Why DC Should Make The Dark Knight Trilogy A Comic Book Series Like Batman '89
In addition to the plethora of on-screen productions coming up, DC isn't slouching on their comic book content either. Last month saw the next brand-wide relaunch in comics with Infinite Frontier, which follows Rebirth (that started in 2016) and The New 52 before it (2011). Along with the narrative and creative-team revamps the series have gotten (like Batman starting a fresh arc and Detective Comics getting a new writer/artist duo), several new series have been announced, one revival being particularly for Batman.
The Dark Knight is getting an ongoing anthology series in Urban Legends and the revival of Legends of the Dark Knight. He is also getting a miniseries in The Detective, a DC Black Label limited series in Reptilian, and a spiritual sequel to Burton's movies with Batman '89.
Particularly with '89, this could hypothetically open the door for a possible The Dark Knight Trilogy comic book series. Nolan's trilogy was widely praised, and there's some canonical wiggle room for an adaptation in the same vein as '89.
10 Capitalize On The Trilogy's Nostalgia & Acclaim
While pandering too much to the nostalgia of already-established acclaimed works, invoking it to a healthy extent is a great way to expand upon said works through supplemental material. Since Batman '89 is a spin-off stemming from movies, there's less pressure and more creative liberty to play with the superhero's vast mythos. People would be thrilled to see these classic movies continued in some fashion.
Burton and Nolan's movies each share the honor of bringing the Batman back to big-screen prominence in two separate eras. If nostalgia is the order of the day then Christopher Nolan's trilogy holds more of it despite being much more recent. Launching a TDK Trilogy-inspired comic book series could be a great way to help ensure booming success for Infinite Frontier from the off.
9 Strike While The Iron's Hot
Assuming Batman '89 does well critically and commercially, it would make the atmosphere primed for following up one revival of a beloved theatrical set of tales with another. If expanding on the worlds of DC's characters, based on filmmakers' own projects, Nolan's trilogy is among one of the next logical candidates.
There's admittedly less narrative space depending on how it's written, but it can be done and would certainly turn the heads of fans of the superhero, movies, and comics. As long as the quality proves projects like this aren't hollow cash-grabs, it feels like a no-brainer to exploit.
8 DC Black Label
One possible avenue that would be great to launch a comic series based on The Dark Knight Trilogy is to publish it under the DC Black Label imprint. One of the main purposes of this imprint is for DC to have a variety of authors and artists come in to tell alternate-canon stories within the greater DC multiverse. This would appeal to older audiences in a way that's essentially a revival of their old Elseworlds imprints.
It offers certain creative liberties that mainline-canon books may not, letting writers/artists pick and choose what events are and aren't canon in their universes, as well as create original lore. Nolan's/Bale's Batman qualifies as an "Elseworlds" canon, so DC Black Label is a perfect platform.
7 Between Batman Begins & The Dark Knight
Another comic book series, based off the trilogy, could be set in between the events of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. There were eight years in between the latter and The Dark Knight Rises. In those years, Bruce Wayne had become a recluse after willingly and under false pretenses, "falling on his sword" to become a scapegoat.
All this so citizens wouldn't lose faith in Harvey Dent who, out of the public eye, already made his dark descent into Two-Face. And, of course, Bruce gracefully retires at the end of Rises. With around a year in between Begins and TDK, there are still organized-crime related stories to tell.
6 Limited/Miniseries
Assuming Christian Bale's iteration of Bruce/Batman is the protagonist and the aforementioned time frame is used, a limited/miniseries format could justify a story. Short-term series are also occasionally used in DC's mainline comics, but since Black Label uses the limited/miniseries as an emphasis, a Dark Knight Trilogy book makes even more sense under this imprint.
Batman '89 will at least have one volume. However, with the understandably tighter canonical space to work within this trilogy, something the length and format of Three Jokers could be all that's necessary.
5 Gotham Knight Showed It's Possible
Though not among the most memorable DC animated Batman movies, Gotham Knight did experiment with this premise. Even more, it was an anime anthology movie with different Japanese creators taking a stab at the Caped Crusader's mythos. It's not regarded as canon to the movies, but the stories involved were intentionally set in between Begins and The Dark Knight.
If nothing else, it proves taking smaller-scale cases for Batman to tackle could work narratively in this universe and time frame. Grandiose spectacles aren't always a prerequisite for compelling stories.
4 Use Underrated Villains
A comic book series in between the first two would reasonably need to make some comparatively lower-profile picks for main antagonists, though that could be a strength in its own right. Since Batman spent the better part of a year crushing organized crime in Gotham after Begins, it opens the door for some noir/crime-boss supervillains.
The likes of Black Mask could be a good pick, as he's a tier above the Falcones/Maronis but doesn't overshadow the incoming Joker/Two-Face/Bane/Talia. It'd be thematically appropriate and a good next-tier supervillain before the "S-tier" Joker (à la Arkham Origins). Bringing back Victor Zsasz is another interesting option (similar to Birds of Prey) and he was terrifying in Arkham City.
3 Lee Bermejo's Art
A potential top-class pick in the art department for a hypothetical series like this would be Lee Bermejo. He's written and illustrated his own Batman comics, including the well-done, A Christmas Carol-inspired Noël. He uses a uniquely stylized artistic approach to his illustrations that would fit a TDK Trilogy comic like a glove.
It's an art style that can be distinguished a mile away and adopts a distinctively grounded, noir tone that would be right at home with Nolan's gritty, realistic crime-drama world. Bermejo even did his own rendition of Pattinson's upcoming Batman in a Year One-inspired poster.
2 David S. Goyer's Writing
This could be a great meta-thematically-appropriate selection for the writer of a series like this given the one behind the upcoming Batman '89. Sam Hamm will be writing '89, and he was a writer on Burton's Batman and Batman Returns. It will now be more interesting to see what he will do with that world on his own from a writing standpoint.
Similarly, David S. Goyer was a writer alongside Nolan himself for The Dark Knight Trilogy. Bringing him along for a series like this could be a smart way to craft narratives that adhere to the spirit of the trilogy while offering something new at the same time plot-wise.
1 Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Batman(?)
Another, though much different narrative option a series for this trilogy could take is to not use Bruce Wayne at all. In fact, depending on how it would be approached, it may not even need Batman specifically. Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character was revealed to be named Robin at the end of The Dark Knight Rises, leaving the movie with a well-executed ambiguous and optimistically open-ended conclusion.
A couple of possibilities could follow, the most obvious being "Robin" becoming the next Batman. This is normal in comics, as Dick Grayson--the original Robin--temporarily took on the mantle and gave great arcs like The Black Mirror. Conversely, this could turn into a Nightwing series, as the original Robin in the comics takes on this superhero persona post-Robin.