Advanced Batman Theory: Why Nolan Will Kill Bruce Wayne
In a few weeks, we will all get to see a six minute prologue of the much-anticipated The Dark Knight Rises, which will be attached to the less-anticipated Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. Several months after that, we will get to see the final installment in Christopher Nolan's Batman Trilogy. However, I can already tell you what will (or should) happen in the film ...
SPOILER AND OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE ALERT: Batman goddamn dies.
Of course, that probably won't be the only thing that happens, but it will be what everyone is trying to not talk about in front of people who haven't seen it yet. As an expert in Advanced Batman Theory (and with a cursory knowledge of Quantum Batman Theory), I can tell you without seeing a single minute of the movie that this is how it has to go down. Nolan has said time and time again that he will not return to the Batman franchise. He is telling his own Batman story and when Rises hits theaters, that's the end of it. Christian Bale has made similar claims. But that's only a small fraction of why I think -- nay, why I know -- that the Dark Knight must die. Here's why ...
The Prestige: The Pledge
Before we start, it's important that you know two things: 1) I might be insane, and 2) I really hope Christopher Nolan is a genius. Here is proof of both.
After making Batman Begins (part 1 in The Dark Knight Trilogy), Nolan made The Prestige, a film about magicians and David Bowie. In it, Nolan gave us the three steps to performing an illusion: The Pledge, The Turn and The Prestige. The Pledge is the setup. It presents to you something ordinary that is most likely not ordinary at all. The Turn takes that ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary. Something unexpected. And then there's The Prestige, which basically just blows your fucking mind. It takes the unexpected something from The Turn and turns it on its head, making you believe in magic.
Disturbing, terrible magic ...
What I'm getting at, and what I suspect about Nolan, is that he is currently on the tail end of finishing two separate trilogies. When he was done with part one of the Dark Knight Trilogy, he made part one of his other trilogy, which was The Prestige. I will call this his Prestige Trilogy, because that was the movie in which he told us exactly what he was going to do to us. In The Prestige, Nolan told us all about The Pledge, Turn and Prestige. We saw journals within journals and stories within stories. In Inception, Nolan gave us The Turn: He took that ordinary idea of stories within stories, and he turned it on its head and made it something extraordinary. Whatever film Nolan makes after The Dark Knight Rises will be The Prestige of that trilogy. Inception was The Turn and The Prestige was The Pledge.
So what does this have to do with Batman? Well, first, I just want to be clear about the kind of storyteller I think we're dealing with: the insane and awesome kind. But it also establishes a pattern. Christopher Nolan tells us what he's going to do to us years before he makes the movie that actually does it. And Nolan has already told us in his previous Batman movies what he's going to do to us with the third. We just need to connect the dots. With Batmath.
Two-Face(s): The Turn(s)
The love interest in the first two films was Rachel Dawes and she's (spoiler alert) fucking dead now. Rachel (Katie Holmes/Maggie Gyllenhaal) was the last connection Bruce had to his former self, before his parents died, before The Batman (BTB). She told him as much at the end of Begins:
"No, *this* is your mask. Your real face is the one that criminals now fear. The man I loved -- the man who vanished -- he never came back at all [from BTB]. But maybe he's still out there, somewhere. Maybe some day, when Gotham no longer needs Batman, I'll see him again."
And she saw him again, briefly, in Dark Knight. She was right, kind of. Except then she (SPOILER ALERT) fucking died, and the last bit of the Bruce she remembered died with her. Now let's Turn the faces, or flip the coin, or at least look at this picture again.
On the other side of the faces we have Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), the White Knight of Gotham. The White Knight that The Joker (AND KIND OF BATMAN A LITTLE) eventually turned into Two-Face (Aaron Eckhart). Oh and then? He fucking died. Rachel and Harvey, sittin' in a tree, b-e-i-n-g d-e-a-d. Their deaths were huge turns for a Batman Trilogy to take. Aside from some Robins every now and then, nobody dies. This meant that anyone could die. The Batman, in all his glorious Batmannery, couldn't save the good guy OR his love interest. Batman may have proven The Joker wrong with the two bombed boats at the end of Dark Knight, but Joker proved Bruce Wayne wrong with Two-Face and Rachel. See, that's the joke.
Ha.
