Batman: Every Bruce Wayne Film Love Interest, Ranked From Worst To Best

In the upcoming film The Batman, one currently unanswered question is if the film will feature a love interest for Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne. The Dark Knight’s storied history is peppered with meaningful characters that have helped flesh out his more human elements, with his love interests often providing the audience a gateway to the humanity of a man broken by fear and regret.

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Considering the wide array of talent that has lent itself to Batman’s cinematic endeavors over the years, it’s no surprise that his love interests garner nearly as much attention as the Caped Crusader himself.

10 Julie Madison (Elle Macpherson) – Batman & Robin

In the much-derided 1997 film, Macpherson plays a comic book character named Julie Madison, a socialite who routinely acts as little more than “eye candy” next to Bruce Wayne. Despite this, Julie is surprisingly unique in that she never discovers Bruce’s secret identity, a rarity for the women in his life. Her more intimate, conversational scenes with Bruce are actually some of the better-written scenes in the film. However, in a movie more concerned with selling toys and having characters drawn as thinly as cardboard cutout caricatures, Macpherson is left to operate within this limited role.

9 Dr. Chase Meridian (Nicole Kidman) – Batman Forever

Dr. Chase Meridian is an original character written for the film, a psychologist specializing in multiple personality disorders. She becomes obsessed with Batman after witnessing him battle Two-Face and has the distinction of being the only woman to ever summon Batman via the Bat-Signal on film. She waffles between overtly trying to seduce Batman and providing Bruce assistance as his past traumas come to light during their burgeoning romantic relationship. The character could have been more impactful in a stronger film, but Kidman helps to provide some pathos to director Joel Schumacher’s more family-friendly story overall.

8 Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal) – The Dark Knight

Rachel was an original character introduced in Batman Begins as Bruce Wayne’s childhood friend. After the pair’s attraction grew into romance, it began to crumble under the weight of Bruce’s secrets, leading Rachel to fall into Harvey Dent’s arms instead. While Gyllenhaal gives her best in the underwritten role, Rachel is something of a missed opportunity in this powerful film.

Her on-screen role is predominantly as the center of the love triangle between Bruce and Harvey. Following her death at the hands of the Joker, her presence is felt more vividly, both as the catalyst of Harvey’s vengeance plot later in the film and Bruce’s eventual disassociation from Batman.

7 Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) – Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

While Diana Prince doesn’t quite qualify as a traditional love interest for Bruce Wayne, Gadot displays a refreshing amount of wit and empowerment not often seen by women in comic book films. After demonstrating her mental prowess over Bruce’s at a LexCorp event, he learns to see her as an equal and not a conquest, and she plays an important role in rediscovering his humanity by the end of the film. When she finally appears in all of her Amazonian glory in the final Doomsday battle, complete with Hans Zimmer’s heart-pounding theme, Diana’s fury prompts a disbelieving glance between her two male superhero brethren and a well-deserved audience cheer.

6 Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard) – The Dark Knight Rises

The most complex love interest seen in a Batman film, Miranda Tate is a Wayne Enterprises board member, philanthropist, and eventual lover of Bruce Wayne’s. When she finally reveals her true identity as the fan-favorite character Talia al Ghul, daughter of Ra’s al Ghul, the reveal is both expected and impactful. Throughout the film, she stealthily manipulates Bruce and infiltrates his family’s company to gain access to a nuclear bomb that can fulfill her father’s destiny of destroying Gotham. While the character’s bait-and-switch was not as positively received as the filmmakers would have liked, Cotillard does a brilliant job creating a subtly cunning character to go toe-to-toe with the world’s greatest detective.

5 Vicki Vale (Kim Basinger) – Batman

To this day, Basinger is fondly remembered by Batman fans everywhere thanks to her role in Tim Burton’s 1989 mega-hit. A photographer working at the Gotham Globe, Vicki Vale displays a charming curiosity as she becomes enamored with the enigmatic Bruce Wayne, eventually falling in love with him. When she finally meets Batman halfway through the film, her curiosity becomes mixed with a believable sense of fear in his psychotic presence.

Though her character succumbs to the damsel in distress trope at times, Basinger and her co-star Michael Keaton share the most chemistry of any couple in a Batman film, which is incredible considering Basinger was a last-minute replacement for Sean Young.

4 Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes) – Batman Begins

In an industry known for female characters who are more helpless than helpful, Holmes’ Rachel Dawes is allowed to shine as an assertive, anti-damsel in distress with a meaningful role. From the beginning of the film, the audience sees Rachel through Bruce’s eyes, his childhood best friend and emotional conscience on his journey to becoming Batman. Atypically, Rachel represents a hope for a real life and love for Bruce, giving the already layered film added subtext. She displays her heroism as an Assistant District Attorney going after the mob, and spends the third act protecting a young boy from the violent criminals under the influence of The Scarecrow’s fear toxin, even putting an end to Dr. Crane’s intimidation herself. 

3 Selina Kyle (Michelle Pfeiffer) – Batman Returns

Ask anybody who their favorite character is from 1992’s Batman Returns, and the answer is almost always Catwoman. Michelle Pfeiffer’s performance in the role, balancing both the fragile, bullied persona of Selina Kyle the secretary before embracing the powerful anti-hero Catwoman, is simply iconic. Overall, the relationship between Bruce and Selina works well as Tim Burton plays on his themes of duality hard in their interactions, leading to Pfeiffer and Michael Keaton stealing nearly every scene they are in together. The character will again be featured amongst a talented cast in The Batman.

2 Andrea Beaumont (Dana Delaney) – Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

Set in the Batman: The Animated Series universe, this acclaimed animated film introduces Andrea Beaumont as the former fiance of Bruce Wayne early in his life. After Andrea leaves him to help her father, Bruce moves on from their relationship and becomes Batman. Both characters ultimately develop similar quests for vengeance, with Andrea seeking revenge for her father’s death under her guise as the Phantasm. When Bruce discovers her secret identity, he pleads with her to give up her crusade but she refuses. In one of the most bittersweet endings to any Batman film, Andrea and Bruce both survive but are alone and apart, destined to remember what could have been.

1 Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway) – The Dark Knight Rises

Without a doubt, Selina Kyle is the most fleshed out and memorable love interest in Batman’s storied film history. As such, writer Jonathan Nolan was eager to include her in The Dark Knight Rises. Harkening back to the character’s roots, Selina is portrayed as an outlaw “cat burglar” who uses cunning deceit to survive. Throughout the film, she playfully engages in mental combat with both Bruce Wayne and Batman, one-upping him each time to get what she needs to stay on the run. Hathaway and Christian Bale’s chemistry is strong and believable as their relationship flourishes toward the end of the film. The pair are seen living a presumably happy life in the epilogue, leading the audience to believe they are both done running from their pasts.

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