It's really pretty amazing... the journey Batman has taken on film. When Schumacher ran the series into the ground, Batman was considered the anthrax of superheroes for a while. Whenever anyone discussed a potential Batman movie again, you'd hear a lot of nipple and codpiece jokes. And rightfully so... Schumacher RUINED Batman and WB just went ahead and LET him.
But then they decided to give it another shot and probably some people were skeptical because even those who had seen Memento weren't totally sure what kind of Batman movie Christopher Nolan would give us. But once he started casting the roles and he gave some interviews on it, I think a lot of us were like, "Yeah. This is him. This is the right guy."
And Batman Begins proved that. While it might forever live in the shadow of The Dark Knight, I don't think we should downplay just how much of a milestone that film was, because it was the first Batman film EVER that truly explored Bruce Wayne and Batman as a character. Burton tried a little bit in Batman '89, but he clearly was more interested in the Joker and pandering to Nicholson's ego (and don't give me that crap about how he was "brilliantly decentralizing the hero").
Then of course came TDK and what an amazing film it was. Anyone who wasn't on board before that one certainly was afterward. And now TDKR is an amazing conclusion and possibly (at least to some of us) the best film in the series.
And now, here we are, in the golden age of comic book movies. And while I loved The Avengers, Captain America, X-Men: First Class and plenty of other films in the genre... there's really only one series that reigns supreme, and that's Batman. We can criticize DC and WB all we want for their missteps over the years, but we should also be happy that they let Nolan do his thing and create the greatest superhero trilogy of all time.
You'll be missed, Mr. Nolan. Can't wait to see what you do next.