The director and co-writer of The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan and his brother Jonathan Nolan, helped change the way audiences looked at superhero movies in 2008. The genre was suddenly Oscar-worthy, daring, and meaningful. Along with the release of Marvel Studios’ first homespun production, Iron Man, the film inspired a new wave of comic book movies that now dominate the medium and bring billions of dollars into the entertainment industry. The success of their films helped drive Warner Bros. to produce a new slate of DC superhero movies through 2020.
And now they’re done with the genre.
In an upcoming interview about the new sci-fi drama Interstellar, screenwriter Jonathan Nolan told Coming Soon, “I love those guys and my brother was involved in Man of Steel with Zack [Snyder] and David [Goyer].”
But then he added, “I kind of feel like that chapter for us is closed.”
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When Warner Bros. began revamping their superhero line-up after the conclusion of The Dark Knight trilogy, everyone thought Christopher and Jonathan Nolan would be a part of it. But it became clear that the world they had created along with co-writer David Goyer had no place for a Superman, Wonder Woman or Aquaman in it. Despite rumors that Warner Bros. was bending over backwards to accommodate the filmmaker, and bring Christian Bale back as Batman, the DC superhero movies swiftly moved on, casting Ben Affleck as The Dark Knight and rebooting the franchise from scratch with the upcoming Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
It would appear that the creative carte blanche afforded to the Nolans when they worked on the Dark Knight trilogy is no longer a possibility, and that the daring (and sometimes controversial) approach they took to their DC superhero movies is a thing of the past. They make their own movies now based off of their own ideas.
But then again, as Jonathan Nolan tells Coming Soon, never say never.
“To be continued somewhere farther down the line?” says the screenwriter. “Maybe.”
Their next original film, Interstellar, arrives in theaters on November 4, and stars Matthew McConaughey as an astronaut tasked with finding a new home for humanity after Earth’s resources are depleted. Jonathan Nolan is also working on a TV series based on Michael Crichton’s Westworld, which will air on HBO next year.
William Bibbiani is the editor of CraveOnline’s Film Channel and the host of The B-Movies Podcast and The Blue Movies Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
