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Batman Returns

Batman Returns is a 1992 American superhero film directed by Tim Burton and written by Daniel Waters. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it is the sequel to Batman (1989) and the second installment in the 1989–1997 Batman series. In the film, the superhero vigilante Batman comes into conflict with wealthy industrialist Max Shreck and deformed crime boss Oswald Cobblepot / The Penguin, who seek power, influence, and respect regardless of the cost to Gotham City. Their plans are complicated by Selina Kyle, Shreck's formerly-meek secretary, who seeks vengeance against Shreck as Catwoman. The cast includes Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Michael Gough, Pat Hingle, and Michael Murphy.

Burton had no interest in making a sequel to the successful Batman, believing that he was creatively restricted by the expectations of Warner Bros. He agreed to return in exchange for significant creative control, including replacing original writer Sam Hamm with Daniel Waters and hiring many of his previous creative collaborators. Waters' script focused more on characterization than on overarching plot, and Wesley Strick was hired to complete an uncredited re-write which (among other elements) provided a master plan for the Penguin. Filming was done from September 1991 to February 1992, on a $50–80million budget, on sets and sound stages at Warner Bros. Studios and the Universal Studios Lot in California. Special effects primarily involved practical applications and makeup, with some animatronics and computer-generated imagery.

The film's marketing campaign was substantial, including brand collaborations and a variety of merchandise to replicate Batman success. Released on June 19, 1992, Batman Returns broke several box-office records and earned about $266.8million worldwide. It failed to replicate the success or longevity of Batman ($411.6million), however; this was blamed on its darker tone as well as violent and sexual elements, which alienated family audiences and led to a backlash against marketing partners – such as McDonald's – for promoting the film to young children. Reviews were critical of its tone and narrative but more favorable towards the cast, giving near-unanimous praise to Pfeiffer's performance.

After the relative failure of Batman Returns, Burton was replaced as director of the third film, Batman Forever (1995), with Joel Schumacher, to take the series in a family-friendly direction. Keaton chose not to reprise his role, disagreeing with Schumacher's vision. Batman Forever and its sequel, Batman & Robin (1997), were financial successes but fared less well critically. Batman Returns has been reassessed as one of the best Batman films in the decades since its release, and its incarnations of Catwoman and Penguin are considered iconic. A comic book, Batman '89 (2021), continued the narrative of the original two Burton films, and Keaton reprised his version of Batman in the DC Extended Universe film The Flash (2023).

Plot
In Gotham City, two wealthy socialites, dismayed at the birth of their malformed and feral son Oswald, discard the infant in the sewers, where he is adopted by a family of penguins. Thirty-three years later, during the Christmas season, wealthy industrialist Max Shreck is abducted by the Red Triangle gang (a group of former circus workers connected to child disappearances across the country) and brought to their hideout in the Arctic exhibit at the derelict Gotham Zoo. Their leader, Oswald – now named the Penguin – blackmails Shreck with evidence of his corruption and murderous acts to compel his assistance in reintegrating Oswald into Gotham's elite. Shreck orchestrates a staged kidnapping of the mayor's infant child, allowing Oswald to rescue it and become a public hero. In exchange, Oswald requests access to the city's birth records, ostensibly to learn his true identity by identifying Gotham's first-born sons.

Shreck attempts to kill his meek secretary, Selina Kyle, by pushing her out of a window after she inadvertently uncovers his plot to build a power plant which would covertly siphon and hoard electricity from Gotham. Selina survives, returns home, angrily crafts a costume and adopts the name Catwoman. She returns to work confident and aggressive, catching the attention of visiting billionaire Bruce Wayne. As his alter ego, the vigilante Batman, Wayne investigates Oswald, suspecting that he is connected to Red Triangle. To eliminate opposition to his plant, Shreck convinces Oswald to run for mayor and discredit the incumbent by having Red Triangle wreak havoc throughout Gotham. Batman's efforts to stop the gang eventually bring him into conflict with Catwoman. Selina and Wayne begin dating, while Catwoman allies with Oswald to disgrace Batman.

On the night of the city's Christmas-tree lighting, Oswald and Catwoman kidnap the Ice Princess (Gotham's beauty queen) and lure Batman to the roof above the ceremony. Oswald pushes the Ice Princess to her death with a swarm of bats, framing Batman. When Catwoman objects to the murder and rejects his romantic advances, Oswald attacks her and she falls through a glasshouse. Batman escapes in the Batmobile, unaware that Red Triangle has modified it; this allows Oswald to take it on a remote-controlled rampage. Before regaining control, Batman records Oswald's derogatory tirade against Gotham's citizens. He plays the audio at Oswald's mayoral rally the following day, ruining his image and forcing him to retreat back to Gotham Zoo. Oswald forsakes his humanity and embraces the Penguin name, initiating his plan to abduct and kill Gotham's first-born sons to avenge his own abandonment.

Selina tries to kill Shreck at his charity ball, but Wayne intervenes and they inadvertently discover each other's secret identities. Penguin crashes the event to kidnap Shreck's son, Chip, but Shreck offers himself instead. Batman neutralizes Red Triangle and stops the kidnappings, forcing Penguin to deploy his missile-equipped penguin army to destroy Gotham. Batman's butler, Alfred Pennyworth, overrides the penguins' control signal and redirects them back to Gotham Zoo. As the missiles destroy the zoo, Batman unleashes a swarm of bats which makes Penguin fall into the contaminated waters of the Arctic exhibit. Catwoman arrives to kill Shreck, rejecting Batman's plea to abandon her vengeance and leave with him. She is shot four times by Shreck, seemingly without effect, because she claims to have two of her nine lives remaining. Catwoman electrocutes Shreck, causing a power surge which apparently kills them both; however, Batman finds only Shreck's charred remains. Penguin returns, but dies of his injuries before he can attack Batman and is laid to rest in the water by his penguins. Sometime later, while Alfred drives him home, Wayne sees Selina's silhouette but finds only a cat (which he takes with him). The Bat-Signal shines above the city, as Catwoman looks on.

Cast

 * Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne / Batman: A billionaire businessman who operates as Gotham's vigilante protector
 * Danny DeVito as Oswald Cobblepot / Penguin: A malformed crime boss
 * Michelle Pfeiffer as Selina Kyle / Catwoman: A meek assistant turned vengeful villainess
 * Christopher Walken as Max Shreck: A ruthless industrialist
 * Michael Gough as Alfred Pennyworth: Wayne's butler and surrogate father
 * Pat Hingle as James Gordon: The Gotham City police commissioner and Batman's ally
 * Michael Murphy as the Mayor: The city's incumbent mayor

The cast of Batman Returns includes Andrew Bryniarski as Max's son Charles "Chip" Schreck and Cristi Conaway as the Ice Princess, Gotham's beauty queen-elect. Paul Reubens and Diane Salinger appear as Tucker and Esther Cobblepot, Oswald's wealthy, elite parents. Sean Whalen appears as a paperboy; Jan Hooks and Steve Witting play Jen and Josh, Oswald's mayoral image consultants. The Red Triangle gang includes the monkey-toting Organ Grinder (Vincent Schiavelli), the Poodle Lady (Anna Katarina), the Tattooed Strongman (Rick Zumwalt), the Sword Swallower (John Strong), the Knifethrower Dame (Erika Andersch), the Acrobatic Thug (Gregory Scott Cummins), the Terrifying Clown (Branscombe Richmond), the Fat Clown (Travis Mckenna), and the Thin Clown (Doug Jones).

Development
After the success of Batman (1989), the fifth-highest-grossing film of its time, a sequel was considered inevitable. Warner Bros. Pictures had confidence in its potential and was discussing sequel ideas by late 1989, intending to begin filming the following May; the studio had purchased the $2million Gotham City sets at Pinewood Studios in England for at least two sequels. It kept the sets under 24-hour guard because it was cheaper to maintain the existing sets than build new ones. Robin Williams and Danny DeVito were considered to play rogues Riddler and Penguin, respectively. Despite pressure from Warner Bros. to finalize a script and begin filming, Batman director Tim Burton remained uncertain about directing a sequel. He described it as a "dumbfounded idea", especially before Batman's performance was analyzed, and was generally opposed to sequels: "Sequels are only worthwhile if they give you the opportunity to do something new and interesting. It has to go beyond that, really, because you do the first for the thrill of the unknown. A sequel wipes all that out, so you must explore the next level." Batman writer Sam Hamm's initial story idea expanded the character of district attorney Harvey Dent, played in Batman by Billy Dee Williams, and his descent into the supervillain Two-Face. Warner Bros. wanted the main villain to be the Penguin, however, and Hamm believed that the studio saw the character as Batman's most prominent enemy after the Joker. Catwoman was added because Burton and Hamm were interested in the character. Hamm's drafts continued directly from Batman, focusing on the relationship between Wayne and Vicki Vale (Kim Basinger) and their engagement. The Penguin was written as an avian-themed criminal who uses birds as weapons; Catwoman was more overtly sexualised, wore "bondage" gear, and nonchalantly murdered groups of men. The main narrative teamed Penguin and Catwoman to frame Batman for the murders of Gotham's wealthiest citizens in their pursuit of a secret treasure. Their quest leads them to Wayne Manor, and reveals the Waynes' secret history. Among other things, Hamm originated the Christmastime setting and introduced Robin, Batman's sidekick, although his idea for assault rifle-wielding Santas was abandoned. Hamm ensured that Batman did not kill anyone, and focused on protecting Gotham's homeless. He produced two drafts which failed to renew Burton's interest, and the director concentrated on directing Edward Scissorhands (1990) and writing The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993).

Burton was confirmed to direct the sequel in January 1991, with filming scheduled to begin later that year for a 1992 release date. He agreed to return if he received creative control of the sequel; Burton considered Batman the least favorite of his films, describing it as a "little boring at times." According to Denise Di Novi, his long-time producer, "Only about 50% of Batman was [Burton]"; the studio wanted Batman Returns to be "more of a Tim Burton movie... [a] weirder movie but also more hip and fun."

