In the world of comic books and superheroes, one hero stood as the people’s champion. The masked and caped vigilante known as Batman is one of the most popular of all superheroes. What made him stand out from the others is that he does not have a superpower.
He is just a regular person like the readers who has achieved peak human condition. This is the most popular reason given by fans when asked why Batman is their favorite superhero. Another reason is his tragic past. The murder of his parents when he was just a little boy had turned his world into a dark one. Many attempts have been made in adapting the story of Batman into the big screen.Whether it’s the happy, campy version of the 1966 television series or the dark settings of Tim Burton’s films, there are enough styles and methods of adapting the story of Batman to spark debates between fans.
In the latest Batman motion picture, called ‘The Dark Knight’, screenwriter and director Christopher Nolan decided to follow the dark, realistic setting of the first two movies instead of continuing the happy and bright feel of the previous movie. Due to the similarities of the title to Frank Miller’s comic ‘The Dark Knight Returns’, many fans have mistakenly believe that Christopher Nolan got his inspiration from it.However, looking closely at the two adaptations of Batman, the influence of Miller’s comic and Nolan’s movie is minimal. People who have both read the comic and watched the movie would certainly feel the dark, pessimistic feeling of the world Batman lives in. That’s where the similarities end. Having a similar setting does not make one story influence the other.
The first two Batman films also had a dark setting but that does not mean they visually influenced Frank Miller or Christopher Nolan. There have been many adaptations of Batman such as television series, animated series, comic books and films.Some of them have bright settings and others have dark settings. Having two different adaptations with similar settings is merely a coincidence.
Another similarity between Miller’s comic and Nolan’s film is the appearance of two Batman enemies: The Joker and Two-Face. Once again, that’s where the similarities end. The Joker and Two-Face have appeared in so many different adaptations that it is a folly to say that they influence each other without a closer look. And upon a closer look, the conceptual influence of Miller’s comic on Nolan’s film is minimal.In the film ‘The Dark Knight’, Nolan told the origin story of Two-Face while in ‘The Dark Knight Returns’, Two-Face has been around for years and is a reformed criminal. The Joker in the film is portrayed as a new criminal who Batman does not know about at the beginning of the movie.
In the comic, The Joker has been around for years. To summarize the point, the story in ‘The Dark Knight Returns’ is set several years after the story in ‘The Dark Knight’ where Batman, The Joker and Two-Face have been around longer than their film counterparts.To prevent falling into a trap of thinking that a particular comic book influences a movie, fans can read or watch interviews with the writers and director to find out where they get the ideas for their story. In an interview with Christopher Nolan, he mentioned that the influences for ‘The Dark Knight’ are the comic books ‘The Long Halloween’, which told the origin of Two-Face, and ‘The Killing Joke’, where the concept of The Joker is taken. When the information came from the director himself, there is no need to doubt the authenticity of it and removes any false rumor or misconception.
