3. Comparing It To The Comic Books
Before this list progresses too far, its important to address the issue of comparing the Batman films to the comic books. Granted, fans of The Dark Knight trilogy that read the Batman comic books are overall in the minority, but they are some of the most vocal and the internet is their mouthpiece. Comic books are very dear to many people; people take them to their hearts. Before video games and before the Internet, back when being a geek wasnt trendy, this is what geeks did. So its understandable then, particularly with Batman as it has a particularly ardent following, that when the source material is disrespected they get upset. What needs to be understood here however, its that source material is all the comic books are. Nolan hasnt created Batman, but he, with the help of co-writers Jonathan Nolan and David S. Goyer, has adapted it for the screen. Hes taken characters, settings and mythology that fans know and love and adapted it for the big screen. This movie is totally geek-friendly; its made for fans of the comic books but not
just for fans of the comic books, in fact, mostly not for the fans of the comic books. Make no mistake, this is a summer blockbuster that exists first and foremost to make money, it just so happens that its made by a hugely talented director to whom artistic integrity is more important. For this fans should be thankful, even understanding, so why doesnt it feel like this is the case. Summer blockbusters pretty much all have a source material nowadays, from Twilight to Harry Potter to countless other comic book adaptations. Batman fans however seem more upset then most when aspects of the film are different to those in the comics and to a certain extent this is understandable and there could be a number of reasons behind their grumblings. Firstly, the source material is diverse, Batman has been adapted a number of times before it even made it to the big screen. So it would entirely depend on what era or incarnation of the comic book or graphic novel Nolan or whoever else was using and entirely impossible to please everyone. Secondly, when it comes to feature films, Batman fans have had a rough time of things. Burtons Batman films were well made and well received, but there was no expectation, at the point Burtons first Batman came out in 1989, fans were lucky to see their favourite comic become a film, they didnt have the right to be picky. Then Joel Schumacher took over and made Batman Forever and Batman & Robin, this is when they had to right to be disheartened. The thing with Nolans franchise is fans have been spoiled. Batman Begins was released in 2005 with little expectation, a promising yet inexperienced director making a comic book movie whose previous incarnation couldnt have sunk any lower, and they lapped it up. Batman fans had faith again and expectation was on the rise, but more on this later. The point is comic book fans, is that dissatisfaction that something isnt like the source material is only relative its success in the first place and consequently as the film franchise grows, the comic book fans become disenfranchised. So complaining it isnt like the comics is only natural really because what is really happening is that the fans start to want their Batman back. The thing is bat fans, is that you never lost it in the first place. Take solace every time Nolan recreates a moment from the comics, that is a little present just for you, the film as a whole is for you to share with everyone else.