Depending on your age, you can cite several films as the catalyst that birthed modern superhero films. The 70s made us believe a man could fly with Superman- a film that Marvel Studios head honcho, Kevin Fiege, still lists as an influence. If you jump a little further down the timeline, the 90s gave us Blade, acting as the initial alley-oop for the MCU's current dominance. However, in the middle of those decades, the 80s created Bat-mania with Tim Burton's Batman. At the time of release, Batman was one of the most popular films on the planet. Several decades later, the caped crusader's popularity hasn't diminished, and that's due to the momentum Batman 89 created.
Although the film is absurdly campy compared to modern iterations of Batman, Tim Burton's vision of Gotham was a breath of fresh gothic air in 1989. And while I may not be the biggest fan of the film, I still shamelessly bump Prince's accompanying soundtrack. Plus, without Batman 1989, there'd be no Batman: The Animated Series, and that's a tragedy.