Burton replaced key Batman crew with some of his former collaborators, including cinematographer Stefan Czapsky, production designer Bo Welch, creature-effects supervisor Stan Winston, makeup artist Ve Neill, and art directors Tom Duffield and Rick Henrichs. Daniel Waters was hired to replace Hamm; Burton wanted someone with no emotional attachment to Batman and liked Waters' script for the dark comedy Heathers (1988), which matched Burton's intended tone and creative direction. Burton reportedly disliked Batman producer Jon Peters, demoted him to executive producer of Batman Returns, and effectively barred him from the set. Warner Bros. was the production company and distributor, with production assistance from executive producer Peter Guber's and Peters' Polygram Pictures.

Writing
Waters began writing his first draft in mid-1990. Burton's only instructions were that Catwoman had to be more than a "sexy vixen", and the script's only connection to Batman was a reference to Vale as Wayne's ex-girlfriend. Waters said that he did not like the 1989 film, and had no interest in following its narrative threads or acknowledging the comic-book histories of Batman Returns' characters: "[Burton] and I never had a conversation about 'what are fans of the comic books going to think?'... we never thought about them. We were really just about the art." He also had no interest in preventing Batman from killing people; the character should reflect contemporary, "darker" times, and the idea of a hero leaving captured villains for the authorities was outdated. Waters only had Batman kill when necessary, however, believing that it should be meaningful; he was unhappy with some of the added on-screen deaths, such as Batman blowing up a Red Triangle member with a bomb.

Much of Waters' "bitter and cynical" dialogue for Batman (such as Gotham City not deserving protection) was removed because Keaton believed that Batman should rarely speak in costume and Burton wanted Batman to be a "wounded soul", not nihilistic. As a result, the script focused on villains. Burton said that he initially struggled to understand the appeal of the Penguin's comic-book counterpart; Batman, Catwoman, and the Joker had clear psychological profiles, but the Penguin was "just this guy with a cigarette and a top hat." The initial draft made the character resemble a stereotypical DeVito character (an abrasive gangster), but Waters and Burton agreed to make him more "animalistic". They decided to make the Penguin a tragic figure, abandoned as an infant by his parents – a reflection of Batman's childhood trauma of losing his parents. Political and social satire was added, influenced by two episodes of the 1960s television series Batman ("Hizzoner the Penguin" and "Dizhonner the Penguin") in which the Penguin runs for mayor.

Waters changed Hamm's Catwoman from a "fetishy sexual fantasy" femme fatale to a working-class, disenchanted secretary, writing her as an allegory of contemporary feminism. Although the character is influenced by feline mythology (such as cats having nine lives), Waters and Burton never intended the belief to be taken literally and planned for Catwoman to die with Shreck during the electrical explosion in the film's denouement. Waters created Max Shreck as an original character, named in honor of actor Max Schreck, to replace the Dent-Two-Face character. The character was written satirically as an evil industrialist who orchestrates the Penguin's mayoral run because Waters wanted to say "that the true villains of our world don't necessarily wear costumes." In one version of the script, Shreck was the Penguin's more-favored brother. The number of central characters led to the removal of Robin, a garage mechanic who helps Batman after Penguin crashes the Batmobile. Burton and Waters were not particularly interested in retaining the character, whom Waters called "the most worthless character in the world". The Red Triangle gang, initially conceived as a troupe of performance artists, were changed to circus clowns at Burton's request. Waters said that his 160-page first draft was too outlandish and would have cost $400million to produce, and he became more restrained. His fifth (and final draft) focused more on characterization and interaction than on plot.

Burton and Waters eventually fell out, disagreeing about the script and with Waters refusing to implement requested changes. Burton hired Wesley Strick to refine Waters' work, streamline dialogue, and lighten the tone. Warner Bros. executives mandated that Strick introduce a master plan for the Penguin, resulting in the addition of the plot to kidnap Gotham's first-born sons and threaten the city with missiles. Waters said that the changes to his work were relatively minor, and he was baffled by the Penguin's plot: "What the fuck is this shit?" He made a final revision to the shooting screenplay and, although Strick was on set for four months of filming and agreed-upon rewriting, Waters was the only screenwriter credited.

Casting
Keaton reprised his role as Bruce Wayne / Batman for $10 million, double his salary for Batman. Burton wanted to cast Marlon Brando as the Penguin, but Warner Bros. preferred Dustin Hoffman. Christopher Lloyd and Robert De Niro were also considered, but Danny DeVito became the frontrunner when Waters re-envisioned the character as a deformed human-bird hybrid. DeVito was initially reluctant to accept the role until he was convinced by his close friend, Jack Nicholson, who played the Joker in Batman. To convey his vision, Burton gave DeVito a picture he had painted of a diminutive character sitting on a red-and-white striped ball with the caption, "my name is Jimmy, but my friends call me the hideous penguin boy."

Casting Selina Kyle / Catwoman was difficult. Annette Bening initially secured the role, but had to drop out after becoming pregnant. Actresses lobbying for the part then included Ellen Barkin, Cher, Bridget Fonda, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Madonna, Julie Newmar, Lena Olin, Susan Sarandon, Raquel Welch, and Basinger. The most prominent candidate, however, was Sean Young (who was cast as Vale in Batman before she was injured). Young went to the Warner Bros. lot in a homemade Catwoman costume for an impromptu audition for Burton, who reportedly hid under his desk (although Keaton and producer Mark Canton briefly met with her). She shared video of her efforts with Entertainment Tonight, and Warner Bros. said that Young did not fit their vision for Catwoman.

The role went to Pfeiffer who was described as a proven actress who got along with Burton (although some publications said that it would stretch her acting abilities). Pfeiffer had also been considered for Vale, but Keaton vetoed the casting because they had been romantically involved and he believed that her presence would interfere with attempts to reconcile with his wife. She received a $3million salary ($2million more than Bening), plus a percentage of the gross profits. Pfeiffer trained for months in kickboxing with her stunt double, Kathy Long; she mastered the whip, becoming proficient enough to perform her own stunts with the weapon.

Shreck's appearance was modeled on Vincent Price in an (unnamed) older film, and Walken based his performance on moguls such as Sol Hurok and Samuel Goldwyn. He said, "I tend to play mostly villains and twisted people. Unsavory guys. I think it's my face, the way I look. If you do something effective, producers want you to do it again and again." Burgess Meredith (who played the Penguin in the 1960s TV series) was scheduled to make a cameo appearance as Penguin's father, Tucker Cobblepot, but became ill during filming. He was replaced by Paul Reubens; Diane Salinger played his wife, Esther. Both had starred in Burton's feature-film debut, Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985).

Although Robin was removed from the screenplay, the character's development was far enough along that Marlon Wayans was cast in the role (Burton had specifically wanted an African-American Robin) and costumes, sets, and action figures were made. In a 1998 interview, Wayans said that he still received residual checks as part of the two-film contract he signed. Early reports suggested that Nicholson had been asked to return as the Joker, but refused to film in England because of the salary tax on foreign talent. Nicholson denied being asked, however, believing that Warner Bros. would not want to replicate his generous compensation for Batman.

Filming
Principal photography began on September 3, 1991. Burton wanted to film in the United States with American actors because he believed that Batman "suffered from a British subtext." The economics of filming Batman in the United Kingdom had also changed, making it more cost-effective to remain in the U.S. This meant abandoning the English Batman sets in favor of Burton's new design. Batman Returns was filmed entirely on seven or eight soundstages at Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, California, including Stage 16 (which housed the expansive Gotham Plaza set). An additional soundstage, Stage 12 at the Universal Studios Lot, was used for the Penguin's Arctic-exhibit lair.

Some sets were kept very cold for the live Emperor, black-footed, and King penguins. The birds were flown in on a refrigerated airplane for filming, and had a refrigerated waiting area with a swimming pool stocked with half a ton of ice daily and fresh fish. DeVito said that he generally liked being on set but disliked the cold conditions, and was the only person somewhat comfortable because of his costume's heavy padding. To create the penguin army, the live penguins were supplemented with puppets, forty Emperor-penguin suits worn by little people, and Computer-generated imagery (CGI). People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) protested the use of real penguins, objecting to the birds' being moved from their natural environment. Although the organization had reportedly said that the penguins were not mistreated during filming, it later said that the birds did not get fresh drinking water – just a small, chlorinated pool. PETA also objected to the penguins being fitted with appliances representing weapons and gadgets, which Warner Bros. said were lightweight plastic. Burton said that he did not like using real animals because he had an affinity for them, and ensured that the penguins were treated with care.

Walken described the filming as very collaborative, recalling that his suggestion to add a blueprint for Shreck's power plant resulted in a model built within a few hours. The scene of Catwoman putting a live bird in her mouth was real, with no CGI. Pfeiffer said that, in retrospect, she would not have done the stunt; she had not considered the risks of injury or disease involved. For a scene in the sewers, monkey handlers positioned above and below managed the organ grinder monkey as it descended a set of stairs with a note for Penguin. When it saw DeVito in full costume and makeup, it leapt at his testicles. DeVito said, "The monkey looked at me, froze, and then leapt right at my balls...Thank god it was a padded costume." A scene of Shreck's superstore exploding caused minor injuries to four stuntmen. Principal photography ended on February 20, 1992, after 170 days.

Post-production
Chris Lebenzon edited Batman Returns' 126-minute theatrical cut. The final scene of Catwoman looking up at the Bat Signal was filmed during post-production, only two weeks before the film's release. Warner Bros. mandated the scene (depicting that the character survived) after test audiences responded positively to Pfeiffer's performance. Pfeiffer was unavailable to film the scene, and a stand-in was used. A scene of Penguin's gang destroying a store filled with Batman merchandise was removed. Warner Bros. provided a final budget for Batman Returns of $55million, although it has been reported (or estimated) as $50, $65, $75, or 80million.

