The Dark Knight Trilogy, directed by Christopher Nolan, arguably contains the best live-action version of Batman to date. The franchise has been praised for making the Caped Crusader more realistic and human. Unlike other superheroes, particularly characters from the MCU, Christian Bale's Batman in Nolan's films is simply a man who may have gadgets and resources, but he can get hurt both physically and mentally. However, Matt Reeves may make his Batman story more grounded in reality because his version of the superhero is slightly younger and less experienced.

Before Nolan's trilogy, Tim Burton presented Batman in a dark film noir universe in which the hero was mysterious and untouchable. Joel Schumacher lightened up his Batman a bit, but placed him around too many gizmos and overproduced visual effects. Nolan found the right balance of making Batman a grounded superhero and an intelligent crime-fighter with valuable technology, without being too bleak or over the top. The question for Matt Reeves' The Batman is how grounded the dark superhero will be in this film, and how Robert Pattinson will depict Batman's strengths and weaknesses.

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What made Nolan's trilogy nearly perfect is displaying Batman's journey in different stages, and by providing more context into Bruce Wayne's character. Previous Batman films primarily showed Bruce as a wealthy orphan accompanied by his loyal butler, with plenty of money and cars, including his mansion with the batcave. He would be a rich billionaire by day, and the caped crusader by night, fighting various villains from time to time. This was the routine Batman fans got used to seeing in Burton's and Schumacher's films.

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However, Batman Begins successfully jumpstarted the superhero by initially focusing on the man himself, Bruce Wayne, who's initially presented not as a wealthy billionaire or a well-dressed hero with gizmos, but a fearful and confused man who didn't understand the difference between justice and vengeance. Bruce is shown doing intense physical training, and learning how to fight multiple opponents at once without getting caught. Bruce's journey begins by learning to understand what true justice means, and when he starts to transition into his role as Batman, he uses his family fortune, his technological resources, and his gadgets with purpose, not for show or flash (well maybe a little).

Even when Nolan's Batman gains more recognition (or divisiveness), and when Bruce increases his role as a successful billionaire, he never loses sight of his mission to take down the enemies of Gotham, and to protect the city's people as best he can from harmful criminals. Bruce is also shown at rock bottom, both financially and physically, in The Dark Knight Rises, but he shows how powerful he is by picking himself up, remembering his training, and giving himself the will to fight back. Even with all his training and resources, Bruce Wayne/Batman proves his worthiness as a grounded superhero by having the will to act, fight, and use his tools effectively. He also always has allies by his side.

Matt Reeves's The Batman will undoubtedly borrow some elements from Nolan's trilogy, such as having a batcave, and help from Gordon, Alfred, and Catwoman. However, Robert Pattinson's Batman is younger than Bale's, and won't have as many vehicles and gadgets since his journey is just getting started. While Nolan's Batman franchise was a mostly personal journey for the superhero, resembling a gritty crime drama, Reeves's Batman feature appears to resemble a psychological thriller like David Fincher's Se7en due to the rainy urban atmosphere and the traditional wardrobe, with The Riddler appearing like a mysterious killer on the loose.

Based on the trailers, Reeves's film will depict Batman as more of a detective than superhero, who will rely on Jeffrey Wright's James Gordon, and work more with the Gotham police to solve crimes. Pattinson's Batman will be personal, to a certain extent, since he says he represents vengeance. Whether or not he will seek revenge for his parents' deaths is unclear (and has been done countless times before), but those memories will impact his determination to fight criminals in Gotham.

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Bale's Batman was about facing fears and fighting for justice rather than revenge. Pattinson's Dark Knight will be a combination of crime fighting and vengeance because he is just starting his path, and intends to not overcome fear but prove that he can take on any criminal, such as The Riddler, who wants to play mind games with the superhero.

The Dark Knight Trilogy had its fair share of major action sequences and explosions, which weren't over the top, and set the right tone in a gritty, urban Gotham. Reeves' Batman will be similar, including a major car chase between the hero and Penguin, but instead of a Tumbler, the batmobile that Pattinson rides looks more like a high powered car rather than a massive vehicle. Besides the grapple gun, Reeves won't have his Batman use a whole lot of technical devices since he's beginning with limited resources. He will rely a lot more on hand-to-hand combat and fighting skills to defeat evil criminals.

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Whether The Batman will take place in present-day or in the past, Pattinson's younger version of the Dark Knight will be more grounded than Bale's from Nolan's trilogy because he will rely more on detective work and physically search for bad guys rather than use a lot of technological resources, since he's only beginning his journey as a vigilante superhero, and will have reliable allies. Pattinson's Batman will also be slightly darker than Bale's because he's angrier, uncontrollable, and more serious. Whoever faces The Batman will be fearful, and needs to prepare for war.

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