4 years after the concluding chapter to Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, Zack Snyder brought Batman back to the big screen in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. However, Synder's Batman was not the Batman envisioned by Nolan. Far from it. Snyder's Batman was a vigilante of 20 years experience. A Batman full of indignation and righteous anger against the manslaughter and negligence he perceived Superman guilty of. A Batman paranoid that Superman's superhuman power would eventually corrupt him resulting in a genocidal and fascist dictatorship that would enslave and destroy the world. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice met with poor reviews by the critics. The film was heavily criticized for being too dark, too violent, too CGI heavy, and for woefully misconceiving one of comic book's most iconic characters. What the criticism boiled down to in essence was inept directing. The fault solely of Zack Snyder. One review I read claimed that the germs of the ideas in the movie would have been handled better in the hands of a different director, someone like Nolan or Bryan Singer of X-Men fame.
So, I've decided to compare and contrast Nolan and Snyder by looking at their different adaptations of Batman.
One of the biggest differences between the two adaptations of Batman is that Nolan's Batman and his rogue gallery were completely demythologized. Batman's origin was orthodox enough with the death of his parents inspiring him to fight crime and protect other innocent citizens of Gotham from experiencing the same injustice. However, Batman's suit, gadgets and vehicles all were created by Wayne Enterprise's R&D department under the curatorship of one Lucius Fox. The Batmobile originally had a completely other purpose and was designed as a military vehicle to jump rivers and help bridge construction. The Batsuit was originally designed to protect soldiers on the front line, yet proved too expensive to mass produce. Bruce Wayne appropriated these archived projects and gave them a new purpose as Batman.
Likewise, Batman's rogue gallery were also demythologized: Ra's al Ghul was not a man hundreds of years old and given immortality through the regenerative powers of the lazarus pit, but an ex-mercenary who fell in love with a war-lord's daughter and became the leader of the League of Shadows. Bane, the man who broke Batman's back, was not enhanced by the drug venom to give him superhuman strength, but was rather a man who wore a mask to provide pain relief for an injury he suffered while attempting to save a young Talia al Ghul. Perhaps the closest Nolan got to a more mythical villain was the Scarecrow in Batman Begins, however, as the trilogy progressed the realism became stronger.
The world of Nolan's Batman was a world of organized crime, corrupted officials, and assassins. Batman's dependence on Lucius Fox to supply and equip him in his war against crime in Gotham brought a level of realism as Nolan carefully crafted a Batman who could be conceived to exist in our own world. However, in so doing Nolan had also deliberately restricted himself and the new Batman mythos he was creating. Batman had no allies such as Robin or Nightwing. And thus Nolan's Batman purposefully broke tradition with his lineage and heritage in the comic books. Not only did he limit the scope and scale of Batman's operations, he also shrunk Batman's world. Nolan's Gotham was a city of mafia families, crime syndicates and political as well as corporate corruption. In this Gotham there was no place for crime lords such as the Penguin, or criminal geniuses such as the Riddler. This was in part a reaction to the poorly received Schumacher movies of the mid to late '90s.
Nolan purposefully distanced himself from building a world that could resemble in any way the fail that was Schumacher's Batman and Robin. Also in the interest of giving fans and audiences something new, he didn't want to revisit super villains previously portrayed in the Tim Burton Batman movies. It was this desire for originality and realism that helped Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy to be so successful. As a director, Nolan had brought Batman into the real world and proved that comic book characters could be the source of great movies. Due to the rationalization and demythologization of Batman and his world through the realism and anti-supernaturalism that Nolan created, his use of CGI was therefore minimal. This emphasis on real stunts and sets helped further undergird the realism of his movies and added to their success. Nolan was able to take his strengths as a director and apply them to Batman. This was a Batman who general audiences as well as comic book fans could enjoy and love.
