The last time Batman appeared on the big screen was by way of Christian Bale in Christopher Nolan’s iconic trilogy. These films left such a mark on our culture that even Zack Snyder, when realizing he wanted to pit The Dark Knight against Superman in the Man of Steel sequel, went to ask Nolan for his blessing.
Speaking to Empire for its latest Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice issue, Snyder recounted this interaction. “You tell me if you don’t want me to do it,” the director told Nolan, who responded, “Well, we don’t own these characters. When you’re done making Batman movies, someone else will [make them].” That’s not the best way of offering a stamp of approval, but, as Snyder continued, “I think he found it a little bit hard. I would feel the same way.”
Nolan, who told The Daily Beast in 2014 that he’s done directing superhero movies, also explained that he’s involved with Batman v Superman only “in an advisory capacity as an executive producer.” Despite what Snyder said he thinks Nolan feels about the sequel, the Interstellar filmmaker praised the casting of Ben Affleck and told USA Today that he’ll be “the first in line to see what they’ve done.”
Batman v Superman also features Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, as well as the villain Doomsday and a tease of a much larger villain potentially coming down the pipeline, in addition to officially launching the shared DC cinematic universe leading up to Justice League: Part One and Part Two.
Snyder continued telling Empire that his film is, in a lot of ways, “a very personal concept” about “two people trying to understand each other’s point of view.” Sound familiar? There are a lot of similarities between Batman v Superman and what Marvel is doing with Captain America: Civil War, including the marketing campaigns. (#WhoWillWin will be one hashtag we’ll probably want to spear by the end of the year.) We’ll see how effective it all is when Batman v Superman hits theaters on March 25th.
