Christopher Nolan Abandoned This 10/10 Mystery Thriller for Batman

If Christopher Nolan‘s name is attached to a movie, everyone knows a major event is in store. A brand-name unto himself who is arguably as powerful as any superhero IP, Nolan is the modern face of blockbuster cinema, reaching new heights with Oppenheimer, a genuine cultural sensation and Best Picture winner. The visionary writer-director will attempt to top himself with the upcoming release of his latest epic, The Odyssey, a star-studded and highly anticipated adaptation of Homer‘s formative text.

His reign as the most powerful filmmaker in the industry all began when he revolutionized the cinematic landscape — for better or worse — by re-imagining comic books as prestigious, mythological stories with Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. In an alternate world, Nolan would never have become a household name, but instead, a respected studio director of crime thrillers. If he chose to adapt a novel with similar themes to his previous work in 2005, we maybe wouldn’t have The Odyssey.

Christopher Nolan Almost Adapted a Mystery Thriller Novel Before ‘Batman Begins’

By 2005, Christopher Nolan had three feature film credits to his name: Following, Memento, and Insomnia, all three of which were gritty neo-noirs revolving around the manipulation of time, deception, and distorted realities — themes he would frequently return to. After this trio of inventive and slickly crafted thrillers, Nolan’s next project awaited him in the form of pre-existing material, but this was no Batman comic. The Keys to the Street, a 1996 novel by British author Ruth Rendell, immediately grabbed his attention, so much so that he went ahead and adapted the book into a screenplay.

Around this time, Nolan was briefly attached to direct his adaptation for Fox Searchlight. The Keys to the Street follows a series of murders of the unhoused in London revolving around the life of a humble, reserved young woman who helps save the life of a stranger she doesn’t know, which leads to a series of bizarre events. This alluring mystery taps into the abyss of humanity and the interconnectivity of the inhabitants of this melting pot in Great Britain. It’s no surprise that Nolan would be attracted to this source material, as its mind-bending worldview and jaded protagonist parallel his own characters on the hunt for a killer, including Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce) in Memento and Will Dormer (Al Pacino).

Christopher Nolan Took His Career in a Different Direction After the Dark Knight Trilogy

In the end, Nolan’s take on The Keys to the Street would remain unrealized. Instead, he opted to sign on with Warner Bros. — which became his home base for the next 15 years — to direct Batman Begins, and the rest is history. According to Nolan, he felt that the material was too similar to his trio of mystery noirs. Say what you want about Nolan, but he’s always looking to evolve. He could’ve secured a place for himself as a sturdy studio director making mid-budget thrillers, akin to Brian De Palma or David Fincher, but he wanted to work at the highest level of spectacle. He could’ve stayed within the DC machine by spinning off his Dark Knight trilogy and shepherding the DCEU, but he chose to use his cachet to turn personal, auteur-driven films like Interstellar into events.

Although he never adapted The Keys to the Street, a novel seemingly tailor-made for him, Nolan infused his unique sensibilities into the comic book genre. Batman Begins, a hard reset for not just Batman but the superhero genre as a whole, shared more DNA with Memento and Insomnia than Batman & Robin. In the wake of The Dark Knight, major franchise movies aspired to reach Nolan’s level of prestige, darkness, and sophisticated themes. Because of Nolan, superhero movies earned credibility among critics and award bodies, aided by their ability to sample various genres, which also helped blur the line between a gritty neo-noir like Insomnia and a superhero origin story like Batman Begins. Nolan’s professional decision to take on this new Batman project was an immeasurable “sliding doors moment” that altered the cinematic landscape.

It’s hard to imagine a world where Christopher Nolan plays it safe or returns to his small-scale roots of the early 2000s, but his talents as a director of crime mysteries and psychological thrillers should never be overlooked. Considering his seemingly lifetime carte blanche status, Nolan pivoting from a high-octane epic in The Odyssey to a modest neo-noir based on a book would be the ultimate flex of career autonomy. If Warner Bros. hadn’t taken a risk on Nolan in 2005, perhaps he would have made The Keys to the Street.