2. A New Director Might Have More of a Comic Book Sensibility
When Christopher Nolan was first announced as the Batman director in 2003, I wasnt entirely sold. I loved all of his movies up until Batman Begins but I wasnt sure how hed handle action, costumes and all of that stuff. He proved he could do all of that in the Batmobile chase scene in his first Batman movie and all that worry was gone. With that said, Nolans comic book sensibilities are maybe more on the backburner than I would like, given his approach is very much in the real world, justifying Batmans existence in real life as opposed to just accepting his comic book routes. I never liked the line Im not going to kill you but Im not going to save you from Batman at the end of Batman Begins, it felt wrong for the character I loved in the comics but it felt right within Nolans world of real life super crime fighting. Nolan had his version of Batman and while its celebrated its not quite the Batman from the comics. Of course, he gets all of the elements right despite that. Scarecrows fear toxin, Jokers general Jokerness and a man dressed as a Bat feels perfectly acceptable within Nolans world but even with the high drama and thrilling drive of The Dark Knight and all of the elements being played like that of an Oscar contender in the Dark Knight Rises trailer, something distinctly comic book is missing from Nolans approach for me. I guess Im in the minority but Batman Returns is still my favourite of the live action Batman flicks (though my favourite Batman movie ever is Mask of the Phantasm). Even with Burtons slightly odd approach to the Penguin, something about the mood of Batman Returns captures everything I love about Batman comics. There is no better depiction of Catwoman outside of the comic books to me (prove me wrong Hathaway), Michael Keaton doesnt look anything like the Bruce Wayne in my mind but he plays a great Bruce Wayne and his Batman is still my favourite version of the character on screen. The entire movie dances the line between serious masked characters and comic book madness and despite a few missteps either side of the line, theres something pure Batman in there. Now, Im not saying the director that follows Nolan has to throw giant Christmas presents full of skeleton masked baddies on motorbikes at us but stuff like that is part of the colourful Batman world of villains and I dont feel Nolan would ever take us down those routes. Nolan captured the most Batman scene in the history of Batman movies with the Batman / Joker interrogation room scene and it was amazing but could you ever imagine him taking on a depiction of a bad guy that wasnt an intelligent foe for Batman but rather one that has control of plant life, had the ability to morph into clay or had to spend his life in a cold storage suit? Theres a whole world of Batman rogues out there and given the opportunity, the next director to take up the mantle of bat director could very well use Nolans world as a base and be a little more playful with his villain choices and comic book history rather than stick to mobs and secret organisations.