Fans have taken to social media on this, the 15th anniversary of Christopher Nolan's seminal Batman Begins, to celebrate the movie and the influence that the dark and gritty superhero origin story has had on the genre ever since. Following the critically mauled Batman and Robin from back in 1997, director Christopher Nolan decided to take things in a much more serious, grounded direction with the Caped Crusader. Debuting in 2005, Batman Begins harkens back to some of the more grounded interpretations of the character while maintaining just enough ridiculousness in order to remind audiences that this is still a comic book movie. With the movie having now reached its 15th birthday, fans are looking back fondly on Batman Begins, and are praising the movie's many accomplishments.

Many fans are simply in disbelief that Batman Begins is as old as 15, with one saying "I can't believe #BatmanBegins was released 15 years ago." They reminded us all that Katie Holmes is in the movie, and that, actually, she's pretty darn good "On this particular day, let me reiterate my appreciation for Katie Holmes and her portrayal of Rachel Dawes. The character definitely deserves more love." Katie Holmes was recast for the sequel, with the character instead being played by Maggie Gyllenhaal.

Not only was Batman Begins a huge success, but it spawned 2008's follow-up The Dark Knight, a comic book movie that is still held up as the perfect example of the sheer potential of the genre.

Along with the grittier take, Batman Begins also gave us the gift of Hollywood icon Michael Caine as Bruce Wayne's loyal butler, Alfred.

One user calls the movie "a bold, incredibly stunning first entry to one of the greatest trilogies ever. Nolan and Bale deliver the perfect Batman," whilst another fan continues to lay the praise on nice and thick calling Batman Begins "a dark, grimy, & atmospheric exploration of the Batman character & the perfect balance of theatricality/psychological realism," and "one of the greatest comic book origin films of all time."

Director Christopher Nolan has gone on carve a career as an expert blockbuster filmmaker, crafting intelligent, creatively complex movies that entertain the masses, and fans have been applauding his approach to the Batman mythos.

Batman Begins stars Christian Bale as The Dark Knight alongside Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Gary Oldman, Cillian Murphy, Tom Wilkinson, Rutger Hauer, Ken Watanabe, and Morgan Freeman. The movie is a reboot of the Batman series, telling the origin story of Bruce Wayne from the death of his parents to his journey to becoming Batman and his fight to stop Ra's al Ghul and the Scarecrow from plunging Gotham City into chaos. While only making a somewhat modest $371 million worldwide, the movie was liked by both critics and audiences alike and led to the $1 billion The Dark Knight, a movie that reshaped the comic book movie world as we know it.

On its 15th birthday, perhaps it is time we all sat down and revisited this exemplary comic book movie.