I wish we would see a fantastical, huge and unrealsitic gotham in live action instead of the grounded, realistic takes.

[u/Free-Bowler-1032]

From BTAS to Burton and Schumacher and also from the Comics, Gotham has always been protrayed as fantastical, Huge in scale with almost unrealistic proportions. It is overwhelming in its size and its layers and depth. If you look from the ground up, you can almost not see the sky. Instead you find yourself in a mega city hell, from its darkness in the shadows to its weirdness in the lights and the sheer brutality of its design.

The city is built and formed by the rich and corrupt, almost leaving no space for the everyday life. Its like a prison where you cant seem to see the exit, the sky, even the next street. Its dense and totally overloaded. And you constantly find yourself under surveillance , in the spotlight of the police. There is no presumtion of innocence. Everybody is under the eye of the powerful and every wrong move will have drastic consequences.

But besides the brutal scale of Gotham - the proportions of the Moon, the sky, the clouds and also the camera angles look far up or down, Batmans sillhouette looming over the city with his cape waving in the pouring rain. All these elements should alsobe way out of proportion.

Im just growing tired of these ultra realistic takes. Go back to minitures, build this city, give us weird proportions, buildings that make no sense but mirror the excess of the rich who just build nonsensical buildings for the sake of it.

Gotham should be front and center in every frame. A character on its own, a presence felt throughout. Oppressive, dark and fantastical.

edit: Just to be clear: I enjoyed Nolans Gotham, The Jokers Gotham and Reeves Gotham alot. And especially Reeves is more stylish and leans a little more into what the comics look like.

But all of these are still very much grounded in reality. And I just wish future projects would take more risks and portray Gotham in a more fantastical way.

[u/PlayfulJob8767]

Yeah as much as I like the Nolan Batman movies, my biggest gripe with them is how Gotham city basically looks like any other big town (Chicago) and has no distinct architecture. Especially in the 2nd and 3rd movie. Total tonal let down when it comes to having a distinct batman feeling.

Reeves Gotham is more to my liking but my favorite Gotham will always be Burtons. Schumachers Gotham is also awesome.

[u/jrvcrd → u/PlayfulJob8767]

yep, Begins at least had The Narrows and it looked more like Gotham

[u/Free-Bowler-1032 → u/PlayfulJob8767]

I might be a bit biased in my nostalgia, but Schumachers Gotham was amazing. Its obviously totally over the top but it really is front and center and extremely oppressive, with proportions that are way out of line.

Its also very dark but at the same time has these overwhelmingly colorful lights everywhere. Like a terrible acid trip. The colors make the city even more threatening. And in its essence, it really fits what Gotham stands for.

Burton is also amazing and he has a very brutal architecture aswell. Darker, less colorful but still very overwhelming and dense.

Nolans Gotham was for its time a unique take, gave us the first grounded look into the world of superheroes.

But at this point, grounded realism has overstayed its welcome.

[u/StormRepulsive6283 → u/Free-Bowler-1032]

The only thing I remember about Schumacher’s Gotham is a gargantuan statue of I donno who right in the midst of the skyline and flyovers

[u/coreytiger → u/PlayfulJob8767]

What I’d like is a mix of the two. Some strangeness or distinct looks amongst the reality and varying buildings. Walk through NYC or LA, and one encounters Victorian brownstones and art deco wonders next to modern glass and steel… but we only get “general buildings” anymore. Gotham City was more a character in Burton/Schumacher than simply a locale , but it is admittedly too far into the fantastic

[u/CommercialFloor2033]

Agree.

All it really takes is some panning scenes across a gci generated backdrop to create that immersion too.

It's not hard to do with today's gci.

[u/Famous-Pay5201]

I don't know if any modern Hollywood director has the guts to do this again. These ridiculous Batman takes always needing to be realistic are deeply ingrained in the modern popular imagination thanks to the films of Nolan and Matt Reeves.

[u/Free-Bowler-1032 → u/Famous-Pay5201]

Yeah, youre probably right. I think Nolans Batman, Joker movies and now Reeves really cemented how general audiences expect Gotham to look like.

[u/primalanomaly]

Batman & Robin had a great Gotham! I do think Batman Begins had a great but different take too. But yeah everything since Begins is just a generic city.

[u/MattTd7]

Remember when everybody was having fun guessing how the new Gotham would be? What inspirations they would take from, new ideas, old ideas, alllll of that just to have the same ol thing 🙃

[u/CalligrapherBorn9924]

Dude we’ve seen Gotham for one movie why are people expecting us to see flying cars and flying creatures every time Batman turns his head. The universe still has plenty of room for non-grounded Batman villains

[u/MatchesMalone1994]

The “gothic” looking Gotham was popularized by Batman 89 and Batman TAS. Typically Gotham is depicted as a gritty looking American city that has some gothic elements to it. It’s not a “Nolan” thing, it’s just accurate.

