Live-Action Batman Villains: Then and Now

 

After literally decades of rights disputes, one of the world’s best television shows, “Batman,” will finally be released on home video for the first time on Tuesday, November 11th.

“Batman” ran for 120 episodes from 1966 to 1968, and essentially brought the now-famous comic book character into the public consciousness for the first time. Sure, there were theatrical serials that preceded the show, but “Batman” was a superhero for a new generation. It was colorful, explosive, hilarious, tongue-in-cheek, and endlessly enjoyable. It fell into a pop culture matrix that included other indelible kid-friendly hits like “Star Trek,” “The Monkees,” “The Green Hornet,” and “The Avengers” (that’s the British spy series, and not the Marvel characters). It is perhaps one of the most important genre shows of all time.

 

Related: 9 Movie Characters Who’d Make Great Batman Villains

 

The best part of the show was, of course, the villains. The Batman Rogues Gallery is one of the most famous to come out of comic book lore, and even those with only a mild passing interest in all things Batman can identify the likes of The Penguin, Catwoman, The Riddler, The Joker, and maybe even Mr. Freeze. The show’s producers also wisely enlisted famous and/or versatile character actors to play these cartoonish, larger-than-life supercriminals, more-or-less directly instructing them to have as much fun as possible.

We at CraveOnline have decided that it’s time to play a little Origin of Species game with Batman’s Rogues Gallery. Many of the villains on the “Batman” TV series were eventually been adapted into live-action feature film counterparts. And we’re going to take a look at both (or all three) versions of the villains, and compare and contrast them.  

 

Slideshow: Live-Action Batman Villains – Then and Now


Witney Seibold is a contributor to the CraveOnline Film Channel, and co-host of The B-Movies Podcast. You can follow him on “Twitter” at @WitneySeibold, where he is slowly losing his mind.

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