Zack Snyder's Batman on the other hand, is very much a Batman taken from the pages of the comic
books. The anti-supernaturalism and demythologizing of the Nolan Batman is gone, replaced by a Batman who now not only exists in the same universe as Superman, but goes toe-to-toe with him; a Batman who has trained and fought alongside various incarnations of Robin and a Batman who is a totally self-made and self-reliant superhero having designed and built all of his suits, gadgets and vehicles. Visually and aesthetically, Snyder's Batman looks far more like the comic book counterparts. His suit is heavily inspired by Frank Miller's Batman; the Batmobile resembles the Arkham Knight video game Batmobile, more stream lined and aerodynamic than Nolan's but also militarized too with an arsenal of weapons at its disposal. Snyder's world is very much the world inhabited by the character's comic book counterparts. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is much more a comic book movie than the Nolan Dark Knight Trilogy. One thing both directors have in common is the dark tone of their movies. Snyder's Batman is a man hellbent on stopping Superman, even if that means having to kill him. This more ruthless Batman created quite a bit of backlash among the critics and some fans. However, Snyder's Batman is no mere coldblooded killer. Compared to Nolan's Batman, Snyder's Batman has not only experienced more, but has suffered more leading to more ethical dilemmas.
Snyder's Batman is the Batman who suffered the death of Robin at the hands of the Joker. Given this reference in the movie itself, it is reasonable to conjecture that in this universe the Joker also paralyzed Barbara Gordon by shooting her in the spine and then kidnapped Commissioner Gordon and forced him to look at images of his naked paralyzed daughter in the hope of driving him insane. It was this event in the graphic novel that drove Batman to want to kill the Joker to prevent him from committing any more acts of evil and was stopped only by Commissioner Gordon himself. Nolan's Batman could never make such moral choices because in Nolan's world Robin didn't exist and neither did Barbara Gordon. Yes Batman made some questionable moral decisions in the Dark Knight in his hunt for the Joker, as well as suffering the death of Rachel. But, Nolan's Joker did not have the history with Batman to create such deep wounds and drive Batman to the edge of breaking his own moral code. The context of Snyder's Batman is completely different.
Then you have the presence of Superman and the question of how the world would react to his existence. Nolan's Batman was a solitary superhero. Batman was the only superhero of his kind. Whereas in Snyder's world, Batman coexists with Superman. Snyder also approaches the existence of Superman in his movies from the perspective what would a person with superhuman power be capable of - either deliberately or inadvertently - and what consequences would there be to his actions. And if there were other superhuman beings who were evil or who had no regard for human life then what would be the ramifications and casualties of such a battle/struggle? Batman has witnessed firsthand the destruction of Metropolis during Superman's battle against Zod and so Superman is the cause of a paradigm shift in Batman. Once again, this was not even possible in Nolan's world. Batman did not have to make moral choices based on the existential threat super powered aliens pose to humanity as there were none.
Another divergence between Nolan and Snyder's adaptations is the quality of action and fight sequences. Nolan's Batman was meant to be a world-class martial artist, but fight choreography is not one of Nolan's strengths. Snyder on the other hand is well known for his penchant for hyper-violence and very graphic style of fight choreography. Snyder's Batman therefore is much more the embodiment of the world-class martial artist he is meant to be. Snyder's Batman has an economy and efficiency of movement, yet at the same time a brutal and visceral fighting style. Because of Zack Snyder's directing style, you feel the weight and strength of every strike and movement as Batman is fighting. This Batman is far more physically imposing and intimidating - Ben Affleck's screen presence far outweighs that of Christian Bale's. Affleck's Batman is far more similar in size and proportion to the comic book Batman than Bale's and he fights far more like him as well.
Due to the nature of Snyder's world, a world which parallel's the comic books so closely, CGI is a much more important and necessary component. Man of Steel heavily relied on CGI too. Yet, the amount of CGI in Snyder's universe is necessary because of the vision he has created for it. A super powered hero with the abilities and powers of Superman could not be portrayed or adapted without the use of CGI. So too with the events of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Neither Batman's fight with Superman or their battle against Doomsday alongside WonderWoman would be possible without CGI. This dependence on CGI may drive some viewers away or infuriate critics, but the alternative is then just not have a DCEU. The problem with that approach is that then you limit yourself and ultimately hinder the amount of stories you can tell and movies you can make. There is a reason Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy was a trilogy - there was only ever a very limited number of stories he could tell with the world he created. Snyder's world is far more expansive and imaginative and his Batman reflects his creative direction. *note: I am choosing not to compare the DCEU with the MCU in this blog, as that is not the purpose of this blog.
