After many delays, DC’s gritty new The Batman directed by Matt Reeves has finally been released in theaters globally. With it, have come new iterations of some of the most iconic rogues in the Batman gallery. So there's no time better than now to rank some of the best Batman villains that have graced our screens in the history of the caped crusader on screen.

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11. Scarecrow - Cillian Murphy (Batman Begins)

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Image via Warner Bros.

Peaky Blinderss Cillian Murphy got his breakout role through Scarecrow in Christopher Nolan’s debut Batman feature. While Liam Neeson’s screen presence and charisma made his Ra’as Al Ghul a compelling threat, there’s a sense that we haven’t quite seen a truly great League of Assassins commander in live-action yet. There's no such hesitation with Murphy, whose Scarecrow provides a nice balance between the calm Ra’as Al Ghul, with a take on Scarecrow that shows off the villain’s disdain towards his victims and his maniacal joy in hurting people. Scarecrow is written as a secondary villain in the movie, which makes Murphy’s scene-stealing all the more impressive.

10. The Riddler - Jim Carrey (Batman Forever)

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Image via Warner Bros.

Some might fault Jim Carrey’s performance for being a touch on the hammier side, but we’d argue that the zany world of Joel Schumacher’s Batman Forever beckons such a performance. It isn’t as if Carrey hasn’t demonstrated his ability to play more muted characters time and time again, so his cartoony depiction of Riddler falls in line with how the comics have treated the character more than a poor acting choice. Still, love it or hate it, Carrey does leave an impression, which is more than can be said about a lot of the other Batman villains.

9. Lex Luthor- Jessie Eisenberg (Batman v. Superman)

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Image via Warner Bros.

Jesse Eisenberg plays another version of his The Social Network tech mogul persona, this time with a character ripped from the cultural zeitgeist, the instantly recognizable, overly smug Silicon Valley tech bro. His Lex always seems on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and yet he almost always feels like the strongest person in the room, even amongst the hulking physiques and men of steel that he is poised against in the film. It’s a great reimagining of a character that could have been too boring in a film that already suffers from being dull but is just the right amount of macabre.

8. Penguin - Danny DeVito (Batman Returns)

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Danny DeVito’s performance as Oswald Cobblepot is frankly underrated given the nature of his repulsive and over-the-top crime kingpin. With a tragic backstory that informs his future path, DeVito's Penguin channels the essence of the wild comic book character in all its glory. Although Colin Farell's portrayal of the crime boss is not to be missed, he's still nowhere near the cartoonish Batman villain that DeVito popularized with the 1992 classic Burton film.

7. Bane - Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises)

Bane (Tom Hardy) and Batman (Christian Bale) fighting in The Dark Knight Rises
Image via Warner Bros. 

Heath Ledger’s Joker is a tall act for any actor to follow, especially with a character that is brooding and silent for a lot of his screen time. But Tom Hardy manages to make Nolan’s Bane reinvention feel clever. Bane in The Dark Knight Rises seems to be the exact opposite of Ledger’s Joker in every aspect. Concerned with order and discipline than a penchant for chaos and aided by his big physique, Bane is a brute that manages to break Batman physically and emotionally. Not to mention, he is able to bring down the entire law and order of Gotham crumbling down which makes his ties to Ra’as Al Ghul feel earned and calls back to the first film in a clever way.

6. Two-Face - Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight)

Two-Face, played by Aaron Eckhart, in the car in 'The Dark Knight'
Image via Warner Bros.

It’s a testament to how well-written The Dark Knight is that Aaron Eckhart’s Harvey Dent’s turn to the dark side feels as devastating as it does when the third act of the film rolls around. Like Bane and Talia Al-Ghul come as consequences from Bruce’s war with and ultimate defeat of Ra’as Al-Ghul in the first film, Dent’s turn as Two-Face is essentially the Joker’s victory lap, a win showing how the Clown Prince of Crime was able to deliver on his promise of anarchy and corruption, contorting the most honest man in the city into something unrecognizable. Eckhart can’t help but feel like a minor inconvenience compared to The Joker in the film, but his turn as the villain means so much more.

5. Joker - Jack Nicholson (Batman)

Jack Nicholson as Joker sitting in an exuberant chair
Image via Warner Bros.

The first Tim Burton Batman saw Jack Nicholson step up to play The Joker introducing a new generation to Gotham's favorite criminal. It's a performance that many consider a classic, and rightly so. Nicholson’s mad clown in the 1989 film was the stuff of nightmares, a serial killer going around town killing victims with absolute glee. It’s no surprise that he and not Michael Keaton was the talking point of the first film. Nicholson’s turn was so great that he forever made Joker an actor’s dream role and informed the works of future performers such as Jared Leto and Joaquin Phoenix.

4. The Riddler - Paul Dano (The Batman)

The Riddler, played by Paul Dano, in his mask and ripping off a piece of duct tape in 'The Batman'
Image via Warner Bros.

Matt Reeves’ film isn’t perfect, with a third act that could most definitely use some trimming. But his version of The Riddler is nothing short of brilliant. By making him a Zodiac-style killer of a digital age and casting a character actor like Paul Dano, Reeves is responsible for reimagining one of the corniest Batman villains into a bloodcurdling psychopath. Dano’s Riddler is so good that it is unlikely that comics and future iterations of the character won’t be influenced by the darker edge lent to him by Reeves and Dano.

3. Catwoman - Michelle Pfieffer (Batman Returns)

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Image via Warner Bros. Pictures

Zoe Kravitz’ Catwoman is an undeniable treat in the new Batman film, but it doesn’t come close to eclipsing the batshit craziness of Pfieffer’s take on Gotham’s favorite thief. Her transition scene from the mousy Selina Kyle to the sexy whip brandishing Catwoman is one for the history books. Everything about her performance is raised to an eleven but in Tim Burton’s campy dark Gotham, it all makes sense.

2. Joker - Joaquin Phoenix (Joker)

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While technically not a Batman franchise film, this one-off Elseworlds-type story was one of the most successful and smartest gambles DC ever made. Moreover, the film introduced a frighteningly real and endlessly grim Gotham that created a monster unlike any. While we never got to see Batman fight Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker, we did see a young Bruce Wayne and got a take on the early Wayne family that didn’t depict them as saintly. While the movie doesn’t pit him against anyone, it does end with him resolutely becoming the evil super villain we’re all familiar with.

1. Joker - Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)

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There’s certainly some sentimentality attached to Heath Ledger’s final performance but even with that out of mind, it’s hard to deny just how potent he is as the Joker. His scenes and line delivery alone have become infamous in pop culture and his work in The Dark Knight is so exemplary that it left a dent on future Batman and DC projects, with no villain coming close to his caliber for the longest time. His performance also elevated comic book movies to pictures that could be considered for accolades, and he became the first actor to win an Academy Award for a role in a superhero film. Heath Ledger's sinister Joker is easily one of the greatest villains on-screen period and there's no one on this list that comes close to his raw magnetism.