Summary
The brief battle betweenThe Dark Knightand an upcoming pretender to its illustrious name has been resolved amicably, as the creatives behind the newcomer back away following an uncharacteristically friendly exchange.
Warner Bros. Discoverydoesn’t play; just ask a former almost-Batman. Armie Hammer was a successful Hollywood star—cast as Batman in the failedJustice League: Mortal—with roles in some pretty big films and TV shows across a 15-year career. However, in 2021, his prospects would fizzle out when several women came forward with very serious accusations of misconduct leveled against the actor, which would lead to Hammer being dropped by his agent and the outstanding projects he’d been attached to. While the public’s perception of Hammer continued to worsen, especially when some ofthe victims spoke out in a Discovery Plus docuseries, a court ruled that there was insufficient evidence of wrongdoing based on these accusations.
The court ruling effectively gave Hammer a chance to start his life back up, albeit with public perception still against him and many high-profile projects afraid to touch him. Despite this, Hammer would choose to make his return to the industry inThe Dark Knight,an oddly named crime thriller fromformally retired video game adaptation directorUwe Boll, best known for some of the worst-received video game adaptations of the 2000s. The name was immediately a talking point, as it took on one of Batman’s most well-known epitaphs and the title of the most successful film project starring that character, with no relation to the DC hero whatsoever. This was always going to be an issue, and now director Boll reveals that the name will be changed. “We had a very friendly conversation with Warner Bros. and decided to change our title to ‘Citizen Vigilante’ to avoid any confusion with Warner’s famous character,” Boll recently revealed in aVarietyexclusive.
Naming A New MovieThe Dark KnightProbably Wouldn’t Have Worked Out Well
EP Michael Roesch also weighed in, revealing a second source of input that led to the decision. “We also got a lot of feedback from fans, who asked us to change the title because of its similarity with Chris Nolan’s movie, so this was another factor in changing the title,” he added. Nolan’sThe Dark Knightwas so well-received thatSteven Spielberg maintains it should have won Best Picture, and a whole generation of fans still consider Christian Bale the definitive live-action version of Batman. While Boll’s film might have gotten people talking thanks to the name, it would very quickly be found out and rejected in step. The association with the iconic character and that specific portrayal would certainly have been too much for the upcoming film.
The Dark Knightis one of Christopher Nolan’s best works, but it’s also a part of the lifeblood of the IP’s stewards. On Warner Bros. side of things, the DCU is still in its formative stages and is already grappling with the creeping reality of having to introduce a new Batman to the franchise while Matt Reeves’s version with Robert Pattinson is still in play and popular. The addition of an unrelated film titledThe Dark Knightwas guaranteed not to go down well with the company. Fortunately, things were settled amicably.