With each death, a piece of Bruce died, and a piece of Nolan's Batman Prestige was being placed. By the end of The Dark Knight, Bruce is metaphorically pretty fucking dead already. Alfred keeps him hanging on a bit with his "so we can pick ourselves back up" talk, but he knows he's not saying it to Bruce anymore. He's saying it to The Goddamn Batman. A Batman that now only has one goal: Hardcore Batmannery. In terms of story within a Batman Trilogy, that's ... well, that's close to the end of the line. All that's left is a bunch of episodes of Batman being Batman, fighting villains as Batman. But that's not what Nolan's in for. He's making a Trilogy. This is the end of the line. So who do we turn to but ...
Bane: The Bat Breaker
If you're a fan of the comic book, you know that Bane is most famous for breaking Batman's back. If you're a fan of the other Batman movies, then you think he's most famous for having neon blood.
Don't be mad, Bane. You'll be cool in a decade or two.
But mostly he's known for breaking the Batman's back. It's the one thing you do when Bane's involved, unless you want to be Bruce Lame about it. But ALSO unless you're Christopher Nolan, because Nolan isn't about recreating moments from Batman comics. He's about reinventing ideas from Batman comics. He's about creating his Batman. And in his Batman, things are grittier. The stakes are higher. Things break harder.
Bruce The Batman can be broken until he's dead because Nolan's Batverse is real, or at least it's the realist. Aside from the fact that there are Batmen, Nolan tries really hard to keep his Batverse within the realm of possibility. And death, as he has shown us already, is very possible. Don't feel bad for Bruce, though, because if you turn to page 2 you'll know that above all else, Nolan's Batman is ...
Interesting.AlthoughNolan was never fully commited to the third film, so I don't think he planned it from the beginning.
ReplyLiam Neeson is listed in the credits for the movie as Ra's Al Ghul on imdb. He has second billing, I think the Lazarus Pits might not be so far fetched.
Replythe new Dark Knight Rises trailer further proves Cody's point.
Reply"When Gotham is ashes,you have my permission to die..."
- from Bane to Batman
Personally, I think Gordon's son is going to end up becoming Batman (Beyond). It'll be following the plot as Barbara Gordon but at the same time have that Nolan flair.
ReplyYou know what? There's something else I realized. If I'm correct, Bruce Wayne was twenty-five years old in The Dark Knight. Since Dark Knight Rises takes place eight years later, that would make Wayne thirty-three years old- which is supposedly how old Jesus was when he died. I could see Nolan slipping in a little Christ metaphor for Batman, even though that sort of thing is a little bit overdramatic, just to show that Batman was a martyr.
ReplyIn Batman Begins he's seen celebrating his 30th birthday, so nope.
I'm impressed with this article, but the one major flaw is that Nolan had never intended for Batman to be a trilogy, and claimed that he didn't want to make the Dark Knight Rises at first.
ReplyThis. Is. Pure. Genius
ReplyEveryones missed the key thing...Blake is obviously another character overlooked in these discussions. Nolan and crew are just smart enough to change the characters name to hide this fact.
ReplyBlake is obviously Azrael. While he may not be an assassin from another guild in the film as he is in the comic he will fulfill the same role he did in said comic. He will replace Bruce as, The Batman. Though my guess is that, unlike the comic, it will not be a temporary change of the cowl. If Im wrong Id be surprised. Case closed.
Does the third part of the Prestige trilogy include ANYTHING Nolan is working on, or is it only something that he will be directing?
ReplyBatman will die, and Selina Kyle will send his body with the explosives that will destroy Bane's headquarters, one last act of heroism..and then out from the streets of Gotham will come the citizens to stand up against the criminals who terrorize them, everyone one of them wearing Batman cowls....and then......Oh wait. That was the ending to V for Vendetta. Sorrrry.
ReplyBest Cody article ever. Agree with it or not, it's well thought out.
ReplyI've read the script, so stop reading here if you don't want a spoiler.
Reply*
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The prestige is that Bruce Wayne never was Batman.
* Directed by M Night Shyamalan *
The first thing I thought about after looking at the new poster was this article
ReplyYou should take down this article. As a fan of both Cracked and Nolan's Batman, if Batman really dies in the end....a teory which is made highly plausible in the article..... then you will have spoiled the surprise for people who go to see the movie. A spoiler like this, even if it's just speculation, is pretty bad.
Reply Hide All See All 6 RepliesNot a spoiler if the movie hasn't come out...so...shut up.
