of the Batman films, also serves as executive producer, but while other Batman-related originals have been produced for Max, Cape Crusader is a Prime Video original series

While not featuring Batman as a character, several Batman spinoffs deserve mention because they are worth watching

The most recent is The Penguin, a 2022 spin-off series of The Batman Colin Farrell reprises his role as Oz Cobb, Gotham City's rising crime lord

The film Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) is part of the DCEU as a spin-off and sequel to Suicide Squad (2016)

Speaking of sassy bad girls, the animated series “Harley Quinn” has been a fan favorite with Kaley Cuoco in the lead role