The Dark Knight is one of the most lauded superhero movies of all time, but Christopher Nolan needed a bit of a push to take it on – specifically because he didn’t want to become the superhero movie guy.
His brother Jonathan Nolan, who’s currently promoting his upcoming TV series Fallout, revealed as much during a recent podcast episode of Armchair Expert With Dax Shepard (as spotted by Variety). Jonathan Nolan co-wrote The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises with his brother, and called himself a “consultant” on Batman Begins.
“I worked on Batman Begins in this kind of slightly arm’s length capacity, but it was the one comic book my brother had ever given me as a kid,” Jonathan Nolan said on the podcast. “Batman Year One for our 14th birthday. And 10 years later, I was on the set, working with him. Like, that’s nuts.”
Jonathan Nolan went on to describe the working relationship he established with his brother at that time, where he was largely able to write their next movie while Christopher Nolan was directing their current one. Christopher Nolan went right into filming their next movie, 2006’s The Prestige, right after Batman Begins.
“And I would be stuck alone with this thing on the Warner’s lot,” Jonathan Nolan said on the podcast. “And I felt like the ghost that haunted Warner Brothers… I’m trapped in this tiny office. It’s just me and Batman, and he’s crazy.”
“The Dark Knight – Chris was on the fence about making another one,” Jonathan continued. “I think he didn’t want to become a superhero movie director. He was very proud of Batman Begins. To me, it’s like… we built this amazing this amazing sports car and I’m like, ‘let’s take it for a drive. Don’t you wanna make one more?’ Like, we did all this stuff. “
Shepard jumped in to point out that the Nolans had gotten all the “hard work” done on Batman Begins, setting the tone of the world.
“You spend an hour doing an origin story and it’s great, but it’s like, what can we do with this? And can we take the same characters and shift ever so slightly into a different genre? Can we go from an adventure film to a crime film to a mob move, bring that feeling into it? So I was, I mean, literally sitting with (producer) Chuck Roven and Chris and being like, ‘dude, don’t be a chicken shit, let’s do this.’ “
As it turns out, sometimes all you need is your brother telling you to not be “a chicken shit.” Christopher Nolan obviously went on to direct The Dark Knight, which made $1 billion at the worldwide box office, won Heath Ledger a posthumous Oscar, and is largely considered a modern classic. The Nolans would also make 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises, which crossed the $1 billion mark worldwide as well.
For more from Jonathan Nolan, check out our interview with him as part of our exclusive Fallout digital cover story.
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she’s not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
