11 Movie Franchises We Wish Weren’t Dead

It’s been over four years since the prolific Nolan/Bale partnership signed off, and already The Dark Knight trilogy is considered one of the greatest ever made, able to hold its own against even The Godfather. The series’ brilliance goes way beyond Heath Ledger’s Joker, too - it has a brooding intensity of its own that’s matched by none.

The non-traditional and unpredictable episodes marked a refreshing break from Hollywood’s more formulaic approach to superhero movies, and the characterisations were so well rounded, we were able to truly believe in this gritty, fantastical world. Christian Bale remarkably conveyed the burden of being The Dark Knight, while Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Gary Oldman embraced the humanity of their respective characters.

Nolan was able to find a darker, more human shade to Batman that Hollywood had so far overlooked, and, after seeing how the character has been picked up post-Nolan, is not our desire for The Dark Knight fortified?

Could There Be A Comeback?

The ending of The Dark Knight Rises did a great job at polarising fans into two camps: those who found it to be a conclusive end to Nolan’s reign, and those who felt outraged over its ambiguity as the mantle passes to Gordon-Levitt’s Robin.

However, the fact remains that Nolan’s trilogy-topper brought Bale’s Batman full circle, seeing the man truly expire. So a sequel to Rises is pretty much out of the question…

But just imagine the global ecstasy of a fourth instalment, with DiCaprio, Depp, or even Cumberbatch playing The Riddler opposite Bale’s Batman.