Christopher Nolan Told David Goyer to Skip the Affleck Batman Era: “It’s Confusing”
It’s hard to imagine the modern superhero landscape without the influence of Batman Begins. The 2005 reboot redefined the character, thanks to the grounded vision of Christopher Nolan and writer David Goyer.
But while Goyer has had a long and complicated history with DC characters, writing everything from Blade to Man of Steel, there’s one chapter he didn’t write: Ben Affleck’s Batman. According to Goyer, that decision came with a little nudge from Nolan himself.
Appearing on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Goyer looked back on his legacy with the Caped Crusader and revealed that Nolan gave him a very clear piece of advice after they wrapped The Dark Knight trilogy: steer clear of the next reboot.
He then shared that Nolan advised him not to work on the post-Dark Knight trilogy films set in the new continuity that introduced Ben Affleck as the caped crusader. “Just because it’s confusing,” Goyer explained. “We did one, just stick with that.”
Goyer had already helped Warner Bros. resurrect Batman with Nolan in a singular, self-contained vision. Jumping into a completely different version of the character, especially so soon after The Dark Knight Rises, didn’t feel right.
Before Batman, Goyer built his name on Blade, scripting all three Wesley Snipes-led films. He then collaborated closely with Nolan to reimagine Batman for a new era.
The success of Batman Begins led to story credits on The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, and from there, Goyer moved into Superman territory with Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, a film that introduced Affleck’s Dark Knight in a brand-new universe.
While Goyer had reportedly signed a three-picture deal that included Justice League, he ended up stepping back as other writers took over.
When asked about returning to the Blade franchise now being developed by Marvel Studios, Goyer had mixed feelings.
“All the time on social media, I see [people saying], ‘They should have Goyer do the new Blade,’” he said. “Part of me thinks it would be fun, but part of me thinks, ‘I did, so far, the definitive Blade, and it’s a mistake.’”
Today, Goyer’s more interested in sci-fi storytelling that doesn’t involve capes. He’s deep into producing genre projects like Foundation and Murderbot for Apple TV+, and his upcoming original project, still under wraps.
Goyer said: “I’m pretty much still not in a comic book place. I’ve got a new project that I’ll be going to market with next month that is not comic book. It’s still genre, but not comic book [based].”
As the DC Universe undergoes yet another overhaul under James Gunn and Peter Safran, it’s a reminder that the superhero genre is constantly evolving.