Other Titles • Batman Begins (2005) • Batman 5 • Batman: Intimidation • Batman: Intimidation Game (2003) • Batman Begins: The IMAX Experience • The Intimidation Game
A character-driven adventure powered by large-scale action and layered with the complexities of the human condition, Batman Begins represents the first full telling of Bruce Wayne’s quest to become Batman, detailing how and why he acquires the skills, tools and technology to create his intimidating alter-ego.
“There is no one definitive account of Batman’s origins,” says Nolan, “but throughout the interpretations of his character over the years, there are key events that make Batman who he is and make his story the great legend that it has come to be. There were also a lot of very interesting gaps in the mythology that we were able to interpret ourselves and bring in our own ideas of how Bruce Wayne and Batman would have evolved specifically.”
In recounting Bruce Wayne’s odyssey from his traumatic childhood to his emergence as Batman, Nolan wanted to present “a more realistic take on his story than we’ve seen in previous incarnations of the character. I wanted to treat it with a degree of gravity and with a sense of epic scope, but set in a world that is firmly grounded in reality.”
“One of Chris’ mantras when we were working on the script was It has to be real, it has to be real,” recalls Goyer, whose points of reference while crafting the screenplay with Nolan included the classic action adventure films Lawrence of Arabia, The Man Who Would Be King, Blade Runner and the James Bond epic On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. “We applied that philosophy to every aspect of the story, even down to the most minute details – Why are the bat ears so tall? Why does the Batmobile look the way it does? We developed a logical explanation for everything that Bruce Wayne does and for every device he acquires in the film.”
Nolan and Goyer took an unconventional approach to their collaboration. As they worked on the script at Nolan’s home, production designer Nathan Crowley began creating conceptual designs of Gotham City and models of the re-imagined Batmobile in the garage.
“I wanted to focus on the design of the new Batmobile during the script writing stage because I felt that everything we were trying to do that defines our approach to telling this story, our emphasis on grounding the characters and the film in reality, would be evident in the look and feel of that vehicle,” the director notes. “I think that from now on, any film that we make, we’ll start in the garage,” jokes producer Emma Thomas. “The synergy of having Chris, David and Nathan working simultaneously in the same creative space worked amazingly well and it advanced our development and production process considerably.”
Portraying the full arc of Bruce Wayne’s story in a realistic manner required Nolan and Goyer to explore the complex psychology of the man behind the myth. “For me, the most exciting aspect of telling this story is getting inside Bruce Wayne’s head and going on that journey with him,” says Nolan, “so that we experience the process of becoming Batman through his eyes.”
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