4. To Thwart Over-Extension
Over-extension is the natural enemy of the great film series. You just need to consider Indiana Jones, Star Wars, and Die Hard - all great film series, and all whose legacies were almost entirely destroyed by fourth additions that were terrible by comparison. Even poorer film franchises like Scream, Saw, The Fast & The Furious and Jurassic Park were destroyed by over-extension, and the blame lies squarely at the feet of the financial decision makers. Money talks, and it talks us towards Ice Age 4 and Madagascar 3 - or otherwise known as projects that value financial reward way beyond artistic or even entertainment value. Batman & Robin showed exactly what happens to this property when it is pushed to the limits, with ideas strung-out to breaking point, and nobody wants to see that happen to this iteration of the Batman universe. Unfortunately, The Dark Knight Rises might well be the highest grossing film of all time, if early excitement and responses are anything to go by, and that will no doubt entice Warner Bros to go back on their decision to reboot for the next Batman, and seek out a director like Ben Affleck who could take up the reins and extend Nolan's Batman beyond his own participation with the property. In addition to that, over-extension just doesn't happen in the comic universe, where reboots and narrative resets are a natural occurence thanks to fans' infamous impatience with sterile story-lines and characters. What is crucial to remember is that the current comic book Batman is nothing like the original Batman, and that in no way devalues the character or the medium. Should Warners take the decision to extend the franchise beyond Nolan, they will also presumably rob fans of the opportunity to see the Joker again, or Two Face come to that and we will end up with villains chosen from the thinner end of the Rogue's Gallery like Killer Moth. Not terrible villains by any means, but in no way as compelling as a new take on the Joker.