Credit: Warner Bros.Christopher Nolan isn’t interested in directing The Dark Knight Part 4.
The Dark Knight films suddenly seem like a lifetime ago. In the 11 years since the third and final installment in Christopher Nolan’s trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises (2012), arrived in theaters, a lot has happened in the world of Batman on the big screen.
Four years after the film was released, Ben Affleck slipped into the cowl and cape, making his debut appearance in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016). Affleck would prowl the streets of Gotham for a further seven years, appearing in the follow-up films, Suicide Squad (2016), Justice League (2017), Justice League (2021), and The Flash (2023).
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Affleck’s time as Gotham’s Caped Crusader even overlapped with Robert Pattinson’s take on the character in The Batman (2022), which is now getting a follow-up and a spinoff television series. And then there’s the other “Elseworlds” installment (“Elseworlds” are standalone DC films independent of the DC Universe), Joker (2019), which is also getting a sequel. A Batman reboot, titled The Brave and the Bold (TBA), is also in the works (TBA).
So, cinema has been incredibly busy with many iterations of Batman since Christian Bale took on the likes of Joker (Heath Ledger) and Bane (Tom Hardy). But amid all the ongoing Batman continuities, is there room for another installment in The Dark Knight series? Will Christian Bale and Christopher Nolan eventually return for The Dark Knight Part 4?
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Following the release of The Flash in theaters last month, Kevin Smith suggested on his podcast, Fat Man Beyond, that Bale may have been approached to appear in the latest DC Multiverse venture by DC and Warner Bros. Obviously, he didn’t have any sort of cameo, although other versions of Bruce Wayne/Batman did, including George Clooney.
But whether Bale was asked or not, that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t ever return as Batman in a Dark Knight film. If he was asked to appear in The Flash, his refusal is a testament to his love for those three films. What would rule out that possibility is if director Christopher Nolan wasn’t interested in helming another sequel. On more than one occasion, Bale has said he’d only be interested in returning to Gotham if the acclaimed director was involved.
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Now, Christopher Nolan, whose latest film, Oppenheimer (2023), is soon to be released in theaters worldwide, has addressed whether or not he would return to direct another superhero movie.
In an interview with YouTuber HugoDécrypte (as per Variety) while promoting Oppenheimer, when asked if he’d be interested in returning to direct “another superhero movie” as part of a round of Yes-and-No questions, Nolan simply said, “No.”
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So it looks like we may never get a follow-up to The Dark Knight Rises. Maybe that’s a good thing. The 2012 film concluded the trilogy in the most satisfying way possible. Though it ends with Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s John “Robin” Blake taking up the Batman mantle, we think future stories are best left to one’s imagination.
Should The Dark Knight Rises Part 4 ever happen, though, Nolan and Bale may not even need to return. After all, The Dark Knight Rises ends Bruce Wayne faking his own death and disappearing to start a new life with Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway), while Joseph Gordon-Levitt discovers the Batcave beneath Wayne Manor.
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A fourth film could explore John Blake’s version of Batman, or Nightwing, a variation of Robin he’s most likely to become after the credits roll. Fans have been wondering for years whether or not this will happen, and though there’s every possibility, in a time when cinema is becoming saturated with superhero movies, and with them Batman films, The Dark Knight Rises Part 4 could get lost in the crowd.
Christopher Nolan’s new film, Oppenheimer, releases in theaters on July 21.
Here’s the official trailer:
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As per Empire Cinemas, here’s the synopsis for Oppenheimer:
Written and directed by Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer is an epic thriller that thrusts audiences into the pulse-pounding paradox of the enigmatic man who must risk destroying the world in order to save it.
The film stars Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer and Emily Blunt as his wife, biologist and botanist Katherine “Kitty” Oppenheimer. Oscar® winner Matt Damon portrays General Leslie Groves Jr., director of the Manhattan Project, and Robert Downey, Jr. plays Lewis Strauss, a founding commissioner of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission.
Academy Award® nominee Florence Pugh plays psychiatrist Jean Tatlock, Benny Safdie plays theoretical physicist Edward Teller, Michael Angarano plays Robert Serber and Josh Hartnett plays pioneering American nuclear scientist Ernest Lawrence.
Oppenheimer also stars Oscar® winner Rami Malek and reunites Nolan with eight-time Oscar® nominated actor, writer and filmmaker Kenneth Branagh.
The cast includes Dane DeHaan (Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets), Dylan Arnold (Halloween franchise), David Krumholtz (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs), Alden Ehrenreich (Solo: A Star Wars Story) and Matthew Modine (The Dark Knight Rises).
The film is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and the late Martin J. Sherwin. The film is produced by Emma Thomas, Atlas Entertainment’s Charles Roven and Christopher Nolan.
Oppenheimer’s stellar cast includes stars Cillian Murphy (J. Robert Oppenheimer), Emily Blunt (Katherine “Kitty” Oppenheimer), Matt Damon (Leslie Groves), Robert Downey Jr. (Lewis Strauss), Florence Pugh (Jean Tatlock), Josh Hartnett (Ernest Lawrence), Casey Affleck (Boris Pash), Rami Malek (David Hill), Kenneth Branagh (Niels Bohr), Matthew Modine (Vannevar Bush), David Dastmalchian (William L. Borden), Tom Conti (Albert Einstein), Jack Quaid (Richard Feynman), Dane DeHaan (Kenneth Nichols), Alden Ehrenreich (Senate aide), Jason Clarke (Roger Robb), and Gary Oldman (Harry S. Truman).
Would you like to see The Dark Knight Part 4? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!