The Batman trilogy by Christopher Nolan got a lot of things right, but it also managed to get something horribly wrong. While there were some brilliant choices made in the films, such as the casting of Heath Ledger as Joker, some parts of the trilogy suffered under the weight of horrible decisions.
One such choice was the casting of ethnically White actors to play the roles of Ra’s Al Ghul and Talia al Ghul, both of whom are depicted to be of Middle-Eastern descent in the comics. While there has been a resurgence in this particular criticism of Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, there is hope that upcoming Batman projects could correct these mistakes.
Batman Part II could do the al Ghuls justice
Matt Reeves‘ Batman-verse has just one entry as of yet, but the chatter around the quality of the film has drawn comparisons from the Nolan-verse already. While the Reeves-verse is its own entity and is not beholden to correcting mistakes made by other creators, the film could very much feature a more racially accurate Ra’s al Ghul.
Batman Part II already has a lot riding on it, being the only parallel setting to feature a DC character that will exist in the live-action alongside James Gunn’s DCU. Gunn was keen on assimilating Reeves’ version of the universe into his DC Universe, but could not get Reeves to agree. Hence, this version of the character is bound to remain separate.
A racially accurate Ra’s al Ghul would enhance the story of Batman Part II, given that the character is an integral part of the Caped Crusader’s past, and Reeves’ version of the character seems more introspective than the versions that came before.
Batman: Brave and the Bold needs to get the al Ghuls right
James Gunn announced that the first Dark Knight project in the DCU would be Batman: Brave and the Bold, which will feature Bruce Wayne with his biological son, Damian Wayne, who was born of a union between Batman and Talia al Ghul, the daughter of Ra’s al Ghul. Unlike the Nolan verse, James Gunn needs to make sure that these characters are accurately cast.
Brave and the Bold would be an important step towards bringing characters of color into the DCU. In an important role with Robin, Gunn must cast Ra’s, Talia, and Damian that are accurate to the character’s heritage as depicted in the comics. These characters must be of Middle-Eastern descent (Damian at least needs to be biracial) and should reflect the mythology that has been established in the comics.
Damian’s inclusion in the films would mean that the Batman that we are getting in the DCU will be considerably older. meaning the character would have a lot of history to unpack in his tenure as a member of the Justice League and by himself. Given that Damian will be operating with the character as his Robin, Talia will also play a crucial role in the film and the lives of the Caped Crusader and his sidekick, which means it is important that the film refuses to make the same mistake that Christopher Nolan did.
