Batman

Batman is a 1989 American superhero film directed by Tim Burton and written by Sam Hamm and Warren Skaaren. Based on the DC Comics character, it is the first installment of Warner Bros.' initial Batman film series. The film stars Jack Nicholson, Michael Keaton, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl, Pat Hingle, Billy Dee Williams, Michael Gough, and Jack Palance. The film's score was composed by Danny Elfman, and songs were written by Prince. The film takes place early in the war on crime of the title character (Keaton) and depicts his conflict with his archenemy the Joker (Nicholson).

After Burton was hired as director in 1986, Steve Englehart and Julie Hickson wrote film treatments before Hamm wrote the first screenplay. Batman was not greenlit until after the success of Burton's Beetlejuice (1988). The tone and themes of the film were partly influenced by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland's The Killing Joke and Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns. The film primarily adapts and then diverges from the "Red Hood" origin story for the Joker, having Batman inadvertently cause gangster Jack Napier to fall into Axis Chemical acid, triggering his transformation into the psychotic Joker. Additionally, Batman co-creator Bob Kane worked as a consultant for the film.