Every Batman Movie Villain Who Didn’t Die

For a hero who doesn’t kill, a lot of Batman‘s movie antagonists end up dying, but here’s all the villains who made it through the credits alive. At least in most incarnations, Bruce Wayne and his crime-fighting alter ego have a strict rule against murdering his foes, no matter how despicably awful they might be. As tempting as it might be to rid the world of people like The Joker, Batman feels that doing so would be unjust, instead handing over the bad guys to the legal system. Sure, they always escape Arkham Asylum, but the system has flaws.

That’s not to say that Batman villains never die in the comics – although it rarely sticks, since comic book universes generally treat death like a minor inconvenience at worst – but it’s not usually due to the Dark Knight straight up killing them. That’s why whenever a version of Batman does indulge in murder, even in self-defense, fans of the iconic hero tend to cry foul, arguing such actions are out of character.

But enough about Gotham City’s villain graveyard. Instead, presented below, are all the main villains to escape Batman movies alive, spanning from the Adam West era all the way through Batfleck in the DCEU. First though, a note, Catwoman from The Dark Knight Rises isn’t being counted, as she barely qualifies as a villain as portrayed in that film, doing nothing too villainous and turning to Batman’s side without much effort. Other movie instances of Catwoman do count, however.

Joker, Riddler, Penguin & Catwoman – Batman (1966)

This entry is basically just a case of being through, as the 1966 movie spinoff of Adam West’s family friendly classic TV series was about as likely to kill off a villain as movie studios have been to release blockbusters to theaters during the pandemic. Thus, all four main baddies, The Joker (Cesar Romero), The Riddler (Frank Gorshin), The Penguin (Burgess Meredith), and Catwoman (Lee Meriwether), survive to be punished for their various crimes.

Catwoman – Batman Returns (1992)

While Danny DeVito’s Oswald Cobblepot, aka The Penguin, dies and is laid to rest by his family of actual penguins in an oddly touching scene, Catwoman (Michelle Pfieffer) survives by way of her nine lives. That’s despite her appearing to die twice during Batman Returns, the first when Max Schreck pushes her out a window, and the second when she plants quite the “electrifying” kiss of death on her old boss near the end. It’s a pity Pfeiffer, many fans’ favorite Selina Kyle, never got to reprise the role. With Michael Keaton’s Batman coming back soon though, who knows what the future holds.

The Riddler – Batman Forever (1995)

At first glance, director Joel Schumacher’s flashy, colorful, campy take on Batman might not seem like the type of film to kill a bad guy off, but Batman Forever does just that with Tommy Lee Jones’ Two-Face, who falls to his death after being confused by a handful of tossed coins. Jim Carrey’s exceedingly theatrical, bombastic take on Edward Nygma, aka The Riddler, is a different story though, surviving his encounter with Batman. Well, technically. Thanks to Nygma’s own backfiring technology, he’s been left insane, believing himself to be Batman.

Mr. Freeze – Batman & Robin (1997)

Scumacher’s second Batman outing, Batman & Robin, is an infamously bad movie, although some believe it to be of the “so bad it’s good” variety. It’s also a rare case of all main villains of a Batman movie surviving. First is Mr. Freeze, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in a role that netted him one hell of a payday. Of course, Freeze is presented as a tragic villain, doing what he does only with the end goal of saving his frozen wife. In that respect, it’s perfectly appropriate he be granted a second chance at life.

Poison Ivy & Bane – Batman & Robin (1997)

Much less deserving of continued life is Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman), the definitely far more evil villain to be found in Batman & Robin. Bane, who’s only really being mentioned here due to the fame of the character, as he’s nothing more than a henchman in this film, also appears to survive, although it’s left a tad ambiguous what happens after Batman and Robin defeat him. It really is sad what was done to Bane, but even sadder, that’s hardly Batman & Robin‘s worst cinematic sin.

The Scarecrow – Batman Begins (2005)

Jonathan Crane, aka Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy) is definitely one of the scariest Batman movie villains to date, and surprisingly, he makes it through Batman Begins alive. Not only that, Scarecrow returns for cameos in both The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, the latter time serving as a judge in a kangaroo court setup by Bane that almost puts Jim Gordon to death. The other main villain of the film, Ra’s Al Ghul (Liam Neeson), ends up dead after Batman makes the odd calculation that not saving him from death isn’t really killing him.

The Joker – The Dark Knight (2008)

While some might assume that Joker’s survival in The Dark Knight was due to the untimely real-life death of actor Heath Ledger, that’s actually not the case, as at one point Joker was in the plans for a third film. So either way, Joker was meant to survive The Dark Knight, left hanging around in the final cut. Two-Face (Aaron Eckhart) wasn’t so lucky, being killed by Batman to protect Jim Gordon’s son, as Dent blames Gordon for Rachel Dawes’ death.

Lex Luthor – Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

Batman V Superman as a whole proved to be a divisive film, especially between fans and critics. One aspect that was widely ridiculed though was Jesse Eisenberg’s bizarre performance as Lex Luthor. Nevertheless, unlike his arch nemesis Superman, he survives the Zack Snyder effort. He does, at least, end up locked away in prison, where he’s threatened by Batman. By the post-credits scene of Justice League, however, he’s managed to escape somehow and recruited Deathstroke to form an evil alliance. It seems unlikely that plot will move forward anymore though, thanks to a change in the DCEU’s creative direction.