To this day Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy remains the defining standard for what a modern Batman movie should be, even if Tim Burton’s films also deserve a lot of credit for reintroducing Bruce Wayne to cinemas back in 1989. As Matt Reeves wraps up production work for The Batman, there’s no doubt he has spent countless hours studying the work of these two directors to pick out the best elements and pair them with his own style.
In that regard, one aspect where Reeves will be looking to offer some substantial improvements will be in the way Batman's beloved Gotham City is represented this time around, which is evidenced by his decision to shoot most of The Batman in London and Chicago. While the former may sound like an odd decision given Batman's unmistakably American origins and inspiration, it is in itself a creative choice that aims to set Reeves' Gotham apart with a unique identity, and yet, by choosing Chicago he recognizes Nolan's past work in creating an urban setting fitting for Bruce Wayne to fight off the Penguin, Riddler and Carmine Falcon, as well as coming to terms with what will become of his tormented relationship with Catwoman.
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For all his credit though, Nolan's Gotham sees its role diminish as the trilogy moves on to explore its elaborate plot and radically more appealing villains. If Batman Begins is all about the festering corruption that haunts Gotham and Ra's al Ghul's obsession to bring it down to its knees through whatever means the League of Shadows could muster, then The Dark Knight is really about the Joker's psychopathic tendencies and his ability to get the best of Batman by getting inside its head and the city's institutions.
This is seen in Batman Begins as the movies core plot takes place in the Narrows, the most desolate part of Gotham, one that's rife with low-life criminals, homeless people, poverty, and where Jonathan Crane and Carmine Falcone can carry on with their particular brand of business unharmed knowing the police are willing to turn a blind eye to crimes hey might at least have to pretend to be interested in were they to happen in the nicer parts of town. After all, the two following films teach viewers that Gotham has some serious inequality issues, which is partly why all these deranged villains have no problem finding resentful violent henchmen who have nothing to lose.
Nolan probably had his reasons to leave The Narrows behind in his Batman sequel, he makes it clear by the end of Batman Begins when Gordon informs him of a new kind of threat that's roaming the streets, the Joker. Since The Dark Knight starts off with Joker's gang robbing a bank, it another telling sign that the stakes have been raised, criminals are no longer forced to work in the shadows of the Narrows, they can roll right into the city's financial district and do as they please.
Although The Dark Knight is simply a fantastic enough film to comfortably overcome this, the fact is that this Gotham is simply not as memorable, looking more like a generic part of Chicago rather than something more distinct like Burton's Christmasy bat city. In The Dark Knight Rises, the contrast becomes even bigger, as Bane really has no problem whatsoever fighting in broad daylight which is not something one would instantly associate with Batman, so it's clear by then Nolan had already tossed Gotham City as a character altogether.
Funnily enough, the Gotham series already showed the city is capable of carrying an entire show with nothing more than its sprawling crime waves to portray it as the real ecosystem that gives life to each of the villains in the Rogues Gallery. Things that are commonplace in Gotham are what push each of these seemingly normal individuals to the brink of madness and what even a young Bruce and Selina can identify as a sign of what kind of fate awaits the city if such a corrupt society is allowed to continue growing without anyone to stop it, thus pushing the young Bruce to become Batman.
The Batman's modern time setting aims to use Chicago as the urban background for Reeves' Gotham, yet the leaked set photos so far suggest the film definitely will use London for the same purpose to give a mixed feeling that's not too similar to Joker's the playground in The Dark Knight. By having so many characters like Catwoman get their origin stories instead of Bruce Wayne himself, The Batman can imprint the city with a unique aesthetic, values (or lack thereof) and struggles that makes make it a more believable home for the Penguin and the Riddler, all while still keeping the film fairly grounded thanks to a more "normal" crime boss like Falcone.
If Robert Pattinson's Batman is to overcome Nolan's work, getting Gotham right is a huge part of what it'll take to make it work. Gotham City is really its own character and as such it has the power to interact with each of the protagonists to the point of eliciting confrontation with them, transforming them, and eventually deciding whether they live long enough to become heroes or villains in its dangerous streets.
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