With Christopher Nolan bowing out of the Batman franchise after his trilogy concludes with The Dark Knight Rises, a lot of speculation surrounds whether or not Warner Bros. intend to continue what has been an extremely lucrative iteration of the character – not to mention one met with near unanimous praise from fans and critics.
Will the studio take the character in a different – perhaps more light-hearted – Justice League friendly direction? Or will they simply replace Nolan as director – perhaps retaining him as a key creative influence behind the scenes (a role he is performing on the upcoming Man of Steel reboot of Superman) – and re-cast many of the actors, but continue with the current continuity?
Here are ten reasons why resisting the urge to pound the reset button is the desirable option – for the fans and for everybody involved with the character.
1. We Know the Origin Already
You would have to have been living in a cave not to know the origin of Batman by now, having seen it done over and over in films, cartoons and – of course – comic books. Bruce Wayne loses his parents and decides to become a vigilante, fighting crime to protect the innocent. That’s it. It’s been done in different shades and with emphasis on different details, but it’s still the same story we all know.
The origin is the boring bit. That’s why Batman Begins isn’t quite as good as The Dark Knight: with the set-up out of the way we get to have much more fun as an audience, watching Batman be Batman – battling Joker and Two-Face. It’s also fair to say that Begins did the origin story better than anybody else has before on the screen, so why try to compete with that? What could somebody new do with it that would beat what Nolan has done – and very recently.
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25 Comments
Them right there are some terrible reasons! Undo the death of a major character? Force continuity for continuity’s sake? Arbitrary things like villains and origins that there is no reason to think a reboot would/would not include? Comic books ‘reboot’ their characters all the time, look at how many different versions of Batman there are, how many different universes he exists in. A reboot allows for more creativity, not less. Why limit yourself to making a sequel to somebody else’s film when you can make a wholly original product and tell the Batman story in whatever way you like. If somebody wanted to make a more surreal Burton-esq Batman, or a more grounded Arranofsky-esq Batmman, or one which encorporates the larger DC universe for a potential justice leage movie, all of these would likely fit horribly with the very particular Batman universe that Nolan has created. Continuity for continuity’s sake is a vice not a virtue, and it’s a mistake to associate the word ‘reboot’ with ‘remake’ (whether consciously or not); the poor connotations of the latter have zero relation to the former.
Christopher Nolans movies are the best, but a less realistic movie can be made with the same level of quality. It just cant be half assed, especially to get out of Nolans shadow. It probably fully couldnt but batman movies will always get made so its better to hope for a quality batman story that goes in directions that nolans movies could not then be negative. We could still get a riddler that we expected in a nolan movie, while the character existing in the same universe as a really nasty killer croc. we could get serious mob violence and gang wars with penguin and black mask. introduce hush even. the more unrealistic characters can be handled in way that can be take more seriously than other superhero movies. if a videogame can do it. then a movie should be able to do a better job at developing the characters. They know what the fans like thanks to nolan, so i would think they would handle a reboot with some class. anyone who says theyll go back to bat nipples and that garbage is an idiot. they could screw it up but no one is that stupid. it may not be as good as nolans movies, but there not going to make a cheezy crap fest. one would hope.
I agree. A full reboot is not necessary. We all know the origin story and it doesn’t need to be redone. That being said, however, I don’t think a new movie with a new look, feel, director and actor in the suit needs to taken as part of this series. We can just make a good Batman movie relying on the name alone. There’s no need for elaborate reboots and reimaginings when it comes to a comic book movie.
‘We’? Do you have lice?
Don’t reboot, just continue. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. People don’t want a Nolan clone per se, just someone in the same vein. will there be comparisons of some sort of another? Well, duh! But whether they’re good or bad depends entirely on the creative team.
What they don’t want is silly, comedic –oh, I forgot, it’s “fun,” right?
Is that so hard to understand?
Nolan left us with the perfect scenario, after the death of Harvey Dent, Batman ceases to fight crime in Gotham and hooks up with a group of other champions of Justice (Justice League) returning 8 years later.
I think your view on this idea is a little narrow. A reboot won’t necessarily be a retelling of the origin. There are many possible ways to interpret Batman on film. For instance, the era can change. I personally think a stylized but dark 1940′s Batman movie would be amazing if done well. At the same time, a dark but macabre take on the character could allow for the more “out there” villains like Croc, Clayface, Freeze, and even Grundy. There are SO many ways to interpret the character and his world. Why limit it to one world or continuity?
