Christopher Nolan redefined the superhero genre with The Dark Knight Trilogy. His gritty take on the genre not only revived the Batman franchise after it was put on ice by the ridiculous Batman & Robin (1977) but also set a high bar for all the upcoming superhero projects. It significantly contributed to Batman’s popularity among a large section of moviegoers.
We live in an era where most of the legendary directors like Martin Scorsese and Ridley Scott are not great fans of the superhero genre. However, The Dark Knight Trilogy is very different for its mature tonality and realistic milieu. While talking about the films in 2018, Christopher Nolan admitted that primarily, the relatability factor in Batman pulled him to work in the genre.
Christopher Nolan took an unconventional approach to his Batman films
It must be noted that Batman has been one of the most renowned superheroes, not only for his badassery and intelligence but also for the fact that he does all this despite being a mere mortal. Unlike Superman, Spider-Man, and most other heroes, Bruce Wayne does not possess any superpowers. His only powers are his vast wealth, physical skills, and big brain.
According to Christopher Nolan’s words at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival (via Vanity Fair), he was attracted by this realism in the character. The relatable and human side of the superhero strongly impressed the Oscar-winning filmmaker and according to him, also convinced him to make the Trilogy.
Yes, it’s a superhero, but it’s based on ideas of guilt, fear, these strong impulses that the character has. Bruce Wayne doesn’t have any super powers other than extraordinary wealth. But really, he’s just someone who does a lot of push-ups. In that sense, he’s very relatable and human. I think that’s why I gravitated towards it.
The realism also helped the Oppenheimer mastermind to take a different approach to the films. Nolan confessed that initially, he did not plan to launch a Batman franchise with Christian Bale. To make all of them interesting and distinct, he took a unique route and based each part on different genres with a memorable antagonist instead of making generic superhero movies.
Christopher Nolan explained the background of all the Dark Knight films
Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy is extremely different from the other Marvel and even the DCEU films in several aspects. Besides the realism and the characters, the trilogy gave us some of the best comic book movie villain performances, including the late Heath Ledger’s Joker.
Nolan stated that the villains played pivotal roles in accurately portraying the genre difference in all the films. He explained that Batman Begins, which was planned to be a standalone superhero origin film showed Liam Neeson‘s Ra’s al Ghul as “a mentor turned enemy“. But he took a Michael Mann-esque route with The Dark Knight and presented Joker in a very different way.
The Dark Knight for me was always a crime drama in the mold of a Michael Mann film. The Joker was a terrorist, an agent of chaos set loose.
Similarly, he explained the concluding The Dark Knight Rises as a historical epic with Tom Hardy’s Bane as a “militarist foe“.
Additionally, Christopher Nolan also confessed that he tried to bring some aspects of the James Bond franchise into his superhero trilogy. He shared that Morgan Freeman’s Lucius Fox was heavily inspired by Q.
The Dark Knight Trilogy can be streamed on Max.
