Christopher Nolan Is Still Right About The Two Things That Batman Needs To Work Over 12 Years After The Dark Knight Trilogy’s Ending
Over a decade after The Dark Knight trilogy"s conclusion, Christopher Nolan is still right about the two things that Batman absolutely needs in order to work on-screen as a character. The Dark Knight trilogy quickly established itself as one of the best superhero movie series of all time from its early days, with director Christopher Nolan"s vision of the Caped Crusader and his world coming as a breath of fresh air to those who"d felt the absence of live-action Batman movies since Batman & Robin. That said, the series wasn"t a success solely because of the desire for more movies starring the DC hero.
The careful ways in which The Dark Knight trilogy adapted Batman"s lore - adjusting some core elements and entirely getting rid of others - played arguably the most crucial part in the series" popularity. The delicate handling of parts of Batman"s universe that could have sabotaged the movies ensured the story and world rested on a bedrock of thought-out ideas, permanently changing the perception of what a superhero movie could look like. That said, there were some things Nolan and the creatives working on the trilogy knew better than to tamper with when it came to Batman.
Christopher Nolan Revealed The Two Things Batman Needs In The Dark Knight Trilogy Documentary Batman's Design Needs Two Core Elements To Work Close In The Fire Rises: The Creation and Impact of the Dark Knight Trilogy documentary, Christopher Nolan discusses the process of defining and refining his version of Batman. While a lot of this focuses on making sure the hero and his universe work in tandem, Nolan also mentions the key details he felt Batman absolutely required, stating: "it sounds obvious in retrospect, but what you learn very rapidly is without that cape he isn"t Batman. He"s... some kind of futuristic SWAT type guy. Without the ears and the cape, no matter how much you retain, it"s not Batman without those elements."
This is especially notable a statement given The Dark Knight trilogy is arguably the grittiest and most grounded live-action movie take on Batman ever, thus meaning that there was more focus on taking out or adjusting the more fantastical elements of Batman"s lore in order to make him a hero that could believably feel realistic, despite his story being naturally larger-than-life in many ways. Since the focus on keeping the world grounded was so focal that there were conversations about whether even the Batmobile itself would actually show up, Nolan"s comments have yet more weight behind them.
Why Christopher Nolan Is Right About The Two Things Batman Absolutely Needs To Have Batman Isn't Batman Without The Cape & Ears Close There are a lot of different ways that Batman has been redesigned and redeveloped since his comic debut in 1939, and - much like every other comic book hero since time began - this has naturally involved changes to his suit as well. That said, it"s relatively clear from the offset that removing Batman"s ears and cape would take him from Batman to a man who doesn"t really have a resemblance to a bat, since the pointy ears and "wings" are the main ways the hero"s design draws parallels to the animal he gets his name from.
On a similar level, a big intrigue factor with Batman is the fact he chooses to put on a suit that actively looks like a bat to fight crime. There are plenty of heroes who wear similar masks and suits without these details, and thus removing these key defining elements takes away from not only from the visual interest level of his look, but also from his story, rendering him comparatively less interesting than his more fantastical looking but undeniably engrossing traditional garb.
With there now being 85 years of history to cement the distinctive cape and cowl look as an unalienable part of Batman"s costume, it"s harder than ever to even imagine the vigilante with these elements removed, and the concept will likely only become more unimaginable as time continues to pass. This is especially true given that the comic source material and other shows and movies have helpfully reinforced the idea of Batman needing the ears and cape in their own respective ways over the years.
Batman's On-Screen Origin Stories Prove He Needs The Cape And Ears To Truly Be Batman Batman's History Has Reinforced Nolan's Statement Close History has consistently proved Christopher Nolan right about the two features Batman needs to have in various ways over the course of the DC hero"s history, both in other on-screen releases and in the comics. While Batman"s costume has seen many, many reimaginings over the years, these have seldom seen the Caped Crusader without ears on his helmet - even when the classic comics were taking more unconventional approaches, like putting the suit in zebra print, or dressing Batman up as a mummy. Even Batman Beyond"s Batsuit features a revealable cape, since it"s integral for certain dramatic gliding scenes and moments.
On-screen, Batman never truly feels like the hero until viewers get that shot of him in his full costume getup. Gotham saw Bruce Wayne don a sort of proto-Batsuit towards the very end of the show, which was notable in that it had a very close resemblance to the costume, just without the ears or cape - something that was swiftly remedied in the series" last chapters, and rightfully so, given Bruce does look like "some kind of futuristic SWAT type guy" more than his superhero self in this sequence.
