'The Batman' producer says he warned Christopher Nolan they were trying 'to beat' the 'Dark Knight' series

• Christopher Nolan produced three Batman films between 2005 and 2012.
• A producer of "The Batman" told Nolan they were trying to make a better film than him.

The production team behind Warner Bros.'s upcoming Batman film told Christopher Nolan that they made the superhero flick with the goal of making a better film than his acclaimed "Dark Knight" trilogy, according to producer Dylan Clark.

"I've said this to Chris Nolan directly," Clark told Empire magazine during a first-look profile. "Look, we're trying to be the best Batman ever made, and we're going to try to beat you."

Christopher Nolan produced three Batman films between 2005 and 2012 starring Christian Bale as the titular superhero. The trilogy is widely considered to be the best collection of superhero films ever made. "The Dark Knight" and "The Dark Knight Rises," the last two films in Nolan's series, both grossed over $1 billion at the box office. "The Dark Knight" received eight Oscar nominations, and the late actor Heath Ledger won a posthumous Oscar for his role as the Joker in the film.

Warner Bros.' new film "The Batman" — which stars Robert Pattinson and Zöe Kravitz — was directed by the American filmmaker Matt Reeves ("Cloverfield") and hits theaters 4 March.

Later during his interview with Empire, Clark discussed the narrative preoccupations of Matt Reeves' Batman film.

"Matt is interested in pushing this character to his emotional depths and shaking him to his core," Clark said.

"We've seen a lot of great stories about Bruce Wayne witnessing his parents' murder and then trying to find a way to cope with that by perfecting himself into Batman. But I wanted to do a story where he's already been through the origins and does not yet really know exactly how to be Batman."

The A-List cast of Reeves' "Batman" is rounded out by Andy Serkis, Peter Sarsgaard, and Colin Farrell, who all feature. In a first look review of the film, Insider's entertainment correspondent Kirsten Acuna described Robert Pattinson as a "perfect Batman."

"No other live-action Batman film has ever understood the Caped Crusader like Reeves' adaptation," Acuna's review read.

"If you're a Batman fanatic, some of the twists in the movie may not surprise you. But you'll probably be immensely satisfied that WB finally decided to create a more mature Batman story that's usually only seen in the comics or games. It's about time."