With Christopher Nolan's THE DARK KNIGHT TRILOGY finished, there has been some debate on weather or not they should continue the story to later involve Batman in a Justice League movie. However many people, like myself, feel that although Christopher Nolan's films were great, a reboot is the way to go. But how should they do this? For the sake of argument, even if WB went ahead and rebooted the franchise, what should be done in order for this reboot to succeed? Here is my "formula" on how to successfully reboot Batman.
Do NOT Try To Beat Christopher Nolan's Films
Although these films were great and were centered around The Caped Crusader, in order for a reboot to be established they must not be used to compare/contrast because they will be too different. Nolan grounded his films in reality and although the newer films should have some realism and not be too fake (i.e. Batman and Robin), the objective is to stride away from Nolan's films and establish a new, independent franchise. It would be impossible to try and beat his films because they will be too different and if they are used as a "guideline", we will have a repeat of the Nolan films.
Show Future Villains
Now, what I mean by "showing them" is acknowledge that they exist. Once again, we want to try to further establish this is a different universe than Nolan's. A nod to Killer Croc or a mentioning of Poison Ivy would help do that and also open not only the DC Cinematic World, but also Batman's. By acknowledging them, continuity is created along with interest and could make for a pretty interesting movie. This brings me to my next point.
No Origin Story
Batman's origin is important. It definitely goes down as one of the most defining comic book moments in history and it would work great on film...Except it has been done already. Although it is an important part of Batman, everyone and there grandmother knows the story. It's been established in 3 movies, tons of comic book issues, all of the cartoons, movie novelizations, and even the animated films. Now, am I saying completely ignore it? No, but don't start off the movie or build it around the death of his parents because if anything, it is going to waste opportunities to tell other stories and many movie goers are going to be sitting in their seats knowing exactly what happens. Personally, I would start the franchise with an Arkham Asylum movie. Obviously not the exact same plot, but have a mass escape being attempted and Batman has to try and stop it. Scarecrow could use his gas to have him relieve it for a minute or so and other villains could be acknowledged.
Use The Comic Book Suit
Now this one is tricky. On one hand you could just continue to make an all black, armored suit like Nolan and Burton did. On the other hand, you could go the other route with a gray costume with black spandex and a black cape like the Adam West. Each one has it's pros and cons, but if they were to use a suit, I would use the New 52 version. It's dark grey color enhances the black Bat-symbol while not having the black underwear for people to laugh at. The gauntlets, cowl, and boots make sense being black because these could be customized to hold things like capsules for vaccines, a key pad to send coordinates, or a sonic transmitter to attract bats. Either way, it takes the best of both worlds and becomes classic, but awesome.
Use Easter Eggs
Now this is definitely a big one. Even though Easter Eggs are small on film, they usually have big meaning and are the little stitches that tie things together. Just look at the movie Thor with the Infinity Gauntlet and that leading to Thanos. Now am I saying they should add lines like "This is why Superman works alone."? No, not at all. However, a deal with Lex Corp being made through Wayne Enterprises or a mention of "possible Atlantis findings" would help ground this franchise in the comic book world, while also helping to lead to a Justice League movie.
In conclusion, if these things are executed in the Batman reboot, I believe it would succeed with fans and audiences alike. It would be dark and a little realistic, while also having that comic book feel to establish it's independence and not fell like a re-hash of a Christopher Nolan film. Who knows? Maybe one day we may even get this on screen:
I can only hope! I'm interested to hear what you all think about this and if you have any ideas on how WB could do a new Batman movie, let me know in the comments. Until next time, this is Hal Jordan signing off!