Batman is a character who has appeared regularly in TV and movies throughout the decades. The character has always been a compelling hero, and his backstory, origin, and skills all influence the popularity of Gotham's dark and cunning protector. His most critically acclaimed trilogy was led by director Christopher Nolan and began with the aptly-named 2005's Batman Begins.

The movie modernized Batman, helped to evolve him into a deadly serious character, and still injected a sense of home and strength to the hero. The trilogy became a massive success and proved to be a defining element of his character. Outside of the Batman mythos, it also helped to inspire countless other movies by providing the perfect template for a superhero origin movie.

Batman Begins Introduced Batman Perfectly

Instead of leaping directly into Bruce Wayne's adventures as Batman, Batman Begins offered a slow and gradual evolution for its titular hero. He is not introduced as a perfectly experienced character, but he is instead shown to be developing his skills and strengths. Bruce's training is shown on-screen, as he wrestles with mental and physical preparation to become Gotham's greatest hero. He discovers the Batcave, learns from Ra's al Ghul, and showcases exactly how he gained all of his equipment.

By revealing every detail of Batman's growth, Batman Begins makes him feel real. Superman can appear with his powers already in existence. Thor was born with his strength. Wonder Woman has always been an Amazon. Batman, however, was just a wealthy man who had to train to become an extraordinary warrior. Showcasing how he could gain that strength helped to make him feel like a real person, rather than an otherworldly hero. Building a gritty universe around him also fits his dour attitude and his dreary often monochrome uniform. The setting and personality of Gotham City heavily contributed to making Batman Begins the perfect reboot for the character. Rather than relying on humor alone or a campy sidekick, a cruel world can offer more insight into Batman's tragic history. That only makes him a better character.

Batman Begins Provided a Necessary Formula

• Batman Begins' cunning portrayal of Bruce Wayne's evolution helped to provide a formula that other studios could follow.

Making Batman a more grounded hero was a decision that worked for that specific character, but it also provided a formula for future characters, movies, and even universes. Instead of origins involving humorous backstories, wacky adventures, and handwaved powers and skills, Nolan chose to bring Bruce Wayne through a long and painful journey before he could become Batman. Previous superhero movies, including the Spider-Man trilogy, had flirted with similar seriousness but regularly abandoned it in pursuit of humor — or else failed to make the necessary impact. Batman Begins offered insight into the proper way to treat a serious hero.

The movie features a montage showcasing just how Bruce Wayne trained to become Batman. It shows his struggles, his suffering, and his failures. It was the first Batman live-action origin to spend a painstaking amount of time into revealing his slow development and growth. It also borrows from comics, bringing several scenes from Batman: Year One to the forefront. The adaptation helped to prove that comic book movies could be faithful to the works that they adapt, but some changes can help to make it more realistic to better suit a live-action medium.

While it does shy away from the campy nature of Batman & Robin (1997), the movie does feature some humor. It helps to ensure that Batman Begins is never overwhelmingly depressing. A few sly comments lent well to making a realistic Gotham less painful and more entertaining. The light side of Batman's heart is also necessary, providing depth to the character and a less generic presentation of a long-beloved hero. Michael Caine's Alfred Pennyworth serves as regular comic relief and even Christian Bale's Batman cracks the occasional joke with his allies.

Multiple Superhero Movies Have Borrowed From Batman Begins

• Iron Man, Man of Steel, and Captain America all borrowed from Batman Begins.

Batman Begins offered a formula to the entire superhero movie industry, and Hollywood was quick to respond to its success. In 2008 — just three years after Batman Begins exploded at the box office — Marvel Studios released Iron Man, which borrowed many elements from Nolan's introductory Batman movie. Like Bruce, Tony Stark is presented as a man with a dual role as a billionaire philanthropist and as a superhero. He spends much of the movie struggling to use his inherent skills to create a worthy identity for himself, and he requires multiple montages and a tragic backstory to get there. Iron Man also included many comedic scenes, but it grounds itself in a realistic world with a strong supporting cast and a cunning lead character. It proved to be a massive success for Marvel Studios, having earned $585.8 million, and it served as the launching point for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Iron Man was not alone in borrowing from Bale's first outing as Batman. While Marvel learned from Nolan, DC also took notes about proper depictions of heroes. Man of Steel is another example of a movie that was directly inspired by Nolan's world. Just as Nolan grounded Batman in a gritty and realistic environment, Zack Snyder sought to place Superman in a similarly dark reality. Superman has always been one of the more lighthearted DC heroes, but the grim fare features a similar structure and eerily alike themes. It also proved to be successful with a $668 million box office take. Like Iron Man, it spawned a universe of its own with a Batman that borrowed from elements of Nolan's Batman movies.

Marvel's Captain America: The First Avenger shared similarities as well, as the depiction of Captain America's journey involved a slow crawl from an archetypal underdog to a massively skilled hero. Like Bruce Wayne, Rogers needed to ready his mind and his body, and it was his courage and drive that defined him more than wealth or strength. The First Avenger also relied on an expansive cast, regular use of montages, and a gritty world filled with horror, suffering, and hope. It also includes heavy helpings of humor, which helped to define the MCU's style. It did not borrow quite as much as Iron Man did, but it proved that the MCU used Batman Begins as a template. Many other movies did as well, including 2022's The Batman and 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy.

Batman Begins helped to prove the potential of superhero movies. In the wake of Fox's X-Men and Sam Raimi Spider-Man movies in the early 2000s, it injected an air of seriousness and gritty tension that proved just how effective superhero movies can be. In the aftermath, there have been countless superhero movies that have borrowed some elements of Batman Begins' formula. It incited the superhero movie craze, which has dominated Hollywood since Christian Bale's Batman first wore his suit on-screen.