10 Things Future Batman Movies Must Do
10. Don't Make The Villains The Star Of The Show
Christopher Nolan's trilogy made Batman / Bruce Wayne more interesting than any other live-action film had managed before. Even in The Dark Knight and its sequel, the stories managed to remain focused on the hero even with multiple characters coming and going, a feat others had failed to accomplish before. Nolan established Bruce Wayne as a complex, interesting, engaging character in his own right in Batman Begins, bringing more psychological depth than cinema audiences had seen before.
Perhaps this is one of the only problems with Batman's villains: they're so strong they threaten to overshadow him. We all know Tim Burton was more interested in exploring the Joker, the Penguin, and Catwoman in his films. Joel Schumacher's movies may have spent a fair bit of time with Batman, but his movies were sold more on the presence of Jim Carrey and Arnold Schwarzenegger than Kilmer or Clooney.
It's also vital that future Batman films limit the number of villains they use. Tim Burton's 1989 film was the only one to pit Batman against a single enemy (and with Jack Nicholson's powerful performance, the Joker was more than enough), but every other Dark Knight movie since has featured at least two. The more bad guys there are, the more story goes into setting them up, and the less screen-time there is for the Caped Crusader himself.
While it would be great to have multiple villains cameo here and there without needing explanation, more than one primary antagonist often leads to an overloaded script. With Snyder and Affleck establishing an older Batman than other movie versions have attempted, future films have a chance to explore the effect that a life of crime-fighting and self-sacrifice would have, giving audiences a new angle on such a well-known figure.
This could prove vital in staving off fatigue some filmgoers might feel with a reboot coming so soon after The Dark Knight Rises, and add to Batman's cinematic longevity by giving him a pre-built universe.