Today we are inundated with comic book #content, but there were simpler times. Forty years ago, the possibility of a Batman movie was a pipe dream; there was extreme doubt that anyone would care, let alone that a superhero blockbuster could spawn a franchise. But in 1989, Tim Burton did the thing: Batman became a mainstream success. And when it was time to do a sequel, Burton swerved, cashing his blank-check cred to deliver the truly odd and macabre Batman Returns.