Music
Danny Elfman was initially reluctant to score Batman Returns because he was unhappy that his Batman score was supplemented with pop music by Prince. Elfman built on many of his Batman themes, and said that he enjoyed working on the Penguin's themes the most because of the character's sympathetic aspects (such as his abandonment and death): "I'm a huge sucker for that kind of sentimentality." Recorded with a studio orchestra on the Sony Scoring Stage in Los Angeles, Elfman's score includes vocals, harps, bells, xylophones, flutes, pianos, and chimes. The song "Face to Face", played during the costume-ball scene, was co-written and performed by the British rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees. Burton and Elfman fell out during production due to the stress of finishing Batman Returns on time, but reconciled shortly afterward.

Design and effects
Batman production designer Anton Furst was replaced by Bo Welch, who understood Burton's visual intentions after previous collaborations on Beetlejuice (1988) and Edward Scissorhands (1990). Furst, already occupied on another project, committed suicide in November 1991. Warner Bros. maintained a high level of security for Batman Returns, requiring the art department to keep their window blinds closed. Cast and crew had to wear ID badges with the film's working title, Dictel, a word coined by Welch and Burton meaning "dictatorial"; they were unhappy with the studio's "ridiculous gestapo" measures. Welch designed the Batboat vehicle, a programmable batarang, and the Penguin's weaponized umbrellas. He added features to the Batmobile, such as detaching much of its exterior to fit through tighter spaces; this version was called the "Batmissile".

Sets
The sets were redesigned in Welch's style, including the Batcave and Wayne Manor. They were spread across seven soundstages on the Warner Bros. lot (the largest of which had 70 ft ceilings) and the largest set owned by Universal Pictures. Batman Returns was filmed on sets, although some panoramic shots (such as the camera traveling from the base of Shreck's department store to its cat-head-shaped office) were created with detailed miniatures.

Welch found it difficult to create something new without deviating from Furst's award-winning work. The designs were intended to appear as a separate district of Gotham; if Batman took place on the East Side, Batman Returns was set on the West Side. Welch was influenced by German Expressionism, neo-fascist architecture (including Nazi Germany-era styles), American precisionism painters, and photos of the homeless living on the streets in affluent areas. He incorporated Burton's rough sketch of Catwoman, which had a "very S&M kind of look", by adding chains and steel elements which would appear to hold together a city on the verge of collapse. The key element for Welch came early in design, when he realized that he wanted to manipulate spaces to convey specific emotions (emphasizing vertical buildings to convey a "huge, overwhelmingly corrupt, decaying city" filled with small people): "The film is about this alienating, disparate world we live in." The wintertime setting took advantage of the contrast between black and white scene elements, influenced by Citizen Kane (1941) and The Third Man (1949).

Welch's concept designs began by carving out building shapes from cardboard with images of fascist sculptures and depression era machine-age art. The resulting 1 by-tall rough model represented Gotham Plaza, described as a futuristic, oppressive, and "demented caricature" of Rockefeller Center. It was designed overbuilt, emphasizing the generic-but-oppressive heart of Gotham's corruption. Despite complaints from the film's financiers about its necessity, Burton insisted on the location with a detailed church overshadowed by plain surroundings.

Designs attempted to create the illusion of space; the Wayne Manor set was partially built (consisting primarily of a large staircase and fireplace) with a scale which implied that the rest of the structure was massive. Penguin's base was initially scheduled to be built in a standard 35 ft tall Warner Bros. soundstage, but Welch thought that it lacked "majesty" and did not create enough contrast between itself and the "evil, filthy, little bug of a man". A 50 ft-tall Universal stage was acquired for the production, its raised ceilings making it seem more realistic and less like a set. Minor modifications were made to the set throughout the film to make it appear to be gradually deteriorating. The location featured a water tank filled with 500000 USgal of water surrounding a faux-ice island. Selina Kyle's apartment had a large steel beam running through its center to appear as if it had been built around a steel girder, which Welch said made it depressing and ironic. The wood used to build the sets was donated to Habitat for Humanity to help build low-cost homes for the poor.

Costumes and makeup
Bob Ringwood and Mary E. Vogt were the costume designers. They refined the Batsuit to create the illusion of mechanical parts built into the torso, intending Batman to resemble Darth Vader. Forty-eight foam-rubber Batsuits were made for Batman Returns. They had a mechanical system of bolts and spikes beneath the breast plate to secure the cowl and cape because "otherwise, if [Keaton] turned around quickly the cape would stay where it was", due to its weight. Costumer Paul Barrett-Brown said that the suit had a "generous codpiece" for comfort, and initially included a zippered fly to allow Keaton to use the bathroom; the actor declined, however, because it could be seen by the camera from some angles. As with the Batman costume, Keaton could not turn his head; he compensated by making bolder, more powerful movements with his lower body.

The Catwoman outfit was made from latex because it was designed to be "black and sexy and tight and shiny". The material was chosen because of its association with "erotic and sexual" situations, reflecting the character's transition from a repressed secretary to an extroverted, erotic female. Padding was added because Pfeiffer was less physically endowed than Bening; this worked to Pfeiffer's advantage, however, since Barrett-Brown said that if it was too tight it "would reveal the genital area so thoroughly that you'd get an X certificate." Ringwood and Vogt thought that if the latex material tore it would not be difficult to repair; forty to seventy backup Catwoman suits were made by Western Costume, the Warner Bros. costume department, and Los Angeles-based clothing manufacturer Syren at a cost of $1,000 each. Other versions, made for Pfeiffer from a cast of her body, were so tight that she had to be covered in baby powder to wear them. Barrett-Brown said that because of the material, it was possible to get into the suit when dry; they could not re-use them, however, because of sweat and body oils. Vin Burnham constructed Catwoman's headpiece and mask.

Burton was influenced to add stitching by calico cats, but the stitching came apart. Ringwood and Vogt struggled with adding stitching to latex. They tried to sculpt stitching and glue it on, but did not like the look and went over the suit with liquid silicon while it was worn (which added a shine to everything). Pfeiffer said that the suit was like a second skin, but when worn for long periods it was uncomfortable; there was no way to use the restroom and it would stick to her skin, occasionally causing a rash. She found the mask similarly confining, describing it as choking her or "smashing my face", and would catch the claws on nearby objects.

Stan Winston Studio created an "over-the-top Burtonesque" visual for the Penguin, without obscuring DeVito's face. Concept artist Mark McCreery drew a number of sketches for the look, from which Legacy Effects built noses on a lifecast of DeVito's face. Winston was unhappy with the "pointy nose" shapes and began sculpting ideas with clay, influenced by his work on The Wiz (1978) (which involved a forehead and brow prosthetic appliance for large-beaked creatures). The final makeup included a T-shaped appliance which went over DeVito's nose, lip and brow as well as crooked teeth, whitened skin and dark circles under his eyes. Ve Neill applied the makeup, made by John Rosengrant and Shane Mahan. The several pounds of facial prosthetics, body padding, and prosthetic hands took four-and-a-half hours to apply to DeVito, but was reduced to three hours by the end of filming. An air bladder was added to the costume to help reduce its weight. DeVito helped create the Penguin's black saliva with the makeup and effects teams, using a mild mouthwash and food coloring which he squirted into his mouth before filming, and said its taste was acceptable. Burton described DeVito as completely in-character in costume, and he "scared everybody". While re-dubbing some of his dialogue, DeVito struggled to get into character without the makeup and had it applied to improve his performance. Because of the secrecy surrounding his character's appearance before marketing, DeVito was not allowed to discuss it with others (including his family). A photo leaked to the press, and Warner Bros. employed a firm of private investigators in a failed attempt to track down the source.

Penguins
Stan Winston Studio provided animatronic penguins and costumes to supplement Penguin's army. Thirty animatronic versions were made: ten each of the 18 in black-footed, 32 in King, and 36 in Emperor penguins. Costumes worn by little people were slightly larger than the animatronics; the actors controlled walking, the mechanized heads were remote-controlled and the wings were puppeteered. Dyed black chicken feathers were used for the penguin bodies. McCreery's designs for the penguin army initially included a flamethrower, which was replaced with a rocket launcher. Mechanical-effects designers Richard Landon and Craig Caton-Largent supervised the manufacture of the animatronics, which required nearly 200 different mechanical parts to control the head, neck, eyes, beak, and wings. Boss Film Studios produced the CGI penguins.

Context
By the theatrical summer of 1992 (beginning the last week of May), the film industry was struggling. Ticket sales were their lowest in fifteen years; rising film-production costs and several box-office failures the previous year meant that many independent and some major film studios were struggling financially. Eighty-nine films were scheduled for release during the summer season, including A League of Their Own, Alien 3, Encino Man, Far and Away, Patriot Games, and Sister Act. Studios had to carefully schedule their releases to avoid competition from anticipated blockbusters, which included Lethal Weapon 3, Batman Returns, and the 1992 Summer Olympics. Batman Returns was predicted to be the summer's biggest success, and other studios were reportedly concerned about releasing their films within a few weeks of its premiere. Paramount Pictures increased the budget of Patriot Games from $29million to $43million to make it more competitive with Batman Returns and Lethal Weapon 3.

Marketing
Franchising had not been considered an important aspect of Batman's release. However, after merchandise contributed about $500million to its $1.5billion total earnings, it was prioritized for Batman Returns. Warner Bros. delayed major promotion until February 1992, to avoid over-saturation and the risk of driving away audiences. A 12-minute promotional reel which debuted at WorldCon in September 1991 with a black-and-white poster of a silhouetted Batman was called "mundane" and uninspiring. A trailer was released in 5,000 theaters in February 1992 with a new poster of a snow-swept Batman logo. The campaign focused on the three central characters (Batman, Penguin, and Catwoman), which Warner Bros. believed would offset the loss of the popular Nicholson. Over two-thirds of the 300 posters Warner Bros. installed in public places were stolen. Warner Bros. eventually offered 200 limited-edition posters for $250; they were signed by Keaton, who donated his earnings to charity.

