The “secret” fourth movie in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight series is exactly how a future fifth film should be made. An animated anthology movie set in the same universe as Nolan’s live-action trilogy, Batman: Gotham Knight is a lesser-known film that was released in 2008. However, it truly is the perfect vehicle for future Dark Knight stories to be told.
Nolan’s final Dark Knight movie was 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises. While very satisfying in many ways, the trilogy-ender starring Christian Bale still left audiences with several questions about Gotham’s future and the fate of the city’s next Batman. To that end, a sequel to Batman: Gotham Knight set in the aftermath of Nolan’s trilogy feels like the best way to explore said future (without ruining the trilogy’s legacy).
Batman: Gotham Knight Sets Up A Perfect Way For A Fifth The Dark Knight Movie To Still Happen
Revealing The Future Of Nolan’s Dark Knight Universe
Produced by a variety of different animation studios and writers, Batman: Gotham Knight featured six different stories set in Nolan’s version of Gotham. Each story was set between the events of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, showing the aftermath of the first movie and how both the city and its new protector were evolving. As such, the movie saw Batman taking on villains who didn’t appear in the live-action trilogy, including Deadshot and Killer Croc, as well as a new confrontation with Scarecrow.
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Rather than Christian Bale voicing Bruce Wayne/Batman, Gotham Knight’s Dark Knight was instead voiced by iconic Batman voice actor Kevin Conroy. As such, it wouldn’t be hard to imagine a sequel to Gotham Knight set in the aftermath of The Dark Knight Rises. Not only could a new animated movie show Gotham’s attempts to get back to normal after Bane’s occupation, but it could also show John Blake aka Robin in his role as the next Dark Knight, having been left the Batcave by Bruce Wayne at the end of The Dark Knight Rises.
Why A Batman: Gotham Knight Sequel Wouldn’t Tamper With The Dark Knight Movie Legacy In The Same Way As A Live-Action Film
It Can Be Canon-Adjacent
Rather than being wholly canonical to Nolan’s live-action trilogy, Gotham Knight and its stories were labeled as canon-adjacent. While the plots are exciting and help flesh out both Gotham and Batman, they have no real weight or effect on The Dark Knight trilogy itself. As such, a sequel could be made in the exact same way, having a quasi-canon status so as not to tamper with the Dark Knight trilogy’s epic legacy. Because DC Studios is seemingly committed to developing Elseworlds projects beyond the DCU, a Gotham Knight sequel is at least a logical possibility (with lots of potential).
Batman: Gotham Knight
- Release Date
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July 8, 2008
- Runtime
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75 minutes
- Director
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Yasuhiro Aoki, Yuichiro Hayashi, Futoshi Higashide, Toshiyuki Kubooka, Hiroshi Morioka, Jong-Sik Nam
- Writers
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Bob Kane, Josh Olson, Jordan Goldberg, Greg Rucka, Brian Azzarello, Alan Burnett
- Producers
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Benjamin Melniker, Bruce Timm, Emma Thomas
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Thomas Wayne / Cop / Doctor / Youth 2 (voice)
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Jason Marsden
Batman / Bruce Wayne (voice)
