Christopher Nolan reveals why Batman is always so popular

The caped crusader has remained a staple of comic book adaptations even when we didn't have the mega machines of the MCU and DCU.
Text: Alex Hopley
Published 2024-04-22

From Adam West to Robert Pattinson, plenty of people have played Batman on-screen, and it seems like studios are always wanting to revisit the character, as he remains a popular hero even when it may seem that audiences have grown bored of other, similar movies and characters.

Speaking at the British Film Institute, Christopher Nolan gave his two cents on why he thinks Batman has been able to adapt and persist so long in movie culture. "The Batman mythology ... one of the reasons It's continuously interesting [and] continuously reinvented by new generations ... is because of [that] essential idea of a good vigilante," he said.

"Somebody who feels they have to resort to criminal methods or be outside the system in order to fix the system. It's endlessly complex and interesting."

<social>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW3tLBp4L6Q</social>

We have seen Batman evolve over the decades we've seen him on screen. From the campy, Adam West days to the dark and gritty Matt Reeves universe, it seems that the bat always has a place in cinemagoers' hearts.

Back