Why The Dark Knight Trilogy Didn’t Start The DCEU (Despite Inspiring It)

While the fingerprints of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight films are all over the DC Extended Universe, the seminal superhero trilogy isn’t directly responsible for its creation. Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises garnered critical acclaim rarely given to comic adaptations at the time, and although they changed the landscape of superhero movies, the DCEU found more success by leaving them behind.

The official launch of the DCEU was 2013’s Man of Steel, which boasted writing and producing credits for Nolan. This implied a Superman film with the darker tone and timely themes of Nolan’s trilogy — and while director Zack Snyder aimed for that kind of prestige, it was to the film’s detriment.

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The Dark Knight trilogy was never built to launch a shared universe, and it took the DCEU time to learn which elements worked within their new model. Nolan’s Batman trilogy was highly successful, and in many regards paved the way for Warner Bros. and DC to launch a shared universe; however, this new shared universe could not include Nolan’s films for various reasons, including how the trilogy ends.

Christopher Nolan Isn’t A Franchise Director

Christopher Nolan knows his way around a blockbuster. His brand of big budget, big idea entertainment is wholly unique, but he only tells one story at a time. While Batman Begins and The Dark Knight tease future installments, each concludes its own plot in a satisfying way. Nolan never signed on to make a Batman trilogy; he wouldn’t commit to another film until a compelling story came to him.

That kind of filmmaking doesn’t work in an expanded universe, where movies begin development years before their release dates and scripts are retooled to tease characters and settings that will pay off in another film — or even another franchise.

The Dark Knight Doesn’t Work With Other Superheroes

Nolan’s revolutionary approach to Batman was to keep it grounded. Any superhero film is going to require suspension of disbelief, but Nolan treated his Batman films like urban gangster flicks. They were reflections on political corruption, terrorism, and economic disparity. Nolan’s Gotham felt like a real American city in decay. To suddenly have an alien ally who could shoot lasers from his eyes would have done more than undermine this tone — it would have distracted from the trilogy’s larger statements.

Batman’s Story Was Finished

While The Dark Knight Rises wasn’t to everyone’s taste, it had a definitive ending. Not only was Christian Bale uninterested in returning to the role without Nolan, his Bruce Wayne was done with Batman. A return would take away the importance of his arc.

It would have created a larger problem for DC, too: villains like Scarecrow or Bane are no match for Superman or Wonder Woman, meaning threats must become increasingly overpowered. Nolan’s Batman fighting Doomsday with a magic spear makes little sense.

The DCEU Is Better Without It

Nolan’s trilogy and the DCEU are two very different properties with different goals. The earliest DCEU films stuck close to the Nolan palette, and they are among the franchise’s weakest. Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, for instance, had characters so dour and that they became indistinguishable.

The best DCEU films certainly borrow inspiration from the Dark Knight trilogy. Wonder Woman says plenty about important issues while respectfully reimagining a DC Comics hero once deemed silly. But Nolan’s trilogy influenced every blockbuster genre. The DCEU is better when it doesn’t live in that shadow. The films that do, like Joker, are best left in their own worlds. The Dark Knight trilogy was the outcome of creative risk. The DCEU is right to use some of the trilogy’s DNA, but the ultimate homage is DCEU’s growing boldness.

Key Release Dates
  • Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)Release date: Dec 25, 2020
  • Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023)Release date: Mar 17, 2023
  • The Flash (2023)Release date: Jun 23, 2023
  • The Batman (2022)Release date: Mar 04, 2022
  • Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)Release date: Feb 07, 2020
  • The Suicide Squad (2021)Release date: Aug 06, 2021
  • Black Adam (2022)Release date: Oct 21, 2022
  • DC League of Super-Pets (2022)Release date: Jul 29, 2022
  • Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2022)Release date: Dec 16, 2022
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