David S. Goyer Thought Batman Begins Would Never Make It Out Of Development Hell
It can be argued that Joel Schumacher's take on Batman was actually the definition of comic book camp. We can admit that now, but back in 1997, they were considered DC poison. The reception to the films, especially "Batman & Robin," made Warner Bros. skeptical about whether they should ever bring the character back to the silver screen. For awhile, it seemed like every time someone wanted to reboot the character, they received the same hard pass from the studio. Remember "Batman Beyond" and "Batman: Year One?" We figured you did.
These rejections have come and gone so often that writer David S. Goyer had gotten used to them. It was a seemingly revolving door of pitches — when one came in, another left. That's why when he heard rumblings about another potential reboot, he told Empire that he couldn't help but chuckle. "It just seemed like every year or so you heard about a new ["Batman" pitch]," he said, "and I thought, 'This is gonna be one of those.'"
At the time, who could blame him? The future of Batman on the big screen was looking dire, and such an iconic character doesn't deserve that fate. However, what Goyer was not expecting was for this new idea for a "Batman" film to actually gain traction. That's because it was slated to be pitched by up-and-coming director Christopher Nolan, and he wanted Goyer to co-write the idea with him.
Hitting the reset button
While Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer knew of each other through mutual friends, they had never actually spoken before. That changed when the director personally called him to extend an offer — bring back Batman to the big screen in a gritty, realistic origin story. According to Goyer, that was all that Nolan had at the time. "Other than it being sort of an origin story, there wasn't yet much to talk about," the "Blade" screenwriter told Empire.
Through their discussions, they agreed that the humanity of Batman needed to be the film's priority. After all, the Caped Crusader proved that anyone with the resources and ability to do good could be a superhero — Bruce Wayne may have tons of money, but ultimately, he is a mortal man like the rest of us, something that Superman can't claim to be.
"If we're successful," Goyer told Variety in 2004, "the thing that will be talked about a lot and on what we worked on the hardest is that the audience will really care about Bruce Wayne and not just Batman."
Considering their film, "Batman Begins," sparked a billion-dollar-grossing and Oscar-nominated trilogy, it's fair to say that Nolan and Goyer were pretty successful. It is quite funny, however, that one of those men originally predicted the project would never go anywhere. At least Goyer realized the potential early enough and signed on.