Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy is a favorite among Batman fans, and in it, other DC characters outside Batman’s world don’t exist – here’s why. After going through a rough patch with Joel Schumacher’s Batman Forever and Batman & Robin in the 1990s, the Caped Crusader was given a new chance to shine on the big screen in Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins, the first entry in a trilogy that brought Gotham City to the real world.
Nolan’s approach to the characters and settings was more realistic than what Tim Burton did in Batman and Batman Returns and way different from what Schumacher did, and he also gave their stories a much darker tone. Batman Begins, then, introduced the audience to Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne and to villains Ra’s al Ghul (Liam Neeson) and Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy). The success of Batman Begins made it possible for Nolan to continue sharing his version of the character in two sequels – The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises – and in all movies, no characters from DC Comics outside of Batman’s bubble are mentioned or acknowledged.
Batman has crossed paths with other DC Comics characters in the comics, but it doesn’t happen often in other media. The Caped Crusader recently did so in the DCEU thanks to Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman and Justice League, but Nolan’s version stayed away from references and appearances from characters from the wider DC Comics universe. Rather than being a coincidence, this was done on purpose by Nolan, who wanted the motivations of his Bruce Wayne not to be tainted or influenced by those of others, making him a more unique hero.
Speaking to LA Times in 2008, at a time where crossovers in the superhero world were about to start thanks to Marvel’s Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk, Nolan shared that his version of Batman and Gotham City didn’t “lend itself to that kind of cross-fertilization”. He went on to explain that the idea of other superheroes existing in his universe was something they discussed in the early stages of the development of Batman Begins, and they decided that comic books and superheroes aren’t a thing in this version. This was done so Bruce’s decision to put on a costume and act as a vigilante was an original idea of him and not something he took from Superman or any other character he could have seen in comic books. Nolan added that they went back to “the very original concept and idea of the character”, as in his first appearances, he “invents himself as a totally original creation”.
Christopher Nolan didn’t want his Bruce Wayne to be influenced by others, not even Zorro, who is famously known to be the star of the movie that Bruce and his parents watched on the night Thomas and Martha were killed. Nolan also got rid of Zorro in his version so Bruce’s idea to become a masked vigilante was his and only his and for his own, personal reasons and purposes. Other DC Comics characters not existing in the universe of the Dark Knight is not a big loss nor a problem, as it allowed the characters to do their own thing without the pressure or influence of other heroes and villains, and it was done so well many viewers didn’t notice that comic books and superheroes don’t exist in this version.
