Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy stands as one of the last remaining standalone superhero stories before ensemble films such as The Avengers ushered audiences into an era of shared cinematic universes. As both the MCU and the DCEU continue to expand, actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt recently reflected on his time as part of the final Nolan Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises.
In an interview with Cinemablend, Gordon-Levitt says he feels that the trilogy was better off telling a complete story. “I know we're all used to the sort of Marvel movies, which are just kind of endless series. They don't really have a beginning, middle, and end. But I think Nolan very much thought of that movie as a conclusion.”
The end of the final film saw Gordon-Levitt's character, Sgt. John "Robin" Blake, discover Bruce Wayne's Batcave, insinuating that Blake takes up the mantle of Batman after the events of the film. “There's a theme that runs through all three of those movies that begins in the first movie, runs through the second movie and it concludes in that moment where he says that Batman is more than a man, Batman is a symbol,” the actor explained. “And so to have another man other than Bruce Wayne kind of becoming Batman at the end of that trilogy, I think that's the perfect ending to that story.”
Nolan had always been clear from the inception of his trilogy that Bruce Wayne's time under the cowl was meant to be temporary, as opposed to being a permanent crusader. Do you agree with Gordon-Levitt, or would you have liked to see more from Nolan's Batman? Sound off below!