I recently read an article on the internet outlining someone's theory for the new Batman film, Dark Knight Rises, basically saying that Christopher Nolan is going to kill off Bruce Wayne and that a random character introduced in another movie will take up the role as Batman (http://www.cracked.com/blog/advanced-batman-theory-why-nolan-will-kill-bruce-wayne/). I like this theory, but there's a few things that stood out for me.
Firstly, the author spends a few paragraphs talking about some of Christopher Nolan's other films, and attempts to tie them into the "Dark Knight" trilogy of Batman films. I think that this is a bit of a stretch, to be honest. The author was clutching at straws and trying to increase the word count. I can understand the point they're trying to make, but it's a bit like saying that all of Tim Burton's films are hinting at plot points at one of his future films. I think that it's a moot point that the director just so happened to make another series of films that talk about making an audience expect one thing, just to deliver the opposite to them.
What I also want to talk about with the author is how he explains what he thinks the role of Bane will be in the movies. In the comics, Bane broke Batman's back, leaving Bruce Wayne paralyzed and the role of Batman (temporarily) filled by Azrael. Bruce got better, though, and retakes the Batman cowl.
The author has said that this won't happen in the film, simply because the film isn't trying to recreate the comics. I couldn't agree more on this, but the author hints at Bane actually killing Batman. I can't picture this happening. For some reason, I can't picture the main character being killed off by a villian that not many people will really know. The obvious choice would have been Joker, but, alas, Heath Ledger isn't around anymore, and it was stated in Dark Knight Returns that Joker had no intention of killing Batman.
So, this brings us to another interesting point. Let's assume that Batman does indeed die in Dark Knight Rises and that the role of Batman is taken up by someone else. Christopher Nolan has stated that he won't put a Robin into his films. This is where the seemingly random character comes in. With no Robin to take up the cowl, it falls to someone else to fill the post. If this happens, it will annoy a lot of comic fans. In the comics, Batman was first Bruce Wayne, then following the events of Final Crisis Bruce Wayne was believed to be dead, the role of Batman was taken up by Dick Grayson- at the time known as Nightwing, but more famously known as Robin while Bruce was Batman. The natural progression of Batman is that the cowl gets passed onto Robin- a sort of master/student dynamic.
Batman needs a Robin, simply because Robin is the second in command. Anything happens to Batman, Robin steps up and takes his place. As Christopher Nolan isn't including a Robin in the movies, I think it's unlikely that you'll see a new Batman. The character the author of the linked article states that the character he thinks will take up the role of Batman after Bruce Wayne is someone called John Blake. Coincidently, when Dick Grayson takes up the role of Batman the Robin is Tim Drake (a very similar sounding name). What we could see is instead of John Blake becoming Batman, he might form his own idendity. I highly doubt it will be Nightwing. That's Dick Grayson's role. When Bruce Wayne is revealed not to be dead, he retakes the role of Batman, Dick goes back to being Nightwing, and we're back where we left off.
That is, however, it's revealed that Bruce has a son, Damian- the mother is Talia aAl Ghul, the daughter of Ra's al Ghul. Damian became the new Robin when Tim Drake decided to branch out and become his own crime fighter, under the name Red Robin. I'm going to call it- in Dark Knight Rises Bruce Wayne does indeed die, and John Blake decides to take his place, but not as Batman. I think he's going to replace Bruce, but under the "Red Robin" guise. I think that John will think that you can't replace Batman with a click of your fingers and a flash of lightning, so he comes up with his own crime fighting vigilante.
And thus, the movie version of Red Robin was born. I know that Red Robin isn't that well known a character from the comics, but neither was Mad Hatter, and he was recently featured in the Arkham City video game. What's to say that another relative obscure character won't be featured in the upcoming film(s)?
That's my take on where the celluloid Batman is going. I may be right, I may not be. We'll just have to wait and see.
While I've still got your attention, why not hit me up on Twitter @Gary_Xean? You know, for shits and giggles.
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