Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1

Old heroes never die. They just get darker.

RELEASED 25 Sept 20121h 16m★ 7.7 TMDB

Batman has not been seen for ten years. A new breed of criminal ravages Gotham City, forcing 55-year-old Bruce Wayne back into the cape and cowl. But, does he still have what it takes to fight crime in a new era?

Why it matters in DC

An older Bruce Wayne returns to a Gotham that has lived without Batman for a decade. The first part establishes the question of whether his methods and symbol can still function in a changed city, with the second part continuing the consequences.

Watch these first

4 titles to watch before Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1 — 42h 52m in total.

Young JusticeOptional background37h 46m★ 8.4
Batman: Year OneOptional background1h 4m★ 7.2
Justice League: DoomOptional background1h 17m★ 7.4
The Dark Knight RisesOptional background2h 45m★ 7.8+2 before this

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Story prerequisites are curated. Likely prerequisites are inferred from sequel numbering or explicit synopsis references. Recommendations are earlier stories in the same continuity; background picks are separate adaptations. Series lists cover whole shows, not an episode-by-episode watch order.

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Where it fits in the DC universe

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1 is title 15 of 40 in our Animated Elseworlds viewing sequence. The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1 begins a two-part animated adaptation about an older Bruce Wayne returning to Gotham. Part 2 completes it and is the relevant next watch. This future Batman is not the later life of the Dark Knight trilogy's Bruce, despite the overlapping wording in their titles.

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