The Best Batman Story Is Finally Getting A Movie, But Is It Too Late?

By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 14 seconds ago

Comic lovers enjoy arguing about the most insane things, like whether Batman could beat Goku or what the heck a Kryptonite condom would do to Superman’s other “man of steel.” One thing older fans can agree on, though, is that the ‘90s were the absolute worst decade for comic books. This is when the market was absolutely flooded with foil-embossed alternative covers filled with stories from writers all trying to be the coolest little edgelord. Heck, this was the decade where DC used a rock-faced monster man to kill Superman, but not before giving our high-flying hero the weirdest, wildest mullet this side of Alabama.

However, another DC hero thrived during this time period. Batman absolutely dominated the ‘90s. Not only did we get three different films featuring the Dark Knight, but his comics writers decided to take some major risks. This included the Knightfall story arc where Batman was defeated by Bane and replaced by a psychopath who wasn’t afraid to hurt or even kill his enemies. While The Dark Knight Rises brought Bane to the big screen, we’ve never had a proper cinematic adaptation of this legendary ‘90s story until now. Great news, Bat fiends: DC Studios confirmed they are adapting Knightfall into multiple animated movies.

The Biggest Bane Of Batman’s Life

What was the original Knightfall comic about? Bane breaks all of Batman’s biggest foes out of Arkham Asylum so that the Caped Crusader must face a relentless gauntlet of chaos. Later, Bane sneaks into the Bat-Cave and does the unthinkable by breaking Batman’s back. In the subsequent Knightquest storyline, the unstable Jean-Paul Valley (also known as Azrael) takes over as the Dark Knight while Bruce Wayne focuses on recovery. The new Batman becomes a violently lethal thug, and in the Knightsend arc, Wayne confronts his troubled successor, reclaiming the mantle of the bat once and for all.

So far, we know very little about DC Studio’s plans to adapt this fan-favorite ‘90s storyline. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. Animation and DC Studios have simply confirmed they are working on a multi-part adaptation of Knightfall and that more details about this and other cartoon projects will be revealed at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June. If the studio wants to be completely true to the original comics, it would be best to release this as three films covering the three aforementioned arcs: Knightfall, Knightquest, and KnightsEnd. If necessary, though, it would be easy enough to condense the whole thing into two films to save time and money.

Bat On Bat Violence

As a huge fan of the original Knightfall and a general fan of DC animated adaptations (minus The Killing Joke), I’m very hyped to see these upcoming films. However, I can’t help but wonder if it’s effectively too late to bring this classic story to life. The movie will appeal to older, hardcore Bat fans like myself, but it may not have much of an appeal to younger fans who were born long after Bane broke Batman’s back. Moreover, those fans already have multiple big-screen projects to look forward to (including Matt Reeves’ The Batman II and James Gunn’s The Brave and the Bold), so a direct-to-video ‘90s adaptation may be dead on arrival. 

The studio won’t know until they try. In this ancient fan’s opinion, there’s no time like the present to bring this iconic story to life, and after years of subpar DCEU storytelling, it’s great to have a few Batman movie options. If nothing else, Knightfall is true comic history that gave us an unforgettable Caped Crusader tale and cemented Bane as one of his deadliest villains. Every Batman fan worth his utility belt should read these comics at least once. But since Zoomers don’t read anymore, we’re getting the next best thing: a multi-film adaptation of the greatest ‘90s Batman story that fans will be able to stream on demand.