If you’re of the opinion that the current crop of Ben Affleck-led Batman films are hit or miss compared to Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, the critically acclaimed director offered a reason for the perceived decline among some fans.
“That’s a privilege and a luxury that filmmakers aren’t afforded anymore,” Nolan said, during an appearance at BAFTA: A Life In Pictures. “I think it was the last time that anyone was able to say to a studio, ‘I might do another one, but it will be four years’. There’s too much pressure on release schedules to let people do that now but creatively it’s a huge advantage. We had the privilege and advantage to develop as people and as storytellers and then bring the family back together.”
To Nolan’s point, the timetable for his trio of Batman films was slow and deliberate to the point that it allowed him to release other projects in between the releases of Batman films. Nolan took three years between the release of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, and he had another four years between the release of The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. And during those breaks, he co-wrote and directed The Prestige and Inception.
But let’s keep it 100 here. Aside from Affleck, the most striking difference between the two iterations of Batman is the director. Without implicitly throwing shade at Zack Snyder, let’s take each director’s resume into account.
Nolan’s credits include Memento, The Prestige, Inception, Interstellar and Dunkirk. Snyder is responsible for such cinematic gems as Sucker Punch, Watchmen and Man of Steel.
It was gracious of Nolan to point to the fact that DC is churning out superhero franchises the way Lil B drops mixtapes, but Snyder is the one who thought it was a good idea to use Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” as the backing music to a steamy love scene in Watchmen. On the other hand, Nolan was getting a scene stealing performance from David Bowie in The Prestige.
You can read the full recap of Nolan’s appearance at BAFTA: A Life In Pictures, including tidbits about his upcoming Howard Hughes project, via Deadline.