Over $100million was expected to be spent on marketing, including $20million by Warner Bros. for commercials and trailers and $60million by merchandising partners. The partners, which included McDonald's, Ralston Purina, Kmart, Target Corporation, Venture Stores, and Sears, planned to host about 300 Batman shops in its stores. McDonald's converted 9,000 outlets into Gotham City restaurants, offering Batman-themed packaging and a cup lid which doubled as a flying disc. CBS aired a television special, The Bat, The Cat, The Penguin... Batman Returns, and Choice Hotels sponsored the hour-long The Making of Batman Returns. Television advertisements featured Batman and Catwoman fighting over a can of Diet Coke, and the Penguin (and his penguins) promoted Choice Hotels. Advertisements also appeared on billboards and in print (three consecutive pages in some newspapers), targeted at older audiences.

Box office
Batman Returns premiered on June 16, 1992, at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. Two blocks of Hollywood Boulevard were closed for over 3,000 fans, 33 TV film crews, and 100 photographers. A party was held afterwards on the Soundstage 16 Gotham Plaza set for guests who included Keaton, Pfeiffer, DeVito, Burton, DiNovi, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Faye Dunaway, James Caan, Mickey Rooney, Harvey Keitel, Christian Slater, James Woods, and Reubens.

The film had a limited, preview release in the U.S. and Canada on Thursday, June 18, earning $2million. It had a wide release the following day, and was shown on an above-average 3,000 screens in 2,644 theaters. Batman Returns earned $45.7million during its opening weekend (an average of $17,729 per theater), and was the number-one film – ahead of Sister Act fourth weekend ($7.8million) and Patriot Games' third ($7.7million). This figure broke the record for the highest-grossing opening weekend, set by Batman ($42.7million); Batman Returns had the highest-grossing opening weekend of the year, surpassing Lethal Weapon 3 ($33.2million). The film held the all-time record for the biggest opening weekend until it was surpassed by Jurassic Park ($50.1million) the next year. Performance analysis suggested that Batman Returns could become one of the all-time highest-grossing films; Warner Bros. executive Robert Friedman said, "We opened it the first real weekend when kids are out of school. The audience is everybody, but the engine that drives the charge are kids under 20." According to Patriot Games producer Mace Neufeld, other films benefited from overflow audiences for Batman Returns who did not want to wait in long lines or were turned away from sold-out screenings.

Batman Returns earned $25.4million in its second weekend (a 44.3-percent drop) and was the number-one film again, ahead of the premiering Unlawful Entry ($10.1million) and Sister Act ($7.2million). By the film's third weekend, it was the second=fastest film to gross $100million (11 days), behind Batman (10 days). It remained the number-one film with a gross of $13.8million (a 45.6-percent drop), ahead of the premiering A League of Their Own ($13.7million) and Boomerang ($13.6million). The Washington Post called its week-over-week drops "troublesome", and industry analysis suggested that Batman Returns would not replicate the longevity of Batman's theatrical run. It never regained the number-one position, falling to numberfour over its fourth weekend and leaving the top-ten highest-grossing films by its seventh. The film left theaters in late October after 18 weeks, with a total gross of $162.8million. It was the third-highest-grossing film of 1992, behind Home Alone 2: Lost in New York ($173.6million) and Aladdin ($217.3million).

Batman Returns earned an estimated $104million outside the U.S. and Canada, including a record-setting £2.8million opening weekend in the United Kingdom. This broke the record set by Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), making it the first film to gross more than £1million in a single day. Worldwide, Batman Returns grossed $266.8million. It was the sixth-highest-grossing film of 1992, behind Lethal Weapon 3 ($321.7million), Basic Instinct ($352.9million), Home Alone 2: Lost in New York ($359million), The Bodyguard ($410.9million), and Aladdin ($504.1million).

Critical response
Batman Returns had a polarized reception from professional critics. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of B on an A+-to-F scale.

Several reviewers compared Batman Returns and Batman; some suggested that the sequel had faster pacing and more comedy and depth, avoiding Batman "dourness" and "tedium". Critics generally agreed that Burton's creative control made Batman Returns a more personal work than Batman, something "fearlessly" different which could be judged on its own merits. Critics such as Kenneth Turan, however, said that Burton's innovative, impressive visuals made Batman Returns feel cheerless, claustrophobic and unexciting, and were often emphasized at the expense of the plot. According to Owen Gleiberman, Burton's fantastic elements were undermined because he did not establish a base of normality.

The plot had a mixed response. Some reviewers praised the first and second acts and interesting characters who could evoke audience emotion. Others said that it lacked suspense, thrills, or clever writing, overwhelmed by too many characters and near-constant banter. The ending was criticized for lackluster action and failing to bring the separate character threads to a satisfactory conclusion. According to Janet Maslin, Burton cared mainly about visuals and plot was a secondary consideration. Gene Siskel said that the emphasis on characterization was detrimental; the sympathetic villains left him hoping that Batman would not win, and each character would find emotional peace.

Reviewers generally agreed that despite Keaton's abilities, his character was ignored by the script in favor of the villains; scenes without him were among the best. Todd McCarthy described Batman as a symbol of good rather than a psychologically-complete character, and Ebert wrote that Batman Returns depicts being Batman as a curse instead of a heroic power fantasy. Peter Travers, however, said that Keaton's "manic depressive hero" was a deep, realized character in spite of the film's faster pace. DeVito was praised for his energy, unique characterization, and ability to convey his character's tragedy despite the costumes and prosthetics. Desson Howe said that Burton's focus on the Penguin indicated his sympathy for the character. Some reviewers considered DeVito an inferior followup to Nicholson's Joker, who evoked sympathy without instilling fear.

Pfeiffer received near-unanimous praise for the film's standout performance as a passionate, sexy, ambitious, intelligent, intimidating, and fierce embodiment of feminism who offered the only respite from the otherwise-dark tone. Jonathan Rosenbaum, however, said that she did not live up to Nicholson's villain. Turan called the scenes shared by Batman and Catwoman the film's most interesting, and Travers said that when they take off their masks at the end they look "lost and touchingly human". Burr described the ballroom scene (in which they realize each other's secret identities) as more emotional than anything in Batman. Ebert noted that their sexual tension seemed to have been undercut for a younger audience. Walken's performance was described as "wonderfully debonair", funny and engaging, a villain who could have carried Batman Returns alone.

Welch's production design was generally praised, offering a sleeker, brighter, more authoritarian visual style than Furst's "brooding", oppressive aesthetic. McCarthy described Welch's ability to realize Burton's imaginative universe as an achievement, although Gene Siskel described Welch as a "toy shop window decorator" compared to Furst. The costumes and makeup effects were also praised, with Maslin saying that those images would linger in the imagination long after the narrative was forgotten. Czapsky's cinematography was well-received, even giving a "lively" aesthetic to the subterranean sets. The film's violent, mature, sexual content, such as kidnappings and implied child murder, was criticized as inappropriate for younger audiences.

Accolades
At the 46th British Academy Film Awards, Batman Returns was nominated for Best Makeup (Ve Neill and Stan Winston) and Best Special Visual Effects (Michael Fink, Craig Barron, John Bruno, and Dennis Skotak). For the 65th Academy Awards, Batman Returns received two nomations: Best Makeup (Neill, Ronnie Specter, and Winston) and Best Visual Effects (Fink, Barron, Bruno, and Skotak), but lost both awards to Bram Stoker's Dracula and Death Becomes Her respectively. Neill and Winston received the Best Make-up award at the 19th Saturn Awards. The film received four other Saturn Award nominations for Best Fantasy Film, Best Supporting Actor (DeVito), Best Director (Burton), and Best Costume Design (Bob Ringwood, Mary Vogt, and Vin Burnham). DeVito was nominated for Worst Supporting Actor at the 13th Golden Raspberry Awards, and Pfeiffer for Most Desirable Female at the 1993 MTV Movie Awards. Batman Returns was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation.

Performance analysis and aftermath
The U.S. and Canadian box offices underperformed in 1992, with admissions down by up to five percent and about 290million tickets sold (compared to over 300million in each of the preceding four years). Industry professionals blamed the drop on the lack of quality of the films being released, considering them too derivative or dull to attract audiences. Even films considered successful had significant box-office drops week over week from what apparently-negative word of mouth. Industry executive Frank Price said that the releases were not attracting the younger audiences and children which were vital to a film's success. Rising ticket prices, competition from the Olympics, and an economic recession were also considered contributing factors to the declining figures. Batman Returns and Lethal Weapon 3 contributed to Warner Bros.' best first half-year in its history, and were expected to return over $200million to the studio from the box office. Batman Returns was considered a disappointment as a sequel to the fifth-highest-grossing film ever made, however, and fell about $114.8million short of Batman's $411.6million theatrical gross. By July 1992, anonymous Warner Bros. executives reportedly said about the film, "It's too dark. It's not a lot of fun."

Despite its PG-13 rating from the Motion Picture Association, warning parents that a film may contain strong content unsuitable for children, some audiences (particularly parents) disliked Batman Returns' violent and sexualized content; the studio received thousands of complaint letters. Waters recalled the aftermath of one screening: "It's like kids crying, people acting like they've been punched in the stomach and like they've been mugged." He had anticipated some backlash and "relished that reaction", but part of him was "like, 'oops'." McDonald's was criticized for its child-centered promotion and toys, and discontinued its Batman Returns campaign in September 1992. According to Burton, "I like [Batman Returns] better than the first one. There was this big backlash that it was too dark, but I found this movie much less dark." Although much of Hamm's work was replaced, he defended Burton and Waters and said that except from the merchandise, Batman Returns was never presented as child-friendly.

