Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy is one of the greatest superhero trilogies ever. The trilogy consisted of Christian Bale, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Cillian Murphy etc. The Batman Begins explores Bruce Wayne’s past and how he became the Batman. The Dark Knight focuses on the greatest superhero rivalry, Batman vs. Joker. There was quite a gap between the two movies.
The fans often wanted to know what Batman was doing at that time. Based on that thought, Bruce Timm developed the first DC anime movie, Gotham Knight. Released in 2008, the Gotham Knight explores the happenings between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. Timm had little time to interact with the live-action cast to learn about the setup in detail.
Batman: Gotham Knight Is The Link Between The Dark Knight Trilogy Movies
Bruce Timm is famous for the Batman Animated Series, Batman Beyond, Justice League, etc. He is one of the reasons why the old-generation DC animated series’ were so popular. His distinct style brought a revolution in DC’s animation. The Batman: Gotham Knight also followed the same pattern and gave a more anime-type feeling to the franchise. The animated movie is popular since it showcases Batman’s whereabouts between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.
While Gotham Knight is quite popular, Bruce Timm could have done a better job if he had spent more time with the original cast. During an interview, he said, “We worked as closely with them as they had time to give us, which wasn’t unfortunately, a whole lot. They had a bit of full plate prepping The Dark Knight.” Both Gotham Knight and The Dark Knight were released in 2008, so neither had time to spend.
The anime movie did a great job of describing the in-between events since the films were clubbed together. It helped set the narrative since focusing on one story would not have done justice to showing everything in between. Popular studios like Production I.G., Madhouse, Warner Bros., etc., together produced the movie. Even though there were six movies, the entire thing wrapped up in 76 minutes.
Gotham Knight Was Something Extra For The Fans
Batman has different versions in the comics, and each of them is equally interesting. So, Gotham Knight was made to explore six of those sides and to do something extra for the fans. The anime movie carefully implemented the live-action locations in the movie. Even though it followed Christopher Nolan’s Batman-verse, Timm managed to add in his own essence.
As an artist, he felt the need to surpass himself through his creative drives. The fans loved Gotham Knight for its out-of-the-books approach. It remains one of the most popular anime-style DC movies. Batman has several foes, and most of them are portrayed in the movies. Overall, Bruce Timm did a great job with whatever little time he got.
Batman: Gotham Knight can be streamed on Amazon Video as of 16th August 2024.
