Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy is set to leave Netflix in the US on May 31 – so if you've never seen what are generally considered to be three of the greatest superhero movies of all time, now's the time to rectify that mistake.
Nolan's trilogy began in 2005 with Batman Begins, the first film to feature Christian Bale in the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne. Although box office expectations were comparatively low for the film (coming as it did after 1997's critically reviled Batman & Robin), the film was a commercial success and proved that audiences were ready for a new and more mature take on the Caped Crusader.
Sequel The Dark Knight followed in 2008 and introduced Heath Ledger's terrifying Joker to the world. The film was the year's biggest box office smash, pulling in almost $1 billion on its theatrical release, and making almost twice as much as the year's other big superhero film: Iron Man, the first instalment of the MCU. Today it is still the highest-rated Batman film on Rotten Tomatoes, with an impressive 94% rating.
A shadow was cast over the film by the tragic passing of Ledger, who died of an accidental overdose of prescription medications in January 2008. He was posthumously honored with a Best Supporting Actor award in the 2009 Oscars.
Nolan followed up The Dark Knight with sci-fi thriller Inception in 2010, arguably the film that fully established him as the king of cerebral blockbusters, but both he and Bale would return to Batman one final time.
The Dark Knight Rises was released two years later, and saw Bats join forces with Anne Hathaway's Catwoman against the terrorist Bane (Tom Hardy) and Marion Cotillard's mysterious Miranda Tate.
While the film was not quite as well received as its predecessor, it still crossed the $1 billion box office mark with ease, beaten only that year by James Bond movie Skyfall and the first instalment of The Hunger Games.
The Dark Knight trilogy set a new benchmark for superhero movies and propelled both Bale and Nolan to superstardom. If you're a Netflix subscriber and you've been meaning to watch or rewatch them, then now is the time to get streaming...
Take a look over our movie release dates guide for an overview of all the other streaming and theatrical debuts happening this year, or check out our guides to the best Netflix movies and the best Netflix shows.