Even The Dark Knight trilogy lent itself temporarily to showing this idea, as the black armor Bruce Wayne wears when he"s training under Ra"s Al Ghul is Batman-esque, albeit in maskless form. Despite this proximity to Batman"s traditional look, it still feels worlds away from the final thing, with the hero only truly taking on his vigilante form with the suit itself. As such, the scope and scale of Batman"s history really serves to reinforce just how right Nolan was about the two things Batman needs to work, further highlighting why The Dark Knight trilogy has one of the most effective versions of Batman to date.
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The careful ways in which The Dark Knight trilogy adapted Batman"s lore - adjusting some core elements and entirely getting rid of others - played arguably the most crucial part in the series" popularity. The delicate handling of parts of Batman"s universe that could have sabotaged the movies ensured the story and world rested on a bedrock of thought-out ideas, permanently changing the perception of what a superhero movie could look like. That said, there were some things Nolan and the creatives working on the trilogy knew better than to tamper with when it came to Batman.
Christopher Nolan Revealed The Two Things Batman Needs In The Dark Knight Trilogy Documentary Batman's Design Needs Two Core Elements To Work Close In The Fire Rises: The Creation and Impact of the Dark Knight Trilogy documentary, Christopher Nolan discusses the process of defining and refining his version of Batman. While a lot of this focuses on making sure the hero and his universe work in tandem, Nolan also mentions the key details he felt Batman absolutely required, stating: "it sounds obvious in retrospect, but what you learn very rapidly is without that cape he isn"t Batman. He"s... some kind of futuristic SWAT type guy. Without the ears and the cape, no matter how much you retain, it"s not Batman without those elements."
This is especially notable a statement given The Dark Knight trilogy is arguably the grittiest and most grounded live-action movie take on Batman ever, thus meaning that there was more focus on taking out or adjusting the more fantastical elements of Batman"s lore in order to make him a hero that could believably feel realistic, despite his story being naturally larger-than-life in many ways. Since the focus on keeping the world grounded was so focal that there were conversations about whether even the Batmobile itself would actually show up, Nolan"s comments have yet more weight behind them.
Why Christopher Nolan Is Right About The Two Things Batman Absolutely Needs To Have Batman Isn't Batman Without The Cape & Ears Close There are a lot of different ways that Batman has been redesigned and redeveloped since his comic debut in 1939, and - much like every other comic book hero since time began - this has naturally involved changes to his suit as well. That said, it"s relatively clear from the offset that removing Batman"s ears and cape would take him from Batman to a man who doesn"t really have a resemblance to a bat, since the pointy ears and "wings" are the main ways the hero"s design draws parallels to the animal he gets his name from.
On a similar level, a big intrigue factor with Batman is the fact he chooses to put on a suit that actively looks like a bat to fight crime. There are plenty of heroes who wear similar masks and suits without these details, and thus removing these key defining elements takes away from not only from the visual interest level of his look, but also from his story, rendering him comparatively less interesting than his more fantastical looking but undeniably engrossing traditional garb.
With there now being 85 years of history to cement the distinctive cape and cowl look as an unalienable part of Batman"s costume, it"s harder than ever to even imagine the vigilante with these elements removed, and the concept will likely only become more unimaginable as time continues to pass. This is especially true given that the comic source material and other shows and movies have helpfully reinforced the idea of Batman needing the ears and cape in their own respective ways over the years.
Batman's On-Screen Origin Stories Prove He Needs The Cape And Ears To Truly Be Batman Batman's History Has Reinforced Nolan's Statement Close History has consistently proved Christopher Nolan right about the two features Batman needs to have in various ways over the course of the DC hero"s history, both in other on-screen releases and in the comics. While Batman"s costume has seen many, many reimaginings over the years, these have seldom seen the Caped Crusader without ears on his helmet - even when the classic comics were taking more unconventional approaches, like putting the suit in zebra print, or dressing Batman up as a mummy. Even Batman Beyond"s Batsuit features a revealable cape, since it"s integral for certain dramatic gliding scenes and moments.
On-screen, Batman never truly feels like the hero until viewers get that shot of him in his full costume getup. Gotham saw Bruce Wayne don a sort of proto-Batsuit towards the very end of the show, which was notable in that it had a very close resemblance to the costume, just without the ears or cape - something that was swiftly remedied in the series" last chapters, and rightfully so, given Bruce does look like "some kind of futuristic SWAT type guy" more than his superhero self in this sequence.
Even The Dark Knight trilogy lent itself temporarily to showing this idea, as the black armor Bruce Wayne wears when he"s training under Ra"s Al Ghul is Batman-esque, albeit in maskless form. Despite this proximity to Batman"s traditional look, it still feels worlds away from the final thing, with the hero only truly taking on his vigilante form with the suit itself. As such, the scope and scale of Batman"s history really serves to reinforce just how right Nolan was about the two things Batman needs to work, further highlighting why The Dark Knight trilogy has one of the most effective versions of Batman to date.
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