Overall, as a director and film-maker Nolan made some very important creative decisions that allowed him to make a Batman divorced from the comic books while still being adapted from them. It was this divorce from the Batman mythos as established in the comic books that helped Nolan to create a trilogy that emphasized realism, which translated well with adult audiences and teenagers alike. Nolan's movies were also original and breathtaking in their stunts and cinematography. I still love the Nolan trilogy, and if they were the only Batman movies ever created I would still be happy with them.
However, as a fan of the comic books I know there is more to Batman than Nolan portrayed and a rich history and rogues gallery that could never coexist in Nolan's world. For this reason, as well as his visual aesthetics, fight choreography and the more interesting moral character and choices he created I prefer Snyder's Batman. Is Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice as good a movie as Nolan's Dark Knight? Probably not. Is Nolan a better story teller than Zack Snyder? Probably so. But Nolan is also a much safer and less risk averted director too (at least when it comes to retelling comic book stories). He's a director first and then comic book guy second (if he truly is a comic book guy at all). Nolan makes some difficult creative decisions based on what is best for the movie, not for what is best for the Batman mythos.
Snyder on the other hand is unashamedly a comic book guy. This is reflected in every frame and
every shot and every single creative decision he makes in his movies. He adapted 300 and Watchmen before directing Man of Steel and now Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. His visual aesthetic is completely influenced by his love of comic books and the decisions he makes reflect his priorities to reproduce the mythos and aesthetics of the DC comic book world. Both Nolan and Snyder are artists in their own ways. However, Nolan's style of art is much less influenced by the medium and genre of comic books than Snyder's. Snyder loves bringing comic books to life in movies. This much is evident from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Even though Snyder has his weaknesses as a director, his movies are much more gratifying to me as a Batman fan. Do I want to see more of Snyder's Batman? Absolutely yes. Do I want Snyder to direct Justice League Parts 1 & 2? Unequivocally yes. They may not be perfect films, but they will reflect Snyder's love for the source material and certainly feel like a comic book come to life. Snyder has brought the DC universe to life for the first time. This again is something I think he should be given credit for. Never before has it been done. Maybe in 20 years from now someone else will come along and do it better. In many respects every director should have that mentality of laying down the gauntlet for the next generation of directors to take up. Just as in the comic books so too in movies, several adaptations exist. These adaptations each add their own interpretation to the characters. This I feel is incredibly important. If every director wrote Batman the same way, it would become stale and boring. Variety is necessary and healthy. For now, I want to see Snyder take Batman forward. But, as a Batman fan I am happy to have both his and Nolan's Batman to enjoy and compare.
Singer's Superman is once again shed in a messianic light as he sacrifices himself to save the world with very overt Christian symbolism. However, despite the Christian symbolism, Singer's Superman also breaks with traditional Christian morality, fathering a son to Lois Lane unbeknown to him. When Superman returns to earth (as the movie's title suggests) he finds Lois in a new relationship and with a young son. Believing at first that this child is the son of her fiance, played by James Marsden (Cyclops), Superman later finds out that the child is in fact his. Superman's sacrifice on behalf of humanity by destroying a giant kryptonite island created by Lex Luthor, acts as his redemption in Lois' eyes who had harbored resentment towards him as an absentee father and unreliable boyfriend leading her to write an article for the daily planet masking her personal resentment towards him in questioning whether the world needs Superman anymore as its hero.
Snyder's vision for Superman continued through into Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice portraying a Superman not yet fully in control of his powers when he becomes emotionally enraged, but a person both as Clark Kent and Superman who is fundamentally committed to doing good and helping the world. As Clark Kent, he pursues Batman believing it his moral duty and obligation as a journalist to expose Batman's vigilante justice. As Superman he continues to save innocent people such as girl trapped in a burning building, as well as victims of severe flooding. Superman's first priority is always to help others.
