8 Things The Batman Sequels Need To Succeed
6. A Gotham City That Is On Its Way To Looking Better
In Batman Begins, Gotham City is a quasi-realistic city that bears resemblance to Chicago, but with stylized additional major structures to emphasize the difference. By The Dark Knight, Gotham is just Chicago with no difference. Gone are the poverty-stricken areas of Gotham, in favor of the presentable areas of Chicago.
While it is a jarring change, it is a creative choice to emphasize that Batman’s presence gave way for a better Gotham almost in an era of no organized crime. For Matt Reeves’ The Batman sequel, a similar creative choice should be reached. Everybody loves the Gotham City presented in The Batman; a cesspool of perpetual rain and darkness where the audience can practically smell the urine stench. If Gotham remains that way throughout the sequels though, it is telling us that Batman’s presence even as a symbol of hope is doing nothing.
It means Bruce Wayne, with his ways as a Billionaire is not doing enough to change the areas of poverty, and Batman as a crime-fighter is not stopping enough corruption. The franchise would just be jogging in place.