From a content perspective, a few of your bullet points stray away from your topic.
Point #9 — I’m sorry but Anne Hathaway excels at playing Anne Hathaway in every film she’s in. I see nothing unique or outstanding about this actress.
Whoa whoa whoa… stop that right now. Have you seen Rachel Getting Married?! She’s brilliant. I’ll take a lot of criticism quietly, but don’t go negging the Hathaway!
I have to agree. Hathaway seems the weak link here for me. She is great in a couple of flicks but I’m not sold as Catwoman at all by what I’ve seen so far.
Remember though that people said the same thing about Heath Ledger as the joker before the film came out. Hathaway is going to steal the show. I guarantee it!
People said the same thing until they SAW clips of Heath Ledger’s Joker. We’ve seen just as many clips of Anne as Selena Kyle/Catwoman and it still feels off.
But I’ll admit this…Maggie as Rachel Dawes looked spot on in the previews. smh
the ONLY director that should be allowed to follow up Christopher Nolan and continue the “Nolanverse” is without a doubt David Fincher.
I agree. His skill at putting together a detective story (Seven, Zodiac, GWTDT) and his great use of visuals(EVERYTHING) would make him perfect. Seeing him unleash more fantastic villains used like croc and Clayface would be amazing
No. Bruce Timm.
Let Bruce Timm back his live action debut with Batman IV.
I actually think that Bryan Cranston would make a brilliant Gordon. He voiced him in the animated movie Batman Year One and did a damn good job. After seeing his acting versatility in breaking bad I think he would be brilliant at it
On reason #1: I think BB is as great as TDK; you can only have a phenomenal follow-up if you have a great setup, which BB was. We wouldn’t have had the greatness of TDK if it weren’t for BB.
I’m sorry, but I disagree with most of it. Changing appearence and writer may work on comic books, but in films it’s a completely different matter (Schumacher’s films prove that). Also, this is the best moment to include Catwoman, since Rachel died. Besides, what makes this series so awesome is Nolan’s direction and do not forget that he wrote the screenplays, and there are few who would do it as well as he did, and in the same direction. It would be a pitty to replace Freeman, Caine and Oldman, but do you really think they will continue when there is no point? The story is probably over after TDKR, making more would be making fillers just for the money, and they won’t be as good as the ones written just to tell this story. It’s like the line from TDK, either you die a hero or you live enough to become a vilain. All your excuses to bring Harvey back are the complete opposite of the Nolan Batman universe, since they are completely unrealistic (GCPD is not the CIA for christ’s sake). Robin is one of my least favorite characters, really. He wouldn’t fit in Nolan’s universe (although your reflexion is interesting), because he is just too anticlimatic, really. It was NOT just getting warmed up, really. Everything Nolan has done untill now had a reason, and if he decided to make TDKR a closure, then it has been built up that way. All the props and characters are serving this purpose.
Cheers for removing my comment, broseph.
Boooo.
They can keep the CONTINUITY, but above all else, drop the “Christopher Nolan’s fantasy-light version of the world”. Take Batman back to what Batman is SUPPOSED to be. Bring *BACK* the fantasy elements.
Nolan’s films are great, but their weak point it that they sorely lack the fantasy elements that are part of Batman’s world.
The lack of fantasy elements is what makes these films great. With them they would be just another idiotic superhero movie.
they should make a colorful batman movie like the ones from the past.
with the punching sound pow and the original batmobile its time to bring back the zany villains penguin, manbat, clayface.
too many serious hero movies
Here’s a wild idea… How about NO reboot, NO further sequels and actually end something on a high note instead of dragging it out until it’s beaten into the ground.
The Nolan Batman films are so good that I would be happy to never see another Batman movie after TDKR.
Borateman could be onto something. Go back to the Adam West style. Batman could become a Naked Gun type comedy series.
I agree with points 1-9, but I for one would be fine if Bruce Wayne didn’t survive. Not that I don’t love the character, because God knows I do, but because it shows the main point of being Batman. Remember, “As a man I can be destroyed, but as a symbol”? It would be interesting if a new character took up the helm as it has occurred in comics and I would enjoy seeing a new reason for one to decide to dress up like a giant bat.