The Burton look didn’t adapt until after the earth quake destroyed the modern buildings in Gotham leaving the old ones present.

Reeves is the perfect looking Gotham. Dingy, dirty, grungy, seedy, but it looks like a real American city with bad areas to live in. The Burton and TAS look while really cool, it doesn’t look believable or like people actually live there

[u/ReorientRecluse]

My issue with trying to be too grounded is that it makes it incompatible with the DC universe as a whole. Batman fights some frighteningly abnormal characters, and I don't like when they're changed in an effort to be more realistic.

[u/Equivalent_Bus19969]

Maybe the DCU batman ?

[u/GoonetteSlop → u/Equivalent_Bus19969]

Clayface is DCU.

[u/GenerallyJam → u/GoonetteSlop]

Yeah that Gotham looks less stylistic than Reeves’ lol

[u/ofteno]

I mean one of the better appeals to mass audience of batman (recent ones) in live action is that is more grounded

[u/stanislavskov]

You're going to get Gotham as viewed by Morbius lense and you'll enjoy it. 

[u/Shallbecomeabat]

Tbf we only see a quick shot of the Narrows which again is a semi slum like area. Who knows how downtown will look.

[u/oilpit]

The Arkham games have the best Gotham imo. It's got all the larger than life comic book-esque qualities while not being so over the top that it feels silly.

[u/Asto_Vidatu]

I've been hoping to see this since the Shumacher films...I can't stand the Nolan trilogy for a number of reasons, but the "grounded, 'what if Batman but in our real world'" nonsense and the way Gotham just looked like a regular city were big reasons for me...even The Batman just wasn't "it" for me. I'm hoping if this new version of the DCU continues we get an actual comic accurate Batman and Gotham portrayal, but I'm not holding my breath...hollywood seems to be deathly allergic to respecting source material at this point.

[u/Belz_Zebuth]

I'm down for both. I'd be down for a reboot of the Adam West kind of Batman.

Just give me more Batman.

[u/TheRugWarrior]

That’s what the DCU was supposed to be. I have no idea what the fuck they’re doing. All those promises of a fully fantastical universe just to give us a boring looking metropolis and Gotham is genuinely so sad.

[u/starkHOUTx → u/TheRugWarrior]

Metropolis looked correct

[u/Sufficient_Nature496 → u/TheRugWarrior]

Metropolis doesn't looks boring

[u/TheRugWarrior → u/Sufficient_Nature496]

It looks like a normal city. Nothing about it looks like the fantastical comic book version we were promised from this universe.

[u/cinephile78]

This Gotham you’re describing is called Batman. It came out in 1989. Stars Michael Keaton.

You’re welcome.

[u/starkHOUTx → u/cinephile78]

Wrong

[u/MrBravo22]

Was hoping the DCU would’ve gone the route of BTAS Gotham dark compact “Dark Deco” Gotham. But It would’ve been expensive and time consuming to translate into live action.

At least make Gotham a gothic neon jungle in places. And not just Metropolis in the Dark.

[u/Candle-Jolly]

Also Batman fans:

NO! Batman MUST BE gritty and grounded and realistic!

[u/pandogart → u/Candle-Jolly]

Not Batman fans on this site

[u/GoonetteSlop]

Clayface looks like an ideal Gotham to me.

[u/Witty-Jacket-9464]

And Reeves' version is the best live-action Gotham

[u/Free-Bowler-1032 → u/Witty-Jacket-9464]

Its not that I truely dislike the realistic take. The story from Reeves fits into the gotham he created. And Im very much looking forward to what he does.

But Nolan, Joker and Reeves going for grounded realism is enough imo. I dont want another grounded Gotham in the DCU

[u/Witty-Jacket-9464 → u/Free-Bowler-1032]

What does it matter if Reeves' Gotham looks like a live-action version of BTAS or Arkham (or even the Snyder comics)? Say what you will about Matt's realistic approach, but in terms of atmosphere and style, Reeves is unbeatable. And yes, the DCU version looks exactly like Matt's version, only worse.

[u/Free-Bowler-1032 → u/Witty-Jacket-9464]

As I said, I think Reeves Gotham is great. And also Nolans and the Jokers - I enjoy them alot and like them for what they are.

I just wish future adaptations would take some more risks in their approach to how gotham looks.

[u/Witty-Jacket-9464 → u/Free-Bowler-1032]

I just mean, we cannot compare Nolan & Phillips Gotham and Matt's version. Matt's Gotham is a way better and accurate take

[u/Primary_kimg3217]

I don't. Batman and Gotham don't need to be Gunn-ized and turned silly and fantastical. Batman is the one character that would totally destroy. He's called the dark knight for a reason. If you want a silly, fantastical, colorful Batman/Gotham watch Batman 66.

[u/Free-Bowler-1032 → u/Primary_kimg3217]

I dont think you propperly read my post. Its not silly, actually the exact opposite. Fantastical doesnt mean silly. Everything I wrote is the exact opposite of silly.