Zack Snyder’s Candid Talk With Christopher Nolan About Making Batman Bad

In their upcoming Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice issue, Empire has some intriguing insights from director Zack Snyder, specifically about seeking Christopher Nolan's blessing about his plans for Batman. Nolan was an executive producer on Man of Steel, which is when Snyder approached him about his intentions to turn Batman against Superman in a battle royale—one in which, Empire's John Nugent writes, "Batman would essentially be the bad guy."

“You tell me if you don’t want me to do it,” Snyder told Empire he said to Nolan.  After considering it for a bit, Nolan said, “Well, we don’t own these characters. When you’re done making Batman movies, someone else will [make them].”

Snyder told Empire that he thinks Nolan found the idea a little hard to take. “I would feel the same way,” he said. Nolan had seen Batman through his epic trilogy, in which the character was ravaged, mentally, physically and emotionally,  and was finally granted a reprieve in The Dark Knight Rises, in the final installment; the last we see of Batman, he's just Bruce Wayne, sitting at a little cafe on the banks of the Arno in Florence, with the lovely Selina Kyle, formerly the Cat Woman. It was a well earned retirement, and here was Synder telling Nolan that not only was Batman back in black, he was going to be a brooding bruiser, spoiling for a fight with Superman. 

Of course Nolan gave Synder his blessing, and the director of Batman v Superman tells Empire he's sought to create a "very intimate" battle between two superheroes. “In a lot of ways Batman v Superman is a very personal concept,” he says. “It is just two people trying to understand each other’s point of view.”