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October 29, 2008


Warner Bros. intends on producing four DC Comics movies by 2011, including Batman 3. One project that the studio has long kicked around doing -- and almost did this year until it fell apart -- is Justice League of America.

The question was whether Batman, as currently realized by director Christopher Nolan and actor Christian Bale, would fit in the more comic booky realm of JLA. Nolan thinks there is a place for Batman in such a movie -- but not his Dark Knight.

"I don't think our Batman, our Gotham [Nolan's emphases], lends itself to that kind of cross-fertilization. It goes back to one of the first things we wrangled with when we first started putting the story together: Is this a world in which comic books already exist? Is this a world in which superheroes already exist?," Nolan told the Los Angeles Times.

He continued, "If you think of Batman Begins and you think of the philosophy of this character trying to reinvent himself as a symbol, we took the position -- we didn't address it directly in the film, but we did take the position philosophically -- that superheroes simply don't exist. If they did, if Bruce [Wayne] knew of Superman or even of comic books, then that's a completely different decision that he's making when he puts on a costume in an attempt to become a symbol. It's a paradox and a conundrum, but what we did is go back to the very original concept and idea of the character. In his first appearances, he invents himself as a totally original creation."

And when asked whether the studio is pressuring him to make a third Bat-film sooner rather than later, Nolan replied, "They're being extremely gracious. I have a very good relationship with the studio. They know that I really needed to go on holiday and take some time to figure what I want to do next. They've been very respectful of that, which is terrific and one of the reasons I enjoy working with Warner Bros."


Christopher Nolan gave a very diplomatic answer when asked recently whether he could see himself NOT directing another Batman film.

"Well ... let me think how to put this. There are two things to be said," Nolan told the Los Angeles Times. "One is the emphasis on story. What's the story? Is there a story that's going to keep me emotionally invested for the couple of years that it will take to make another one? That's the overriding question. On a more superficial level, I have to ask the question: How many good third movies in a franchise can people name? [Laughs.]"

He continued, "At the same time, in taking on the second one, we had the challenge of trying to make a great second movie, and there haven't been too many of those either. It's all about the story really. If the story is there, everything is possible. I hope that was a suitably slippery answer."

Nolan was also asked whether, given how The Dark Knight ended, if the plan was to bring The Joker back for the next installment. (That, obviously, would be difficult now in light of Heath Ledger's death.) "No, really and in truth, I only deal with one film at a time. I find myself sort of protesting this issue a lot. We've never attempted to save anything for a sequel or set up anything for a sequel. That seems improbable to some people because, particularly with Batman Begins, the film ended with a particular hook [with Jim Gordon showing Batman a Joker playing card announcing the arrival of a new villain in town]. But for me that was just about the excitement of people leaving the theater with the sense that now we have the character up and running."

He added, "Then I got excited about seeing where that character would go. It was planned in advance, but it followed in that way. But we tried our hardest to really do everything in this movie that we would want to see the Joker do and to get that in the fabric of the story as much as possible. We wanted the Joker's final taunt to Batman to be that they are locked in an ongoing struggle because of Batman's rules. There's a paradox there. Batman won't kill. And the Joker is not interested in completely defeating Batman because he's fascinated by him and he enjoys sparring with him. It's trapped both of them. That was really the meaning of it. Of course what happened is Heath created the most extraordinary character that you would love to see 10 movies about. That's the bittersweet thing. It was incredible characterization. It is a bittersweet thing for all of us."