Warner Bros. decided to continue the series without Burton (described as "too dark and odd for them"), replacing him with Joel Schumacher. A rival studio executive said, "If you bring back Burton and Keaton, you're stuck with their vision. You can't expect Honey, I Shrunk the Batman" (referring to the 1989 science-fiction comedy, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids). Warner Bros. was sued by executive producers Benjamin Melniker and Michael Uslan, who alleged that they had originally purchased the film-adaptation rights to the Batman character but were denied their share of the profits from Batman and Batman Returns by the studio's Hollywood accounting: a method used by studios to artificially inflate a film's production costs, making it appear unprofitable and limiting royalty (or tax) payments. The court decided in the studio's favor, citing a lack of evidence.

Home media
Batman Returns was released on VHS and LaserDisc on October 21, 1992. Its VHS version had a lower-than-average price, to encourage sales and rentals. The film was expected to sell millions of copies and be a well-performing rental, but its success would be restricted by mature, violent content which would appeal less to children (the main audience driving purchases). Batman Returns was released on DVD in 1997, with no additional features. An anthology DVD box set was released in October 2005, with all the films in the Burton-Schumacher Batman film series. The Batman Returns segment had commentary by Burton, The Bat, The Cat, and The Penguin special about the making of the film, part four of the documentary Shadows of the Bat: The Cinematic Saga of the Dark Knight, notes on the development of costumes, make-up and special effects, and the music video for "Face to Face".

The same anthology was released on Blu-ray in 2009 with a standalone Batman Returns Blu-ray release. A 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray version was released in 2019; restored from the original 35mm negative, it included the anthology's special features. A 4K collector's edition was released in 2022 with a SteelBook case (with original cover art), character cards, a double-sided poster, and previously-released special features. Elfman's score was released in 1992 on compact disc (CD), and an expanded soundtrack was released in 2010.

Other media
About 120 products were marketed with Batman Returns; they included action figures and toys by Kenner Products, Catwoman-themed clothing, toothbrushes, roller skates, T-shirts, underwear, sunglasses, towels, beanbags, mugs, weightlifting gloves, throw pillows, cookie cutters, commemorative coins, playing cards, costume jewelry, cereal, a radio-controlled Batmobile, and tortilla chips shaped like the Batman logo. Although there were about the same number of products marketed for Batman, there were fewer licensees and Warner Bros. could have more oversight. The release of Batman: The Animated Series later in 1992 was anticipated to extend merchandising success long after Batman Returns had left theaters. Warner Bros. used holographic labels developed by American Bank Note Holographics to detect counterfeit products.

The film's novelization, by Craig Shaw Gardner, was published in July 1992. A roller coaster (Batman: The Ride) was built at Six Flags Great America at a cost of $8million, and was later replicated at other Six Flags parks with a Batman stunt show. Several video-game adaptations entitled Batman Returns were released by a number of developers on a number of platforms, including Game Gear, Master System, Sega Genesis, Sega CD, Amiga, MS-DOS, and Atari Lynx; the Super Nintendo Entertainment System version was the most successful.

Batman '89, a comic-book series released in 2022, continues the narrative of Burton's original two films and ignores the Schumacher sequels. Set a few years after the events of Batman Returns, Batman '89 depicts the transformation of district attorney Harvey Dent into Two-Face and introduces Robin. The series was written by Hamm, with art by Joe Quinones. To celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Penguin's first comic-book appearance, DeVito wrote "Bird Cat Love" a 2021 comic book story about the Penguin and Catwoman falling in love and ending the COVID-19 pandemic. The Red Triangle Gang made their first appearance outside Batman Returns in the 2022 comic book Robin #15.

A holiday book was released in 2022, Batman Returns: One Dark Christmas Eve: The Illustrated Holiday Classic, by Ivan Cohen.

Duality
Critic David Crow called duality a major aspect of Batman Returns, and Catwoman, Penguin, and Shreck represent warped, reflected aspects of Batman. Like Wayne (Batman), Selina (Catwoman) is driven by trauma and conflicted about her principles and desires; unlike Batman (who seeks justice), however, she seeks vengeance. Although Catwoman agrees with Batman's appeal that they are "the same, split right down the center", they still differ too much to be together. Critics Darren Mooney and Betsy Sharkey suggested that Penguin reflects Batman's origin; each lost their parents at an early age. Shreck says that if not for his abandonment, Cobblepot and Wayne might have traveled in the same social circles. Batman is content in his loneliness, however; the Penguin wants acceptance, love and respect, despite his quest for revenge. To Mooney, Batman Returns hints that Batman's issues with Penguin are personal rather than moral; Batman is quietly proud of being a "freak" (unique), and resents Penguin for displaying his "freakishness". Shreck represents Wayne's public persona if it was driven by greed, vanity, and self-interest: a populist industrialist who wins favor with cheap presents tossed into a crowd.

Commercialism and loneliness
Crow saw Batman Returns as a denouncement of Batman's real-world cultural popularity and merchandising (especially in the wake of the previous film), and noted that a scene of a store filled with Batman merchandise being destroyed was removed from the film. Crow and Mooney wrote that Batman Returns is "saturated with Christmas energy"; it rejects the season's conventional norms and becomes an anti-Christmas film, however, critquing its over-commercialism and lack of true goodwill. Shreck cynically exploits Christmas tropes for his own ends (falsely portraying himself as selfless and benevolent), and the perversions of Penguin's Red Triangle gang are a more overt rejection of the holiday.

The film focuses on loneliness and isolation during Christmastime; Wayne is introduced sitting alone in his vast mansion, inert until the Bat-Signal shines in the sky. He makes a connection with Kyle, but what they share cannot overcome their differences and he ends the film as he began it – alone. Critic Todd McCarthy identified isolation as a theme common to much of Burton's work, which is emphasized in the three main characters.

Rebecca Roiphe and Daniel Cooper wrote that Batman Returns was not antisemitic, but had antisemitic imagery. The Penguin, they believed, embodied Jewish stereotypes such as "... his hooked nose, pale face and lust for herring" and was "unathletic and seemingly unthreatening but who, in fact, wants to murder every firstborn child of the gentile community." The character joins forces with Shreck (who has a Jewish-sounding name) to disrupt and taint Christmas and Christian traditions.

Sexuality and misogyny
Batman Returns has overtly sexual elements. Critic Tom Breihan described Catwoman's vinyl catsuit as "pure BDSM", including the whip she wields as a weapon. The dialogue is replete with double entendres, particularly by Penguin and Catwoman; in her fights with Batman, she sensuously licks his face. Selina / Catwoman is marginalized by the central male characters, however; Shreck pushes her out of a window, the Penguin tries to kill her when she spurns his advances, and Batman attempts to capture her. She fashions a catsuit to regain order, sanity, and power, but it is gradually damaged over the course of the film and her sanity decays with it. Catwoman's final choice is to reject Batman's offer of a happy ending by abandoning her revenge against Shreck; to surrender herself to Batman's will would allow another man to control her.

Power and politics
Power is a central theme for several characters; Shreck says, "There's no such thing as too much power; if my life has a meaning that's the meaning." He uses his money to gain power, and Batman uses his fortune to fund his war against crime (unlike Penguin, who was abandoned because he did not fit the image expected by his wealthy parents). Kyle gains power by donning the Catwoman costume and embracing her anger and sexuality.

Shreck convinces Penguin to run for mayor to further his own goals, and the Penguin seeks out the acceptance and respect it would give him. Critic Caryn James wrote that Batman Returns has "sharp political jabs" which implies that money and image are more important than anything else. In Batman, the Joker buys citizen support by throwing them piles of money; in the sequel, Shreck and Penguin gain the support of the populace with spectacle, pandering, and corporate showmanship. The Penguin describes how he and Shreck are both seen as monsters, but Shreck is a "well-respected monster and I, to date, am not." James said that the Penguin wants to change the superficial perception of himself because he wants to be accepted, but has no interest in being lovable. Only when the fickle voters turn on him, however, does he resort to his plan to kill infants who had the chances he never had. Crow believed that Burton was the most sympathetic to Penguin, and spent the most time on the character.

Cultural influence
Retrospectives in the 2010s and 2020s noted that Batman Returns had developed an enduring legacy since its release, with Comic Book Resources describing it as the most iconic comic-book film ever made. Although initially criticized for its mix of the superhero and film noir genres, the film established trends toward dark tones and complex characters which have since become an expectation of many blockbusters. Some writers said that its "disturbing imagery", exploration of morality, and satire of corporate politics seemed even more relevant in the present day, as did the themes of prejudice and feminism explored in Catwoman. Burton said that he believed Batman Returns was exploring new territory at the time, but it might be considered "tame" by modern standards. According to the Ringer, Burton's "weird and unsettling" sequel enabled future auteurs such as Christopher Nolan, Peter Jackson, and Sam Raimi to move into mainstream films.

Collider described the film as the first "anti-blockbuster", defying expectations and delivering a superhero film with little action set during Christmas (despite its July release). The film's performances, score, and visual aesthetic are considered iconic, influencing Batman-related media and incarnations of the characters for decades (such as the Batman Arkham video games). The Batman (2022) director Matt Reeves and Batman actor Robert Pattinson called Batman Returns their favorite Batman film, with Reeves ranking it alongside The Dark Knight (2008).

Pfeiffer's Catwoman is considered iconic, a feat of characterization and performance which influenced subsequent female-superhero-led films. Her performance is generally regarded as the best cinematic adaptation of the character (influencing future portrayals such as Zoë Kravitz's in The Batman), one of the best comic book film characters, and among the greatest cinematic villains. In 2022, Variety ranked Pfeiffer's Catwoman as the second-best superhero performance of the preceding fifty years, behind Heath Ledger. DeVito's performance as the Penguin is also considered iconic, and has been listed by some publications as one of the best cinematic Batman villains.

