Forewarning, I have never read a comic book in my life, I do however enjoy comic book movies.
There has been some discussion regarding the future of the Batman movie franchise after Christopher Nolan directs his last film in the franchise, "The Dark Knight Rises" (2012). Nolan’s films have portrayed Batman and Gotham in a far more realistic, gritty and ultimately darker tone. They’ve managed to reinvent Batman as a modern character who audiences will go to see and enjoy. These movies provide a more reasoned and fleshed out world for Batman; For example, we’ve seen a lot more of Gotham’s underworld than simply the main villains and also seen much more of the legal system, ie. Police, DA and judges than previously.
Now I’ve seen numerous suggestions that the franchise ought to be rebooted, however I believe that’s entirely not necessary. Reboots in my mind are really only necessary after a franchise has ran its course, a la Batman & Robin for Batman or Die Another Day for Bond. Unless The Dark Knight Rises is a huge flaming disaster, which is pretty unlikely, this will not be the case. Before reboots became in vogue, franchises would often simply recast and move on with it, paying lip service to previous movies. I mean look at the Bond franchise, even when a new actor would come to play Bond, there were still the fundamental aspects that made it a Bond film and a loose sense of continuity.
Nolan has provided a firm platform for the Batman franchise to lift off from and it needn’t necessarily be restricted to continuing the franchise in his style. Nolan made it very clear that his was a fairly realistic interpretation of the character and hence aspects of some characters, like Ra’s al Ghul being immortal or entire villains like Mr. Freeze or Clayface, were not appropriate for his version. However, while he may have said this as a director, there is no explicit statement within the movies themselves that says that these kind of science fiction/supernatural elements cannot be introduced.
I’ve noticed many of you express a desire to see Batman be part of the wider DC Universe and while I may not feel the same, I don’t see why it wouldn’t be possible for this to occur without the franchise being rebooted. Just because Nolan saw the character as a stand alone figure, does not mean without the right writing and management, the character couldn’t be integrated in the DCU.
Personally, I’ve deeply enjoyed the grounded stories and characters that Nolan has given us and hope that his successor finds a way to continue, to some extent, the world that Nolan created. I think WB shouldn’t simply hire a director and tell them to make another “Nolan” film. They should look for someone with a vision similar to that of Nolan, but who can provide their own personal touch to the Caped Crusader as did, in particular, Burton and Nolan. I guess I’m also open to the idea of a one-off movie, disjointed from the continuity similar to Aronofsky’s “The Wolverine”, like “The Dark Knight Returns” or a noir-styled story.
Ultimately, I think the franchise is in a fairly flexible position and with such a wealth of source material to draw from, I hope they continue to build on from Nolan’s exceptional foundation.