Zack Snyder asked for Nolan's blessing to make Batman v Superman

[The Dark Knight]

Maybe I'm just old. But to me Superman and Batman are the Christopher Reeve and Michael Keaton movies. Nothing else can replace them in my heart.

I think Burton fans will be pleased with Affleck's Batman on the whole.

There's a bigger emphasis on visuals and Batman builds his own gear among other things.

One of the biggest points of difference is Affleck's Batman has been fighting crime for many years. Nolan's version was always so eager to retire. I see Batman as Bruce's true personality, what he essentially became after his parents were gunned down. Bale's Bruce saw Batman as a separate entity from himself. "I am using this monster," as he says in Begins. A suit to wear for what he hoped to be a few years or less, and then kick back in the Caribbean living a life of luxury. And Bruce calling Batman a monster is off-putting to me. I don't think he should consider himself a monster. Batman thinks his methods are right, and what needs to be done.

So to me, that's not my ideal version of the character. Kilmer's Batman said it so simply at the end of Forever. "You see, I'm both Bruce Wayne and Batman, not because I have to be, now, because I choose to be." Batman is something burned into his soul, an insatiable appetite that needs to be sated every night. It's his life calling. Both something he needs and wants. Try as he might, he can't turn off that side of himself because it's the dominant part of his personality.

Nolan tried to do something different and condense it all into three films. That's fine, I guess, but I'm ready for the more typical characterisation to return. To say I'm eager for March to roll around is an understatement.

[Edd Grayson]

Maybe I'm just old. But to me Superman and Batman are the Christopher Reeve and Michael Keaton movies. Nothing else can replace them in my heart.

Well, I love them too, but I don't judge the new movies based on that. I don't see any reason to. It's not a competition to me. 

[thecolorsblend]

It just still irks me, especially, as thecolorsblend suggests, some 'fans' seem to love the Nolan films to the exclusion of anything else associated with Batman.  As someone who has got plenty of time for pretty much every incarnation of Batman, Burton, Nolan, West, the animated series and Schumacher (at least Batman Forever), the way some people treat TDK trilogy as the 'one and only' Batman strikes me as pretty small-minded.

Understandable, Lord knows I've been critical of that mentality myself. And in Jett's case will remain so. But we won't get into that.

But I think this is an instance where timing is everything. I get the impression you and I are roughly the same age. That means that when we were kids, we were exposed to a decent variety. Burton, BTAS, West, Schumacher and the comics. And that's a pretty broad cross section of material in just five or six years when you think about it.

That's a benefit that people weaned on the Nolan trilogy never had. The best among them might've had access to the Long Halloween, The Killing Joke and anything else influential on Nolan's films (and these likely because they were influential on Nolan's films) but not much else. Their depth of experience (and knowledge) is more limited. This isn't entirely their fault.

It remains bothersome, however, in that the end result of their fandom encases Batman in amber and denies him the growth and malleability which has always defined him. The Batman of 1939 was persona non grata in 1959. There's nothing wrong with the character changing and what I think you and I bristle at is these fans' ambitions (expressed or implied) to rid the world of everything that isn't Nolan... an action which, oddly enough, I think even Nolan himself would condemn.

I hope I'm wrong. But I didn't like Man of Steel at all. It reminded me to much of The Dark Knight. Which means I thought it was a no-fun, overly serious Superman movie. And that to me is no Superman movie at all. To me that's no Batman movie at all either.

I get that. But WB was behind the 8-ball in a lot of ways with MOS. They began pre-production on it because of a legal obligation, they were feeling their way and finding their own voice in developing their own superhero universe (an evolutionary process which nobody begrudges Marvel Studios, I notice).

And, let's not forget, WB had to make people care about Superman... no small task considering the apathy wide audiences had for Bryan Singer's abortion of a movie.

They also had to deliver an action-packed Superman film that showed audiences a side to the character never seen before in live action.

WB has wanted a Batman/Superman team up movie for at least 15 years. The conclusion of the Nolanverse and the aftermath of MOS finally allowed them a chance to do it. I'm not getting any younger so I'm all for it.

Even if BVS sucks (which I just can't see happening at this point), it's okay. Batman and Superman will survive.

[riddler]

I honestly don't see the big deal, it was a goodwill gesture. Schumacher didn't need Burton's blessing but he requested it anyhow.

I'm on board with those praying it doesn't turn out like the Nolan films or man of steel. i'd rather take some campy incarnation to the tune of daredevil or the chris evans fantastic four films than any more superhero films attempting to be grounded and not even attempting to entertain the audiences.

I do have plenty of hope though, the best thing about the dark knight is that Nolan unchained Heath Ledger and let him take that character to his own level. He didn't remain bland and boring and have to ponder and over explain the gravity of everything going on like most of his characters.  While I doubt the performances will match up, it seems if nothing else Jesse Eisenberg will be using some camp and Killer Croc is a villain Nolan never would have used.

[The Laughing Fish]

I do have plenty of hope though, the best thing about the dark knight is that Nolan unchained Heath Ledger and let him take that character to his own level. He didn't remain bland and boring and have to ponder and over explain the gravity of everything going on like most of his characters.

Really? I thought Ledger's Joker was one of the worst offenders when it came to constant melodramatic monologues.   

When he's not talking about his scars, everything that came out of his mouth was explaining how life sucks, chaos this, blah blah blah. I got really tired of it.

[Edd Grayson]

I do have plenty of hope though, the best thing about the dark knight is that Nolan unchained Heath Ledger and let him take that character to his own level. He didn't remain bland and boring and have to ponder and over explain the gravity of everything going on like most of his characters.

Really? I thought Ledger's Joker was one of the worst offenders when it came to constant melodramatic monologues.   

When he's not talking about his scars, everything that came out of his mouth was explaining how life sucks, chaos this, blah blah blah. I got really tired of it.

I had not seen Ledger in many films and his Joker didn't do a lot for me... so his transformation and his character failed to really impress me. It wasn't bad the first time around, but it soon got tiring. To each their own, in the end.

[Azrael]

Maybe I'm just old. But to me Superman and Batman are the Christopher Reeve and Michael Keaton movies. Nothing else can replace them in my heart.

I think Burton fans will be pleased with Affleck's Batman on the whole.

There's a bigger emphasis on visuals and Batman builds his own gear among other things.

Rewatching Snyder's comic book CV before Man of Steel (Watchmen, 300), there are certainly high hopes for a visual feast.

[Azrael]

From an article shared today by the FB page, I think this quote is relevant to what Snyder actually thinks about the Batman movies

I'm a fan of all the Batman movies, because you're always looking for that little piece of the Batman movie that you want to make, but until we made this movie, I'd never seen a Batman that I really wish that I'd made. I still felt like I had to make my own Batman. I had a clear idea about what I wanted Batman to be. There wasn't really a lot of discussion about what he would be. I was like, 'This is Batman, and this is what he does.' Ben understood immediately the kind of Batman that I wanted."

- Zack Snyder source