WB initially wanted the new Dark Knight trilogy to stop at two
Warner Bros. initially pushed to end the new Dark Knight trilogy at two films — and the reason for that isn’t quite what you’d expect.
So, here's a bit of background drama from inside the halls of Warner Bros. and the DC animation world. The new Batman: Knightfall animated adaptation that just kicked off? That was nearly a two-movie job, rather than the trilogy we’re getting. Apparently, it took some good old-fashioned stubbornness from the filmmakers to get the studio on board with three parts. Why do studios always need convincing when it comes to obvious creative choices? Anyway, here's how it all played out.
The Original Plan: Squeeze It In
When Rick Morales, who’s overseeing the project, first pitched Knightfall as a trilogy, he had a concrete structure mapped out – basically thinking of it in acts, just like the comics. But Warner Bros. – possibly worrying about cost, runtime, or the usual – wanted to see if the story could be told in just two films. For anyone who’s read Knightfall, you’ll already know that’s a bit mad.
- Morales and co-writers Jeremy Adams and Jim Krieg tried to break the story down during those surreal COVID lockdown years, mapping all the plot points and checking if a two-movie version could actually hold together.
- Mike Carlin from DC Comics, for what it’s worth, was firmly in the three-movie camp.
- In the end, the experiment fell apart. The team realised that cutting it down to two would mean hacking out vital story beats – not really an option for a story as sprawling as Knightfall.
Morales straight up admitted they couldn’t do it, and didn’t want to try: no one wanted to end up with a cliff-notes version that butchers the material just to hit a tight runtime.
Morales put it to ComingSoon, 'We tried. And it didn’t work.'
He went even further: the three-film scheme was already a stretch, and slashing it by a third would be disastrous. You get the sense this was a line in the sand for the creatives. Thankfully, Warner Bros. didn’t dig their heels in:
Morales recounted that when they went back and said it needed to be three, 'They didn’t push back real hard on that, they were just like, 'Okay.''
Where We Are Now
So after all that, Batman: Knightfall Part 1 is out in the world, on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD. Somehow, we’re back to letting the people who care about the comics actually tell the story with a bit of breathing space.
Batman: Knightfall Part 1 is already available on disc and digital, with parts two and three on the way.