Christian Bale and Christopher Nolan are absolutely right about a recurring villain problem for the… Batman franchisee. Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy is one of the most beloved and critically acclaimed iterations of the on-screen Caped Crusader. In addition to Bale’s stunning performances, the trilogy is also known for its catalog of memorable villains, including Ra’s al Ghul (Liam Neeson), Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy), Two-Face (Aaron Eckhart), Bane (Tom Hardy), and arguably most famous, Heath Ledger’s Joker. As Bale noted in an interview with: GQNolan was well aware of a problem many versions of Batman have suffered because of the villains, and he made avoiding this problem one of his central goals in making the trilogy.
Reminiscent of his work on The Dark Knight trilogy in one GQ interview, Bale . revealed “When Chris and I first sat down, we said, you know what the problem with Batman, it’s that the villains are always more interesting, right? And so Batman is actually very close to being a villain himself. So let’s we never he gets boring in comparison.” As Bale points out, a common Batman movie villain problem that, due to the complexity and memorability of so many Batman villains, there is a risk that the main character will be overshadowed or that the public will lose sympathy for his cause.
Why Batman Has Such Good Villains Is Becoming A Movie Problem
One problem with having such intriguing villains is that the main character, in Bale’s words, can become “boring in comparison.” While it’s natural and common for a movie’s villain to outshine its protagonist, the hero (or antihero in Batman’s case) should never become completely uninteresting, especially in a superhero movie about such an iconic central character. Although villains come and go less often in comic series, because of their limited run time, movies have to offer about the same screen time to the villain to make them attractive. Moreover, although Batman Movies, especially since Nolan’s trilogy, are known for their vague relationship between moral and immoral, and lack of an easy binary relationship between good and evil, it’s equally important that the public’s sympathy isn’t quite with the villains. is. For Batman’s entire goal as a fighter for justice in Gotham to be worthwhile, Batman’s movie villains must not become more likable than the protagonist – regardless of the villain’s complexity and legitimate motives.
How The Dark Knight Perfectly Avoids The Batman Villain Problem
The Dark Knight is a perfect example of how to avoid and use this problem provided by Batman villains. Heath Ledger’s Joker is one of the most memorable villains in movie history, let alone in a Batman movie, and Nolan used this villain’s power to his advantage the entire time. The Dark Knight. While The Joker terrorizes many citizens and political figures in Gotham, he is obsessed with Batman. As famously emphasized in the Dark Knight’s interrogation scene – “you complete me” – Nolan ensures that The Joker is consistently defined by and against Bale’s Batman.
Although The Joker gets a lot of screen time without Batman, these scenes make it clear that the masked vigilante is his main opponent and central focus. By doing so, Nolan is able to portray such a memorable villain as The Joker and ensure that Batman is never completely overshadowed. In addition, by putting the relationship and similarities between Batman and The Joker at the forefront of the story, Nolan accentuates their moral differences — Batman’s refusal to take a life, of course — and makes Batman the more likable figure. Like Matt Reeves’ rendition of Riddler in the batterwho adores and obsessed with Batman, perfectly avoids Nolan’s depiction of The Joker Batman‘s villain problem and keeps the main character from being completely overshadowed by The Joker, no matter how brilliant Ledger’s character and execution are.
