The Dark Knight Trilogy Has 3 Massive DC Movie Failures To Thank For Its Success

Summary The Dark Knight trilogy stands out due to Batman's new, darker direction influenced by previous DC movie flops.

Batman Begins set a new tone for superhero movies, contrasting past versions and renewing faith in the DC franchise.

The Dark Knight trilogy proved again that superhero movies could be of high quality, altering expectations and paving the way for future successes.

Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy still holds up as some of the best Batman movies ever made, and their success is partly due to three massive DC movie failures. The Dark Knight trilogy comprises the movies that starred Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne, debuting with Batman Begins in 2005. This was met with critical acclaim, launching the subsequent two movies that would help reinvigorate enthusiasm for the Caped Crusader before Ben Affleck would take on the mantle for the first time in 2016's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Christopher Nolan's Batman earned significant praise for taking Batman in a new, darker direction. This would become the default tone for Batman for his next two cinematic iterations and significantly contrasted the tone that typified his character before. Ultimately, the stark contrast between Batman Begins and his previous appearance in Batman & Robin helped the movie as it felt even more like a breath of fresh air. This was compounded by the fact that two more DC movie failures preceded Nolan's trilogy.

Related Dark Knight Rises Sequel: Why Nolan Never Made A 4th Batman Movie Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy is among the best trilogies and superhero movies ever, but why didn't he make a fourth Batman movie?

Batman Begins Was Even More Significant After 3 DC Movie Flops

Close

DC Movie Release Date Rotten Tomatoes Score Worldwide Box Office Gross Batman & Robin June 1997 12% $238,317,814 Steel August 1997 8% $1,686,429 Catwoman August 2004 8% $82,078,046

The reputation of DC movies in the 1990s and 2000s was on the floor thanks to three critical failures, which began with the widely lambasted Batman & Robin starring George Clooney. Even this movie, which is widely believed to be the worst Batman movie ever released, did not land as poorly as the Shaquille O'Neal-starring Steel, which earned a paltry $1.7 million at the worldwide Box Office and the Halle Berry-starring Catwoman, which won several Golden Raspberry Awards in 2005. All in all, these three movies set the bar exceptionally low for successive DC projects.

Constantine, starring Keanu Reeves, was released just a few months before Batman Begins and received middling reviews but was generally well-liked by audiences.

This helped Batman Begins look nearly perfect by comparison. Although the movie still keeps the bar high for superhero movies in general, and Batman movies specifically, it represented the mind-blowing notion at the time that superhero movies could be of such great quality. This, in turn, would give way to several years of high-quality superhero movies, with DC's own being among them.

DC's Other Movies Show Why The Dark Knight Trilogy Was So Needed

Close

Were it not for the fact that Batman Begins released when it did, then faith in DC's cinematic offerings would have been in a catastrophic state. With Marvel just about keeping its own head above water with quality releases like Spider-Man and X-Men being tempered by movies like Elektra, DC movies were at risk of being dependably bad. Instead, Batman Begins renewed faith in DC and its most recognizable characters, with The Dark Knight Rises giving way to the DCEU just one year later.

Batman Begins also set a precedent that contradicted the notion that superhero movies are formulaic, proving the general appetite for darker themes. This would be something that many DCEU movies would lean into. While the DCEU would go on to produce a handful of poorly received releases, faith in the franchise is still fervent enough that DC Studios Co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran have seen fit to reboot the cinematic franchise with the DCU, which may take Batman in a new direction once more.