With the release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, we're taking a minute to honor Batman Returns, when Bruce Wayne turned to the Swoosh for his crime-stopping footwear.

Who: Michael Keaton, a.k.a. Batman, a.k.a. Bruce Wayne

When: 1992

Where: Gotham, where else?

Why: These days, superhero movies are awfully serious. Even with Deadpool and Antman bringing some humor to the table, the superhero genre is now all about mass destruction, civil liberties, the weighty responsibility that comes with protecting people—all of which is delivered by bulked-up, brooding actors speaking two octaves below their natural register. But when Tim Burton was at the helm of the Batman franchise, there was a balance of dark crime fighting with some humor and seriously good one-liners ("Where does he get those wonderful toys?"). And, apparently, sneakers. For those who don't remember, Michael Keaton's caped crusader was rocking Air Jordans in 1992's Batman Returns.

The Air Jordan VI sneakers, which were designed by Tinker Hatfield and debuted in 1991, were worn by MJ en route to his first NBA title. That same year Batman Returns was filming, and the silhouette was given a custom overhaul to help Batman take down the Penguin. Nike did up the basketball shoes in a murdered-out colorway and added some Batman-level armor north of the tongue (naturally, they still featured the iconic Jumpman logo on the sole). The result was a pair ready for the streets of Gotham and totally impractical for a basketball court.





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Though Batman's version of the Air Jordan VI was never released to the public, over the years some of the shoes used in the film have surfaced, most recently in 2015, when a single right shoe sold on eBay for a staggering $8,100. It's hard to imagine that in our over-serious superhero times we can expect Affleck to be sporting some Nikes, but things were simpler back then, right?