How could you spoil something that hasn't even been shown yet? You yourself said it, it's highly plausible. Therefore every fool who thought up that ending for themselves should be hanged, is what you are saying?
Sorry, I thumbed it up by mistake.
f*****g moron
Here's a little quote from The Prestige for you.
"Robert Angier: You never understood, why we did this. The audience knows the truth: the world is simple. It's miserable, solid all the way through. But if you could fool them, even for a second, then you can make them wonder, and then you... then you got to see something really special... you really don't know?... it was... it was the look on their faces..."
You are the prototype audience Nolan is seeking to fool. Magician's don't give up their tricks not so much to seem superior, but because as soon as their audience knows the way it works, the trick stops having an effect on them-- or rather, stops fooling them. You want this article to be taken down because you want to be fooled. Don't get me wrong, that's fine. But people like myself and presumably the fourteen people who 'thumbed down' your comment... We're the fellow magician's trying to get backstage to the wizard's show, while you're in the front row.
What I'm trying to say is, this article shouldn't be taken down. You should. :)
this really isn't so much a "spoiler" as it is speculation. From looking at the trilogy's progression most people would come to the conclusion that the best way to add to the series from the 2nd film onward is to make Batman a martyr, so Cody saying that won't really spoil the film. However what we don't know is HOW batman will die.
@Everyone: Read 'The Dark Knight Returns' by Frank Miller. When you get to the end, imagine it was Bruce Wayne who faked his death and not Batman. Bam.
ReplyAnd then, if you've got the right edition, read the original script at the end - where Miller planned exactly that.
the new poster shows bane walking away from a broken bat-mask. batman definately dies.
Reply Hide All See All 3 RepliesNot really. I mean, that could just be a red herring. Besides, the "broken symbol of a hero as the villain walks away" thing is done all the time in the world of heroes, and it truly means nothing. I mean, maybe your right, but their's also the possibility it's just to throw people off and add appeal to seeing the new movie.
Maybe Bane tried on the Bat-Mask, but it broke due to his face equipment.
Or Batman threw his mask at Bane, and it broke, making Bane sad.
Bane is going to paralyze Batman.
Never read to see if it was mentioned but anyway, keeping in mind this is involving Bane and attention is drawn to a seemingly random cop, Azreal comes to mind. The death is the idea that Gotham may one day not need a Batman, or even just A Batman, and rather the idea that it needs THE Batman lives on. That only the real Batman can uphold the kind of 'justice' Gotham needs. Then again, Nolan isn't one to follow the comics that close, but he's grounding this Batman in more reality rather than have too much fantastic things, so it might be his plan after all.
ReplyThe error in this theory is the assumption that Nolan is a skilled filmmaker. Inception had no likable characters and was extremely predictable to anyone who's ever seen a movie in their life; The Dark Knight has about a half-dozen major plot holes and a dozen ridiculous plot contrivances, never mind three C-plots which never have any effect on the A- or B-plot, and the film is only saved by strong performances. The Prestige was wonderful, save for the makeup on elderly Bale, on which rested a major plot point. All three are great to look at, but writing-wise, Nolan does not likely have something this wild up his sleeve, as he'd never be able to pull it off satisfactorily. But this is a fun article and cool premise.
Reply Hide All See All 3 RepliesI didn't learn anything from your argument except that you hate Nolan's guts...
What C-plots?
Thank you, Phlegmbot. I've seen The Prestige and it was f*cking cr*p. Ditto for Batman Begins and The Dork Knight (I gave Inception a very wide berth, for obvious reasons). Nolan is overated. Drastically. @#!% The Dark Knight Rises!
I think the article is half right. Bruce Wayne will die and become Batman 24/7. Nolan's films are always about metamorphosis and self discovery. Nolan already made fun of the idea of copycat Batmen in Dark Knight. Everytime Batman falls he changes. He falls in the well and he comes out changed in Batman Begins. In Dark Night he falls after Harvey Dent and becomes the Dark Knight. The next stage is for Bruce to die so that Batman can live. It's almost Gospel like the way it plays out. The trilogy is full of Gospel simularities when you think of it.
ReplyExcept that he is saying batman dies, not just Bruce Wayne metaphorically. There literally will have to be a new batman cause the last one freaking died.
Only one man has the power to destroy Batman.
ReplyAnd that man is Joel Schumacher.