Christopher Nolan's brother told him not to be "chicken sh*t" when on the fence about making The Dark Knight

(Image credit: Warner Bros./DC)

It looks like we have Jonathan Nolan to thank for The Dark Knight, as he has revealed that he had to convince his brother, Christopher Nolan, to agree to direct the second Batman movie, telling him not to be "chicken sh*t" about it.

The Nolan brother explained during a recent interview on Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert podcast that although the filmmaker's first Batman movie Batman Begins was such a huge success, he was hesitant to make another comic book over fears of being "pigeonholed".

"Chris was on the fence about making another one, he didn’t want to become a superhero movie director," Jonathan told Shepherd, adding “but, to me, it was like we built this amazing sports car, and I’m like, 'Let’s take it for a drive. Don’t you want to make another one?'"

Based on the original DC comics, Batman Begins starring Christian Bale, Michaell Caine, Liam Neeson, and Cillian Murphy, is Nolan’s first superhero movie co-written by himself and David S. Goyer. The 2005 film follows Bruce Wayne's (Bale) return to Gotham as superhero Batman to rid the city of big bads Ra's al Ghul and the Scarecrow.

However, after the movie was released, the director, who in previous years helmed Memento and Insomnia, returned to his roots with the 2006 crime thriller The Prestige. But his little brother, who also worked on Nolan’s Batman trilogy (as co-writer on The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises), saw the potential of more movies.

"So, I was literally sitting with [producer] Charles Roven and Chris and being like, 'Dude, don’t be a chicken shit. Let’s do this!'" Jonathan remembered telling Chris. "Once we had the script done, I was like, 'This is going to be great. This is exciting. We gotta make this movie.' And eventually, he came around. He did manage to avoid being pigeonholed."

And so one of Christopher Nolan's best movies, The Dark Knight, was born, starring Bale once again as the vigilante, this time against a new force in the shape of the late Heath Ledger’s The Joker. The movie was released in 2008, then the third and final flick The Dark Knight Rises dropped in 2012 with Bale’s Bat donning the black cape once again to face off with Tom Hardy’s Bane. It sounds as though we have Jonathan Nolan to thank for all of that!

For more, see our writer's piece on how Batman changed their life, or keep up to date with upcoming DC movies and TV shows heading your way in 2024 and beyond.

I'm the Junior Social Media Editor here at GamesRadar+, handling all of Total Film's social platforms. However, I also write, covering all things film and TV for the site's entertainment section. I joined GamesRadar+ in 2023 and have been here ever since. I previously worked in communications after graduating with an MA in journalism. In my spare time, you can find me binging horror movies or getting lost in a cosy little game on my Switch.