“So what you’re saying is that Batman will be better off without Christopher Nolan” my friend said in a slightly elevated voice that was more a direct irritated statement than a question.

“That’s not what I said” I protested… but then paused to think about it for a moment. “Ok, while I wouldn’t exactly put it that way, I suppose in a way I guess I am”.

Let me give a you a little bit of background:

About a week ago I was chatting with a colleague of mine in the online film world about the recent news that Christopher Nolan would be making this upcoming BATMAN film his last and by extension making it Christian Bale’s final BATMAN as well (since Bale has basically stated he wouldn’t do another one unless Christopher Nolan stayed on the franchise).

The discussion started with the previous two films, how much we enjoyed them, my problems with THE DARK KNIGHT (even though I really loved it), how much we both would love to see Liam Neeson return as Ra’s Al Ghul in the third film even though we both know that isn’t something that’s going to happen and about how much we both enjoyed Nolan’s films away from the BATMAN franchise.

That’s when the conversation took a bit of a sharp turn.

My friend began to lament that without Nolan, BATMAN movies would basically either end or never return to the greatness that the previous two films had reached. He also went on to describe Nolan’s decision to leave the franchise as a massive mistake. “Wait a second” I said as I rudely interrupted his verbal train of thought. “That’s a ridiculous things to say. First of all Nolan has proved he can have huge success away from BATMAN, and you know what, after three films maybe BATMAN could use a fresh set of eyes and talent at the helm”.

My friend, clearly agitated by my response then shot at me the statement that began this article: “So what you’re saying is that Batman will be better off without Christopher Nolan”.

I don’t like phrasing it like that because it implies I’m saying Christopher Nolan has somehow been “bad” for the BATMAN franchise, which obviously couldn’t be further from the truth. All I was trying to say was that Nolan leaving the franchise wasn’t necessarily a death sentence for BATMAN, and, maybe, could end up being a positive thing for both BAMAN and Nolan.

Here’s what I mean:

Christopher Nolan is a creative force. Even beyond BATMAN all you have to do is look at his stable of other films. MEMENTO, INSOMNIA, THE PRESTIGE and most recently INCEPTION. But when you have someone who is a creative force like Nolan, you have to continuously stimulate that creativity. You have to constantly confront it with new challenges and give it a fresh canvas for new ideas and creative expression.

When you put creativity in a box for too long, no matter how much of a genius you are, it starts to go stale.

A perfect example of this is one of my favorite filmmakers Sam Raimi. After SPIDER-MAN 2 (one of the best comic book movies in history in my opinion) no one thought there was even a remote possibility that SPIDER-MAN 3 could be a disappointment. After all, Sam Raimi and his whole cast was coming back and the previous films had both been incredible.

But what happened? SPIDER-MAN 3 ended up being one of (if not THE) worst comic book movies ever. There are those who will try to make excuses for why it wasn’t Raimi’s fault, but in the end it was his ass sitting in the director’s chair. Did Sam Raimi suddenly stop being a great filmmaker? Obviously not, DRAG ME TO HELL is proof of that.

What happened was (in my opinion) Raimi got creatively tapped out on SPIDER-MAN. In the third film we started to see a LOT of repetitive themes, repetitive lines and repetitive sub-plots. It lost the edge the previous films had and just sort of collapsed in upon itself.

**For more on this, watch my old video editorial of why SPIDER-MAN 4′s cancellation was a good thing for both Raimi and SPIDER-MAN**

Am I suggesting that the next BATMAN film is doomed to fail? Not at all, I trust Nolan completely. But having said that, I do think that eventually, if Nolan’s pure creativity is continuously being brought back to the same story over and over and over again we’ll start to see it take its toll on both on Nolan and on BATMAN.

So much like Sam Raimi, I actually think that walking away from BATMAN after the third film is probably for the best for both Nolan and BATMAN.

And lest we start lamenting a BATMAN without Nolan, remember that many successful film franchises have changed directors and continued to move forward and succeed.

– The original STAR WARS trilogy switched directors every film

– The James Bond movies have changed directors and actors

– The HARRY POTTER franchise has used 4 different directors

– Nolan himself was new to BATMAN amongst some fan protests that no one would ever be able to do BATMAN as well as Tim Burton. That worked out pretty well wouldn’t you say?

Christopher Nolan is one of my three favorite filmmakers in the business today and we Comic Book film fans owe him a huge debt of gratitude for giving us the BATMAN films we’ve always wanted. But being the intelligent man that he is, he recognizes that creatively, he NEEDS to move on. On top of that, new blood coming into BATMAN (in whatever incarnation the next BATMAN will be after Nolan) could be a very good and positive thing for the Dark Knight of Gotham. Sure, it could be a disaster as well, but that’s true of any potential future we try to see.

So while I’m not saying BATMAN will be better off without Nolan in so many words… I am suggesting that this is a wise move for a filmmaker protecting his creativity, and ultimately that can be good (or essential) for the franchise as well.

Leave your thoughts.