How A $300 Million 1978 DC Movie Helped Create The Dark Knight Trilogy Over 20 Years Later

One of the first successful DC Comics adaptations – 1978’sSuperman – was a major source of inspiration for Christopher Nolan’sThe Dark Knighttrilogy , particularly its first installment , Batman Begins . Christopher Nolan breathed new life into the Batman intellectual property withBatman Beginsand contributed to the popularity of cinematic reboots overall . Nolan had a specific visual sense for Batman and the earthly concern around him that was not inspired by previousBatmanadaptations , but – in some way – by the iconicRichard Donner and Christopher ReeveSupermanfilm instead .

1978’sSupermanwas the first genuine superhero megahit movie . Although Superman was already a massive cultural ikon whose acknowledgment was majuscule than his funny Word origins , alive - actionSupermanmovieadaptation was nevertheless a risk in the former 1970s . Richard Donner ’s approach to depicting Supermanand theSupermancomic mythos was ideal , however , as he endeavored to juxtapose the gonzo concepts and lore from the source stuff with a realistic vision of the world . While Superman was a fantastic figure , Clark Kent ’s adopted menage , co - workers , booster , and the majority of average citizens in Smallville and Metropolis overall were depicted realistically .

Christopher Nolan Has Said 1 DC Movie Helped Create The Idea For The Dark Knight Trilogy

Richard Donner ’s reverential feeler to portray Superman and his mythos in 1978’sSupermanwould have a substantial influence on Christopher Nolan during the ideation of hisDark Knighttrilogy . Richard Donner would famously say that the key to his version of Superman was verisimilitude , and indeed , Supermanhad the right proportionality of realism and comic truth .

It was this focus on relative realness that Christopher Nolan hoped to replicate inBatman Begins , with Nolan using a standardized glide slope to Batman ’s origin and how the people of Gotham react to him . In an interview withFilm Comment , Nolan note :

I had in mind a sort of discourse of Batman that Richard Donner might have done in the late Seventies the way he did Superman . To me what that represented was foremost a elaborate telling of the origin story , which was n’t even really definitively addressed in the comics over the years , strangely enough . And secondly , tonally I was looking for an interpretation of that character that presented an sinful figure in an ordinary globe . So I want the inhabitants of Gotham to watch Batman as being flakey and extraordinary as we do .

Jonathan Majors' Kang the Conqueror looks at the camera in Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania

How The Dark Knight Trilogy Is Similar To Richard Donner’s Superman

To date , Batman Beginsis the onlyBatmanfilm adaptation that depicts Bruce Wayne ’s whole step - by - step process of becoming Batman , with even the comparably realisticThe Batmanbeginning with a Batman who is , for the most part , to the full form . to boot , Nolan ’s Batman is the first cinematic iteration to shun a stylise visual sense of Gotham and alternatively portray it as a believable East Coast city like New York City . The modern superhero film genre owes a lot to 1978’sSupermanand Christopher Nolan ’s belovedThe Dark Knighttrilogy enforce its verisimilitude , relatability , and serious-minded bloodline story to theBatmanmythos .

The Dark Knightfranchise , also known asThe Dark Knight Trilogy , is a critically acclaimed and commercially successful motion picture serial point by Christopher Nolan . It is a darker and more realistic take on the Batman character reference , exploring paper of justice , chaos , and redemption . The trilogy regenerate the Batman movie series and is often credit with raising the bar for superhero films , particularly through its geographic expedition of complex moral quandary and the iconic portrayal of villains like the Joker .