Something which occurred to me after reading this article:
https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/the...ovie-too-dark/
When they first released, the Nolan movies were regarded as the epitome of 'dark' and 'realistic' superhero cinema, which they certainly were...at the time. But now, between
Joker and now
The Batman, you kinda have to re-evaluate how 'dark' they really are in retrospect.
Beyond the psuedo-realistic aesthetic of the Nolanverse, these movies are actually pretty optimistic at their core. Its one of the few adaptations where Batman's mission actually
succeeds. In about a year or so, he cleans up Gotham, not just through his own vigilante actions, but by giving a shot in the arm to Gotham's law enforcement machinery and justice system. Carmine Falcone gets taken down on Batman's
first night! The people on the boats are ready to sacrifice their lives to save the other boat, proving the Joker's nihilism wrong. Gotham enjoys eight years of peace and prosperity, and things only get bad again because Bane shows up. The entire city rallies behind Batman when he returns to defeat Bane and the League of Shadows. And ultimately Bruce gets a happy ending - giving up the cowl, passing it on to a worthy successor, and running away with Selina.
Sure, there are some pretty dark moments - Rachel's death, Bruce spending close to a decade in isolation (well, actually more like three years...he spent the five years before that on an energy project - trying to help people in a different way), but ultimately, things work out for Gotham, for Bruce, for everyone. The good guys win, not just the battle on the streets, but the battle of ideas as well.
But Matt Reeves' upcoming film is a different beast altogether. Batman's been out there for a year and a half (longer than the Nolanverse Batman was ever active, if you think about it), and his experiment hasn't been working out too well, in Reeves' own terms. We're going to be exploring the deep-rooted corruption of Gotham, which apparently involves the Wayne family. The Riddler is a serial killer. Batman is pretty violent and brutal for its own sake...watch THAT moment in the trailer and tell me I'm wrong!
This comes on the heels of Batfleck, who's very much back now thanks to the Snyder cut and the Flash movie - a Batman who was so lost in cynicism and cruelty that he was prepared to
kill Superman because he felt the latter posed an existential threat, and routinely 'branded' sex offenders, basically giving them a 'death sentence' once they got to prison.
And of course Joacquin Phoenix has given us a Joker who, as the article I've linked says, isn't so much a 'rock star' anarchist as a deeply disturbed violent psychopath broken down by a corrupt and uncaring world.
I haven't even talked about some of the stuff in the comics from the past decade...
So, in hindsight, will the Nolanverse not be considered so 'dark' anymore, compared to all the other Batman media coming out?