Damon Lindelof knocked it out of the park with his HBO take on ‘Watchmen‘ and now the creator is sharing how he’d be interested in seeing another iconic work tackled with Frank Miller’s ‘Dark Knight Returns.’ The story was already told in an animated format from DC and the basis was used to lay the groundwork for ‘Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.’ However, the iconic story Miller put together still hasn’t been properly told in a live-action format.
While the idea of just adapting the story without adding anything new isn’t something that thrills Lindelof, the director does have one way that such a concept would be interesting to see play out on the big screen.
According to Lindelof:
“The reason that I don’t have any interest in it is because that would be a straight-up adaptation where you’re taking something Frank Miller already wrote and illustrated and is perfect. Basically, you’re bringing it to life. Obviously, Superman is going to be in it if you’re doing Dark Knight straight up. All you’re basically doing is adapting something.
What made Dark Knight so amazing and revolutionary was that it was so original and groundbreaking. So, it’s like taking the dance instructions where the painted feet are there on the ground. You just have to hit the right steps. I would just be terrified of messing it up. More importantly, I want to freestyle. I’m not the guy for that.”
While it sounds like Lindelof would want to watch such a movie, it isn’t something that he’d be interested in directing. However, there is a key piece that does catch his fancy:
“I think it would be really interesting to wait for somebody like, you know, Michael Keaton, who has already done Batman, or a Christian Bale 25 years from now and then do Dark Knight with them. So, it’s someone who we actually saw play a younger version of Batman. That would be rad.”
I don’t think that there is a single person who wouldn’t be entirely down to see either Keaton or Bale reprise the role in this fashion or a ‘Batman Beyond’ type of scenario.
You can watch Lindelof explain what his idea would be in an interview with Collider right here: