As we strap on our utility belts to get ready for 'The Dark Knight,' we look back at the different cinematic incarnations of the Caped Crusader

By Kim Morgan
Special to MSN Movies

Holy remakes! How many ways can Hollywood portray Batman?

From the campy (Pow! Wham! Bang!) 1960s version starring Adam West to the perhaps even campier (pec-tacular rubber suit!) 1997 edition featuring rising heartthrob George Clooney, five past films brought the beloved Bob Kane DC comic to life -- five different visions, of varying quality, that have excited, disappointed and ignited arguments among Batman aficionados everywhere. In 2005, the delightfully dark "Batman Begins" introduced us to an all-new vision, courtesy of director Christopher Nolan ("Memento") and star Christian Bale ("American Psycho"). Now Nolan and Bale return to the depths of superhero drama with "The Dark Knight," which is already garnering raves and buzz. 

Why all the attention? Batman has long been the favorite superhero of comic-book/graphic-novel fandom, offering a wealth of rich, dark material for a filmmaker to mine. We are inspired/fascinated by traumatized rich boy Bruce Wayne and his alter-ego Batman because he doesn't possess any superpowers -- just a super brain, super gadgets, super car, super rage and a super, devoted butler. He's the brooding film noir-esque antihero whose hometown of Gotham City is so filled with corruption and evil that it has stained his soul. Batman is so deeply troubled and so deeply violent, you're not sure just which side of good or evil he's on.

This is just one reason we're especially excited for the return of Nolan and Bale's version. With "Begins," they proved to be the perfect pair to take Batman back to the dark side. Will this outing be as exciting as the first? What snippets we've seen look promising. But before we get to Bale's bat-ting average, we thought we'd fly down memory lane to take a look at the previous Bat-visions that graced or disgraced our big screens. (Warner Bros. Pictures)