For my money, director Tim Burton and star Michael Keaton’s second Caped Crusader collaboration Batman Returns (1992), written by recurring podcast guest Daniel Waters and Tfh Guru Sam Hamm, might very well be the best theatrical Batman flick ever. The Dark Knight has appeared in 15 theatrical feature films as of this writing, if you include his two Lego movie appearances. Released 30 years ago today, Returns was a definite hit, but received a slightly more muted box office reception than its 1989 smash predecessor.

When it was first unspooled, the moody, morbid and magnificent sequel grossed 162.8 million stateside (and 266.8 million worldwide), making it the third-biggest domestic blockbuster of 1992. Per The Numbers, that sum is equivalent to 359.8 million in 2022 dollars, a tastier tally than that brought in by the latest celluloid matchup between the Bat, the Cat, and the Penguin, the Robert Pattinson-starring three-hour crime epic The Batman.

The film received mixed-to-positive notices from critics,...