2. Pick A Director Right For The Job
The unifying link between all of Nolans films is the protagonists pasts. Each one is in a similar mental state, suffering from the loss of a dear loved one, attempting to balance vengeance with a general coping mechanism. And this wasn't something that came from Batman; two of his previous films, cult classic Memento and the almost forgotten Insomnia (although not his debut Following, a film that is both incredibly similar and markedly different from whats come since) held this subject front and centre. Its clear DC saw that overarching theme and wanted a similar approach for their radically new Batman. Begins was praised for how it dealt with Bruce Wayne like a human with real emotions, much like Nolan had already had done with a deranged amnesiac and Al Pachino. Oddly enough, many studios havent picked up on this key element of The Dark Knight Trilogys success. You can slowly see it seeping into the mainstream with Marvels inspired directorial choices, but still feels like a luxury rather than common sense; we've had Shakespeare alum Kenneth Branagh show us Thor as classical family saga, while later this year Alan Taylor, one of the key collaborators on Game Of Thrones brings us a gritty, more feudal version of the same world.