Modern reception
In the years since its release, Batman Returns has been positively reappraised. It is now regarded as among the best superhero films ever made, the best sequels, and the best Batman films made. Screen Rant called it the best Batman film of the 20th century and, in 2018, GamesRadar+ named it the best Batman film. Batman Returns was number401 on Empire's 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time. Some publications have identified Batman Returns as part of Burton's unofficial Christmas trilogy, bookended by Edward Scissorhands and The Nightmare Before Christmas, and it has become an alternative-holiday film along with films such as Die Hard (1988). Some publications have also listed it as one of the best Christmas films.

The film's writer Daniel Waters recalled being told that Batman Returns was a "great movie for people who don't like Batman". Although the film was criticized for depicting Batman killing people, Waters said, "To me, Batman not killing [the Joker (played by Heath Ledger)] at the end of The Dark Knight after proving he can get out of any prison, it's like 'Come on. Kill Heath Ledger. He believed that the reception to Batman Returns was improving with time, especially after the release of The Batman in 2022.

Critic Brian Tallerico said that the elements which originally upset critics and audiences are what makes it still "revelatory... It's one of the best and strangest movies of its kind ever made." Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes has a approval rating from reviews by  critics, with an average score of. According to the website's critical consensus, "Director Tim Burton's dark, brooding atmosphere, Michael Keaton's work as the tormented hero, and the flawless casting of Danny DeVito as The Penguin and Christopher Walken as, well, Christopher Walken make the sequel better than the first." The film has a score of 68 out of 100 on Metacritic (based on 23 critics), indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Sequels
Following the reception of Batman Returns, Warner Bros. intended to continue the series without Burton. Burton recalled, "I remember toying with the idea of doing another one. And I remember going into Warner Bros. and having a meeting. And I'm going, 'I could do this or we could do that.' And they go like, 'Tim, don't you want to do a smaller movie now? Just something that's more [you]?' About half an hour into the meeting, I go, 'You don't want me to make another one, do you?'... so, we just stopped it right there." The movie had reportedly been titled Batman Continues. The studio eventually replaced Tim Burton with Joel Schumacher, who could make something more family- and merchandise-friendly. Although Burton and Keaton were supportive of the new director, Keaton also left the series because "[the film] just wasn't any good, man." Industry press suggested that Keaton had also asked for a $15million salary and a percentage of the profits, although his producing partner Harry Colomby said that money was not an issue.

Burton was an executive producer for the third film, Batman Forever (1995), which had a more mixed reception than Batman Returns but was a financial success. The fourth and final film, Batman & Robin (1997), was a financial and critical failure and is regarded as one of the worst blockbuster films ever made. It stalled the Batman film series for eight years until the reboot, Batman Begins (2005).

By the mid-1990s, Burton and Waters were signed to direct a Catwoman-centered film starring Pfeiffer. Waters' plot depicted Catwoman as an amnesiac after her injuries at the end of Batman Returns, who ends up in the Las Vegas-like Oasisburg and confronts publicly-virtuous male superheroes who are secretly corrupt. Burton and Pfeiffer took on other projects in the interim, and lost interest in the film. Warner Bros. eventually developed Catwoman (2004), starring Halle Berry, which was critically panned and is considered one of the worst comic-book films ever made.

Keaton was scheduled to reprise his version of Batman in Batgirl, a film scheduled for release in 2022 before its cancellation by Warner Bros. parent company Warner Bros. Discovery. He appeared as Batman in The Flash (2023).

title: Batman Returns


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Batman & Robin (film)

Batman & Robin is a 1997 American superhero film based on the DC Comics characters Batman and Robin by Bill Finger and Bob Kane. It is the fourth and final installment of Warner Bros.'s initial Batman film series, a sequel to Batman Forever and the only film in the series made without the involvement of Tim Burton in any capacity. Directed by Joel Schumacher and written by Akiva Goldsman, it stars George Clooney as Bruce Wayne / Batman, replacing Val Kilmer, Arnold Schwarzenegger as Victor Fries / Mr. Freeze, and Chris O'Donnell reprising his role as Dick Grayson / Robin, alongside Uma Thurman and Alicia Silverstone. The film follows the eponymous characters as they attempt to prevent Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy from taking over the world, while at the same time struggling to keep their partnership together.

Warner Bros. fast-tracked development for Batman & Robin following the box office success of Batman Forever. Schumacher and Goldsman conceived the storyline during pre-production on A Time to Kill; Schumacher was given a mandate to make the film more toyetic than its predecessor. After Val Kilmer decided not to reprise the role of Batman, Schumacher was interested in casting William Baldwin before George Clooney won the role. Principal photography began in September 1996 and wrapped in January 1997, two weeks ahead of the shooting schedule.

Batman & Robin premiered in Los Angeles on June 12, 1997, and went into general release on June 20. It grossed $238 million worldwide against a production budget of $125–160 million, and was considered a box office disappointment at the time. The film received generally negative reviews from critics and is considered to be one of the worst films ever made. One of the songs recorded for the film, "The End Is the Beginning Is the End" by the Smashing Pumpkins, won a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance at the 40th Annual Grammy Awards. Due to the film's poor reception, Warner Bros. cancelled future Batman films, including Schumacher's planned Batman Unchained.

Plot
Batman and his partner, Robin, encounter a new villain, Mr. Freeze, who has left a string of jewel thefts in his wake. During a confrontation at the natural history museum, Freeze steals a large diamond and flees, freezing Robin and leaving Batman unable to pursue him. Later, Batman and Robin learn that Freeze was originally Doctor Victor Fries, a scientist working to develop a cure for a disease known as MacGregor's syndrome, hoping to heal his terminally ill wife, Nora. After a lab accident, Fries was rendered unable to live at average temperatures and forced to wear a cryogenic suit powered by diamonds for survival.

At a Wayne Enterprises lab in Brazil, botanist Doctor Pamela Isley is working under the deranged Doctor Jason Woodrue, who has turned her research on plants into the supersoldier drug Venom. After witnessing Woodrue use the formula to turn serial killer Antonio Diego into the hulking Bane, she threatens to expose Woodrue's experiments. Woodrue attempts to kill her by overturning a shelf of various toxins; instead, Isley is mutated by the toxins into Poison Ivy, who kills Woodrue with a poisonous kiss, destroys the lab and escapes to Gotham City with Bane, concocting a plot to use Wayne's money to support her research. Meanwhile, Alfred Pennyworth's niece, Barbara Wilson, makes a surprise visit and is invited by Bruce to stay at Wayne Manor until she goes back to school.

Wayne Enterprises presents a new telescope for Gotham Observatory at a press conference interrupted by Ivy. She proposes a project that could help the environment, but Bruce declines her offer, knowing it could result in genocide. Batman and Robin decide to lure Freeze out using the Wayne Family diamonds and present them at a Wayne Enterprises charity event. Ivy attends the event and decides to use her abilities to seduce Batman and Robin. Freeze crashes the party but is defeated and incarcerated at Arkham Asylum. Ivy takes an interest in Freeze and helps him escape. Dick discovers that Barbara has been participating in drag races to raise money for Alfred, who is dying of MacGregor's syndrome; a fact he kept from Bruce and Dick, but his niece is secretly aware of his situation and is trying to find treatment for him.

Batman, Robin, and the police arrive at Freeze's lair in response to his escape, discovering Nora preserved in a cryogenic chamber and that Freeze has developed a cure for the early stages of MacGregor's syndrome. The villains soon secretly arrive to recover Freeze's diamonds and Nora. Wanting Freeze for herself, Ivy cuts off the power to Nora's chamber, steals the diamonds, and seduces Robin, escalating tensions between him and Batman. At her hideout, Ivy convinces Freeze that Batman was responsible for her attempt at Nora's life and he then resolves to make humanity suffer for revenge, with Ivy plotting to repopulate Earth using her mutant plants afterward. Freeze and Bane commandeer Gotham Observatory and convert the new telescope into a giant freeze ray, while Ivy uses the Bat-Signal to contact Robin. Robin attempts to go after Ivy alone, but Batman convinces him not to fall for Ivy's seduction. Barbara discovers the Batcave, where an artificial intelligence version of Alfred reveals he has made a suit for Barbara. Barbara dons the suit and becomes Batgirl, arriving at Ivy's lair in time to help Batman and Robin subdue her.

Freeze begins to freeze Gotham over whilst Batman, Robin, and Batgirl head to Gotham Observatory together to stop him. Batman defeats Freeze in combat, while Batgirl and Robin incapacitate Bane and thaw the city. Freeze accuses Batman of taking Nora's life, only to be shown a recording of Ivy admitting to the crime. Batman reveals that Nora survived and offers Freeze the chance to continue his research on MacGregor's syndrome in exchange for his cure. Freeze accepts and returns to Arkham, where he is imprisoned in the same cell as Ivy, upon whom he plans to take revenge. Alfred is cured and Bruce and Dick agree to let Barbara join them in fighting crime.

Cast
A molecular biologist who suffers an accident while trying to cryogenically preserve his terminally ill wife. As a result, he is forced to live in a sub-zero suit powered by diamonds. A billionaire businessman who fights crime as Batman, Gotham City's vigilante protector. The crime-fighting partner to Batman and legal ward to Bruce Wayne. He has begun to chafe against Batman's authority, which is amplified even further by Poison Ivy's influence. A botanist-turned-ecoterrorist as a result of being pushed into vials of chemicals, poisons, and toxins. She uses pheromone dust to make men fall for her and venom-laced lips to kill her victims with a kiss. The niece of Alfred Pennyworth who, after losing her parents, joins the superhero duo. The trusted butler for Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson. The police commissioner of Gotham City. He is close to Batman and informs him of numerous crimes. Bruce Wayne's girlfriend. She proposes to Bruce, but he does not respond, fearing for her safety.
 * Arnold Schwarzenegger as Dr. Victor Fries / Mr. Freeze:
 * George Clooney as Bruce Wayne / Batman:
 * Eric Lloyd as Young Bruce Wayne.
 * Chris O'Donnell as Dick Grayson / Robin:
 * Uma Thurman as Dr. Pamela Isley / Poison Ivy:
 * Alicia Silverstone as Barbara Wilson / Batgirl:
 * Michael Gough as Alfred Pennyworth:
 * Jon Simmons as Young Alfred Pennyworth.
 * Pat Hingle as Commissioner James Gordon:
 * Elle Macpherson as Julie Madison:

John Glover portrays Dr. Jason Woodrue, a deranged scientist with a desire for world domination via his Venom-powered "supersoldiers", of whom Bane, portrayed by Robert Swenson, becomes Poison Ivy's bodyguard and muscle. Michael Reid MacKay plays Bane before he is injected with Venom. Vivica A. Fox and Vendela Kirsebom play Mr. Freeze's assistant and cryogenically frozen wife, respectively. Elizabeth Sanders appears as Gossip Gerty, Gotham's top gossip columnist. Michael Paul Chan and Kimberly Scott both appear as telescope scientists. Coolio makes a cameo appearance, later stating that he was to reprise his role as Scarecrow in the ultimately cancelled sequel Batman Unchained.

