Longtime Batman Producer Comments On Post Nolan Plans For The Caped Crusader!

In assessing the first set of Batman films, from 1989 through 1997, why did it devolve to a campy version again with the final ‘Batman & Robin’?

I’m going to answer that question not regarding Batman, but instead regarding the motion picture industry in general. Generally speaking, what used to be the studios are now largely international conglomerates. They own many businesses. Sometimes, generally speaking, these conglomerates become more fixated on other businesses like merchandising, like toys, games and Happy Meals. When the company becomes that fixated, the tail can wag the dog.

If it gets to a point where companies want three or four super heroes in a movie, or three or four super villains in a movie, each one mandated to have two different costume changes or vehicles, what they are in fact doing is making infomercials for toys that are two hours long. You are not making films, much less great films. Because there is no room for plot, story or characterization. How lucky we are currently to have a management team at Warner Bros. that recognizes this and brings in a Christopher Nolan, who totally understands the character, and has the passion, vision and the execution of Batman.

How do you theorize that the character of Batman will be reinvented yet again once the Nolan trilogy ends with ‘The Dark Knight Rises’?

I just look to the comic books. For 72 years, they have given us such vastly different interpretations of The Batman character, from one extreme to the next, one as equally valid as another. Depending on when you were born, or what you were reading or seeing on TV when you were 12 years old, probably defines what your true Batman might be. It is something that will never end and will always be open to new and valid interpretations.