18 Years Later, Christopher Nolan’s Secret Fourth Batman Movie Is Still Criminally Underrated

The Dark Knight had one of the most elaborate marketing campaigns of all time. I still remember being mesmerized as I watched an interview of Harvey Dent’s on Gotham Tonight via an in‑universe website that felt authentic, blurring the line between our world and the one created by Christopher Nolan. As a lifelong Batman fan, I was lucky enough to grow up during what might truly be the greatest era for the Caped Crusader.

Nolan’s second Batman movie even had an animated tie-in, set in the same universe. The direct-to-DVD feature may have been eclipsed by The Dark Knight’s success, but it had all the ingredients to become one of the coolest pieces of Batman media ever produced. After 18 years, Batman: Gotham Knight remains a criminally underrated entry within the Nolanverse, and its ambitious premise puts it on the same creative level as The Dark Knight Trilogy.

Its anthology format commissioned multiple Japanese and South Korean anime studios to experiment within the DC Universe and offer their own distinct takes on Gotham City, achieving things the live-action films never could. Of course, Nolan’s take on Batman was known for its grounded, realistic interpretation of the superhero genre, and that’s where Gotham Knight better reflected the comic book source material. As a fan of both DC and anime, it felt like the dream collaboration I had always wanted.

Imagine if ‘Star Wars: Visions’ Existed for DC — That’s ‘Batman: Gotham Knight’

In today’s pop culture terms, Gotham Knight is basically DC’s version of Star Wars: Visions, featuring shorts that showcase vastly different approaches to Batman. However, each one exists within Christopher Nolan’s continuity, paired with the legendary voice talent of the late Kevin Conroy, and that piece of casting alone gives it an advantage over other Batman media without him in the role. Admittedly, it might feel a bit jarring since he’s supposed to be Christian Bale’s version of the character, but that diversion ends up working in Gotham Knight’s favor. Conroy’s voice adds to the sense of mythic hero that the anthology builds around the vigilante.

Each of the six segments gave Batman a totally different costume, and the creative liberties didn’t stop there. The studios explored Gotham City to its full potential, including the introduction of major players from Batman’s rogues gallery who never appeared in Nolan’s films, like Deadshot and Killer Croc. While it’s easy to imagine the highly skilled hitman Floyd Lawton existing in The Dark Knight Trilogy’s continutity, the reptilian and cannibalistic Killer Croc is harder to envision. That’s why the animated medium is the perfect way to expand the live-action films. Gotham Knight embraced stylized exaggeration instead of Batman Begins’ grounded realism, showcasing Killer Croc as the menacing force of nature depicted in the comics, from his monstrous design to his intense fighting style.

Eighteen years later, Gotham Knight doesn’t just compliment The Dark Knight Trilogy as a side story. It fills in the gaps of the Caped Crusader’s early years from Batman Begins leading up to The Dark Knight. This animated anthology is practically a secret chapter of the Nolanverse. Since it unfortunately released in the shadow of Nolan’s most beloved movie, it never stood a chance at getting the recognition it deserved.

Release Date: July 8, 2008
Runtime: 75 minutes
Director: Yasuhiro Aoki, Yuichiro Hayashi, Futoshi Higashide, Toshiyuki Kubooka, Hiroshi Morioka, Jong-Sik Nam
Writers: Bob Kane, Josh Olson, Jordan Goldberg, Greg Rucka, Brian Azzarello, Alan Burnett
Producers: Benjamin Melniker, Bruce Timm, Emma Thomas