Development
With the box office success of Batman Forever in June 1995, Warner Bros. immediately commissioned a sequel. They hired director Joel Schumacher and writer Akiva Goldsman to reprise their duties the following August and decided it was best to fast-track production for a June 1997 target release date, which is a break from the usual three-year gap between films. Schumacher wanted to pay homage to the work of the classic Batman comic books of his childhood. The storyline of Batman & Robin was conceived by Schumacher and Goldsman during pre-production on A Time to Kill. Portions of Mr. Freeze's backstory were based on the Batman: The Animated Series episode "Heart of Ice", written by Paul Dini. Goldsman, however, expressed concerns about the script during pre-production discussions with Schumacher. Schumacher stated that he was given the mandate by the studio to make the film more toyetic, even when compared to Batman Forever. The studio reportedly included toy companies in pre-production meetings; Mr. Freeze's blaster was specifically designed by toy manufacturers. Batman creator Bob Kane acted as an official consultant and was heavily involved in the production; he gave input on the film's script as well as on set.

While Chris O'Donnell reprises the role of Robin, Val Kilmer decided not to reprise the role of Batman from Batman Forever. Schumacher admitted that he had difficulty working with Kilmer on Forever. "He sort of quit," Schumacher said, "and we sort of fired him." Schumacher would later go on to say that Kilmer wanted to work on The Island of Dr. Moreau because Marlon Brando was cast in the film. Kilmer said that he was not aware of the fast-track production and was already committed to The Saint and Heat. David Duchovny stated he was considered for the role of Batman, joking that the reason why he was not chosen was because his nose was too big. George Clooney's casting as Batman was suggested by Warner Bros. executive Bob Daly. Schumacher originally had interest in casting William Baldwin in Kilmer's place, but chose Clooney after seeing his performance in From Dusk till Dawn. Schumacher felt that Clooney "brought a real humanity and humor to the piece, an accessibility that I don't think anybody else has been able to offer" and that he strongly resembled the character from the comic books. Schumacher also believed that Clooney could provide a lighter interpretation of the character than Kilmer and Michael Keaton. As a consequence of time constraints, the costume department repurposed the costume worn by Val Kilmer in Batman Forever for the third act of the film.

Ed Harris, Anthony Hopkins, and Patrick Stewart were considered for the role of Mr. Freeze, before the script was rewritten to accommodate Arnold Schwarzenegger's casting. Schumacher later denied that Stewart was ever considered. Schumacher decided that Mr. Freeze had to be "big and strong like he was chiseled out of a glacier". Mr. Freeze's armor was made by armorer Terry English, who estimated that the costume cost some $1.5 million to develop and make. To prepare for the role, Schwarzenegger wore a bald cap after declining to shave his head, wore a blue LED in his mouth, and had acrylic paint applied. The blue LEDs had to be wrapped in balloons after battery acid started leaking into Schwarzenegger's mouth. His prosthetic makeup and wardrobe took six hours to apply each day. The extensive time spent on Schwarzenegger's costume significantly restricted his shooting time as his contract was limited to 12 work hours a day. Schwarzenegger was paid a $25 million salary for the role. Beside Uma Thurman, Demi Moore, Sharon Stone, and Julia Roberts were considered for the role of Poison Ivy. Schumacher first became aware of Thurman through an earlier role as Venus in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. Thurman ultimately took the role of Poison Ivy because she liked the femme fatale characterization of the character. Alicia Silverstone was the only choice for the role of Batgirl. Prior to filming, she was reported to have lost at least 10 pounds for the role. Silverstone would later recount the body shaming she encountered during promotion of the film.

Filming
Principal photography was set to commence in August 1996, but did not begin until September 12, 1996. Batman & Robin finished filming in late January 1997, two weeks ahead of the shooting schedule. The shooting schedule allowed Clooney to simultaneously work on the television series ER without any scheduling conflicts. O'Donnell said that despite spending a lot of time with Schwarzenegger off of set and during promotion for the film, they did not work a single day together during production; this was achieved by using stand-ins when one of the actors was unavailable. Stunt coordinator Alex Field taught Silverstone to ride a motorcycle so that she could play Batgirl. Filming was temporarily halted in the fall of 1996 when Mr. Freeze's blaster prop disappeared from the film set; a police investigation was subsequently opened, culminating in the raid of a film memorabilia collector's home. High public interest in the film caused security issues on set; according to producer Peter MacGregor-Scott, paparazzi regularly disrupted the set, and photographs of Schwarzenegger taken during filming sold for $10,000.

When comparing work on Batman Forever, O'Donnell explained that "things felt much sharper and more focused, and it just felt like everything got a little softer on the second one. The first one, I felt like I was making a movie. The second one, I felt like I was making a toy commercial." He also complained about the Robin costume, saying that it was more involved and less comfortable than the one that he wore in Batman Forever, with a glued-on mask that caused sweat to pool on his face. According to John Glover, who played Dr. Jason Woodrue, "Joel [Schumacher] would sit on a crane with a megaphone and yell before each take, 'Remember, everyone, this is a cartoon'. It was hard to act because that kind of set the tone for the film." Several different stunt doubles were used for the roles of Batman, Robin, and Mr. Freeze, some specialized in ice skating, aerial gymnastics, and driving.

The film was mostly shot at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California. The grounds of Greystone Mansion were used for scenes taking place at Wayne Manor. Part of the film was also shot in Vienna, Austria, Montreal, Quebec, and Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Production designer Barbara Ling stated that her influences for the design of Gotham City came from "neon-ridden Tokyo and the Machine Age. Gotham is like a World's fair on ecstasy." Although miniatures and computer-generated elements were used for some scenes, large full-scale sets were constructed, including Gotham City covered in ice. For scenes featuring people frozen by Mr. Freeze's ice-ray, life-sized mannequins covered in fake ice were created. Several different materials were tested for the faux ice before settling on a combination of fiber resin. According to Ling, the ice effects alone took half a year to create. Rhythm and Hues and Pacific Data Images created the visual effects sequences, with John Dykstra and Andrew Adamson credited as the visual effects supervisors. Batman & Robin featured 450 individual visual effects shots, 150 more than Batman Forever. Motion capture was used to animate digital stunt doubles; for a scene featuring skysurfing, the department recorded the motion of a skyboarder in a wind tunnel at a military base in North Carolina.

Music
Elliot Goldenthal returned to score Batman & Robin after collaborating with Schumacher on Batman Forever. The soundtrack features a variety of genres by various bands and performers, showcasing alternative rock on the lead single "The End Is the Beginning Is the End" by The Smashing Pumpkins, and with the songs "Lazy Eye" by Goo Goo Dolls and R.E.M.'s "Revolution". R&B singer R. Kelly wrote "Gotham City" for the soundtrack, which was featured in the end credits and was chosen as one of the singles, reaching the top 10 in the United States and the United Kingdom. Eric Benét and Meshell Ndegeocello also contributed R&B songs. Also included was the single, "Look into My Eyes" by the hip hop group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, which reached the top 5. Other songs featured included electronic dance elements, including those by Moloko and Arkarna. The soundtrack was released on May 27, 1997, two weeks and three days ahead of the film's premiere in the United States. The orchestral score for the film was never commercially released.

Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly gave the soundtrack a "C" and called it "as incoherent as the Batman films themselves". Retrospectively, Nicole Drum of ComicBook.com described the soundtrack as a "colorful sampling of popular music at the time that feels messy, complicated, and comforting all at the same time". Filmtracks.com deemed the orchestral score an improvement over that of its predecessor Batman Forever, noting that, while borrowing several themes from the previous film, Goldenthal successfully "expands upon the statements of his title theme and action material so that they are fleshed out into more accessibly enjoyable music". Nevertheless, the website compared Goldenthal's work negatively to Danny Elfman's scores for Batman and Batman Returns. In an interview with IGN, composer Hans Zimmer, who contributed the score to Christopher Nolan's trilogy of Batman films, called Goldenthal's theme "the most glorious statement of Batman I'd ever heard". "The End Is the Beginning Is the End" by The Smashing Pumpkins won a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance at the 40th Annual Grammy Awards.

Release
Batman & Robin had its premiere on June 12, 1997, in Westwood, Los Angeles. The film marked the United Kingdom's then-"biggest and most expensive" movie premiere. The event was held at Battersea Power Station in London, with the building decorated to look like Gotham City and Wayne Manor. Expected to be among the tent poles of the summer movie season, the film opened in the United States on June 20, 1997, in 2,934 theaters, where it remained for an average of approximately 6.2 weeks. The film was released on DVD four months later on October 22, 1997. A special edition DVD was released in 2005 that included a documentary series about the production of the film series, Shadows of the Bat: The Cinematic Saga of the Dark Knight.

Marketing
The theatrical trailer for Batman & Robin debuted on the February 19, 1997, episode of Entertainment Tonight. Warner Bros. spent $125 million to market and promote the film, in addition to its $160 million production budget. Several Six Flags amusement parks introduced new roller coasters themed to the film. Batman & Robin: The Chiller opened at Six Flags Great Adventure in 1997, and a Mr. Freeze-themed roller coaster opened at both Six Flags Over Texas and Six Flags St. Louis in 1998. Taco Bell launched a $20 million promotional campaign for the film, selling Batman-themed cups, collector toys, and figurines. Themed trading cards produced by Fleer and SkyBox International were also sold, some signed by Clooney, Schwarzenegger, Thurman, Silverstone, O'Donnell, and Schumacher. An eponymous tie-in video game developed by Probe Entertainment was released for the PlayStation on August 5, 1998, to mixed reviews.

Box office
Batman & Robin was released on June 20, 1997 in the United States and Canada, grossing $42,872,605 in its opening weekend. That made it the third-highest opening weekend gross of 1997, behind Men in Black and The Lost World: Jurassic Park, and the seventh-highest non-holiday opening weekend of all time as of its release. The film would hold the record for having the highest opening weekend for an Arnold Schwarzenegger film until 2003 when it was surpassed by Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. Its opening weekend gross also remained George Clooney's highest until the release of Gravity in 2013. It reached the number one spot at the box office during its opening weekend, beating out My Best Friend's Wedding and Speed 2: Cruise Control. This would become Schwarzenegger's most recent film to achieve this feat for five years until Collateral Damage opened in 2002. Batman & Robin declined by 63% in its second week, which was credited to poor word of mouth and early competition with Face/Off, Hercules, and Men in Black. In the UK, it had the second-highest opening ever behind Independence Day with a gross of £4,940,566 ($8.2 million) for the weekend.

The film went on to gross $107.3 million in the United States and Canada and $130.9 million internationally, coming to a worldwide total of $238.2 million. It grossed substantially less than the previous film in the series, and finished outside of the top ten films of 1997. With a production budget of $125–160 million,  the film was considered to have under-performed at the box-office, although it was estimated to have at least broken even. Schumacher criticized "prejudicial prerelease buzz" online and false news reports as a cause for the film's poor commercial performance. Warner Bros. acknowledged Batman & Robin's shortcomings in the domestic market but pointed out its success in other markets. In his book Batman: the Complete History, Les Daniels analyzed the film's relatively strong performance outside of the United States, speculating that "nuances of languages or personality were likely to be lost in translation and admittedly eye-popping spectacle seemed sufficient."

Critical response
Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.

Jay Boyar of Orlando Sentinel believed Batman & Robin to be the least distinctive chapter in the series, calling it a "bat-smorgasbord of action, camp, pathos, spectacle and whatever" and blaming its blandness on the studio's increased involvement in its production. In his "thumbs down" review, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times found the film to be "wonderful to look at" although it had "nothing authentic at its core", criticizing its toyetic approach. Writing for the Chicago Tribune, Gene Siskel, who gave positive reviews to the previous Batman films, also gave Batman & Robin a "thumbs down" rating, calling it a "sniggering, exhausting, overproduced extravaganza". While commending the film's visuals, Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times called the film "indifferently acted" and "far too slick for even a toehold's worth of connection", believing that it "killed" the Batman film series. Desson Howe of The Washington Post disapproved of Schumacher's direction and Akiva Goldsman's script, calling it an "emptily flashy, meandering fashion show of a summer flick" and also believing that it should mark the end to the series. Andrew Johnston, writing in Time Out, remarked, "It's hard to tell who B&R is intended for. Anyone who knows the character from the comics or the superb animated show on Fox will be alienated. And though Schumacher treats the Adam West version as gospel, that show's campy humor is completely incompatible with these production values." James Berardinelli questioned the "random amount of rubber nipples and camera angle close-ups of the Dynamic Duo's butts and Bat-crotches".

In his review for the San Francisco Chronicle, Mick LaSalle said that the film failed to "convincingly inhabit the grandeur of its art direction and special effects", criticizing George Clooney as "the big zero of the film", who "should go down in history as the George Lazenby of the series". While deeming Clooney "the most ideal Batman to date" in a physical sense, Todd McCarthy of Variety found the character uninteresting and Clooney "unable to compensate onscreen for the lack of dimension on paper". Conversely, he described Thurman and Schwarzenegger's performances as the villainous duo as the "highlights of the film", pointing out Thurman's "comic wit conspicuously lacking elsewhere in the picture". Writing for Star Tribune, Jeff Strickler criticized its "almost embarrassingly mundane" dialogue and called Schwarzenegger "wasted" in the role of Mr. Freeze and his character "drably written". Janet Maslin of The New York Times gave a more positive review and praised Thurman's performance as "perfect", comparing it to Mae West's "[mix of] true femininity with the winking womanliness of a drag queen", but criticizing Silverstone and Clooney's performances. Steven Rea of The Philadelphia Inquirer found Thurman at times "amusing" and similarly described her performance as "Mae West with moss".

Legacy
Batman & Robin is considered to be one of the worst superhero films and among the worst films ever made. In 2009, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige said that Batman & Robin may be the most important comic book film ever made in that it was "so bad that it demanded a new way of doing things" and created the opportunity to make X-Men (2000) and Spider-Man (2002) in a way that respected the source material to a higher degree. In an interview with Vice 20 years after its release, director Joel Schumacher apologized for the film while taking full responsibility for its poor reputation, stating, "I want to apologize to every fan that was disappointed because I think I owe them that. A lot of it was my choice. No one is responsible for my mistakes but me." He added, "I was scum. It was like I had murdered a baby", recounting his initial reaction to the overwhelmingly negative public response. Screenwriter Akiva Goldsman also apologized, saying, "we didn't mean for it to be bad. I swear, nobody was like, 'This will be bad.'" and elaborating that the film was initially intended to be darker in tone.

Retrospectively, George Clooney has spoken critically of and apologized for his involvement in the film, saying in 2005, "I think we might have killed the franchise", and calling it "a waste of money". In 2015, while promoting Disney's Tomorrowland at New York Comic Con, Clooney said that he had met former Batman actor Adam West and apologized to him for the film. Furthermore, when asked during a 2015 interview on The Graham Norton Show about whether he had ever had to apologize for Batman & Robin, Clooney responded, "I always apologize for Batman & Robin". In late 2020, he told Howard Stern that it was "physically" painful to watch his work in the role: "The truth of the matter is, I was bad in it. Akiva Goldsman — who's won the Oscar for writing since then — he wrote the screenplay. And it's a terrible screenplay, he'll tell you. I'm terrible in it, I'll tell you. Joel Schumacher, who just passed away, directed it, and he'd say, 'Yeah, it didn't work.' We all whiffed on that one." Conversely, in an interview with Empire in 2012, Arnold Schwarzenegger stated that, despite its poor reception, he did not regret making the film, commenting about his role as Mr. Freeze and his involvement with the studio, "I felt that the character was interesting and two movies before that one Joel Schumacher was at his height. So the decision-making process was not off. At the same time I was doing Eraser over there and Warner Bros. begged me to do the movie." Similarly, 25 years after its theatrical release, Uma Thurman described her work on the film as a "fantastic experience".

The nipples seen on the character's costumes, first appearing in Batman Forever and accentuated for Batman & Robin at Schumacher's request, remain among the most defining aspects of the film. Recounting his involvement with the film, costume designer Jose Fernandez stated that he was opposed to "sharpening" the nipples, calling them "ridiculous". In 2022, Tim Burton commented about Warner Bros.' decision to replace him as director with Schumacher after Batman Returns, "You complain about me, I'm too weird, I'm too dark, and then you put nipples on the costume? Go fuck yourself." George Clooney's screen-worn suit was put up for auction by Heritage Auctions in 2022 with a starting bid of $40,000. A previous owner had estimated it to be worth $100,000 in 2006 when Clooney was at the height of his career. The suit would go on to sell for $57,500.

In the 2009 film Watchmen, director Zack Snyder and comic book artist Dave Gibbons chose to parody the molded muscle and nipple Batsuit design from Batman & Robin for the Ozymandias costume. The film is referenced in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Legends of the Dark Mite!", when Bat-Mite briefly uses his powers to transform Batman's costume into the same suit shown in Schumacher's Batman films, before declaring it "too icky". 26 years after the release of Batman & Robin, Clooney made a cameo appearance as Bruce Wayne in the 2023 DC Studios superhero film The Flash. Clooney was asked to reprise the role when the film was already in post-production, agreeing to join after seeing a cut of the film; filming took place in secret six months before release and lasted half a day.

Canceled sequel
During the filming of Batman & Robin, Warner Bros. was impressed with the dailies, prompting them to immediately hire Joel Schumacher to return as director for a fifth film. However, writer Akiva Goldsman turned down an offer to write the script. In late 1996, Warner Bros. and Schumacher hired Mark Protosevich to write the script for a fifth Batman film. A projected mid-1999 release date was announced. Los Angeles Times described their film as "continuing in the same vein with multiple villains and more silliness". Titled Batman Unchained, Protosevich's script featured the Scarecrow as the main villain, who, through the use of his fear toxin, resurrects the Joker as a hallucination in Batman's mind. Harley Quinn would appear as a supporting character, written as the Joker's daughter. Schumacher approached Nicolas Cage to portray the Scarecrow while he was filming Face/Off and Courtney Love was considered for Harley Quinn.

Clooney, O'Donnell, Silverstone, and Coolio were set to reprise the roles of Batman, Robin, Batgirl, and Scarecrow. It was hoped that the villains from previous films would make cameo appearances in the hallucinations caused by Scarecrow, culminating with Jack Nicholson reprising the role of the Joker. Following the poor critical and financial reception of Batman & Robin, Clooney vowed never to reprise his role, and Warner Bros. cancelled any future Batman films, including Schumacher's planned Batman Unchained.

In a 2012 interview with Access Hollywood, Chris O'Donnell claimed that a spin-off centered around the character of Robin was planned, but eventually scrapped due to Batman & Robin's poor commercial performance.

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title: Batman & Robin (film)