I don’t think sequels are necessary to the Dark Knight trilogy, this is just for fun. I really wanted to do a fan-cast, and the stories themselves are only kind of ‘by the way’. I put work into the fan cast, but only half thought out the story. So they are paper-thin, and compare in no way to the complex narratives created by Nolan! But I hope you enjoy the fan cast.
Thanks to whoever created the Nightwing image!
ORIGINAL CAST
Bruce is retired but continues to support Nightwing like the way he supports Terry McGinnis.
Alfred lives with Bruce and Selina in Florence.
Lucius continues to provide a Gotham vigilante with the tools he needs.
Scarecrow would have a small cameo in the first film
Selina is retired, and living with Bruce in Florence.
Nightwing continues the good fight.
NEW CAST
Sofia attempts to take over her father Carmine's family. Rebecca is a good actress and Nolan has been previously interested in her for a role.
Mario assists Sofia with taking back control. Franco looks like Mario from the comics, and is a good actor to boot.
Alberto takes the 'Michael Corleone' role- the good son returns, but becomes corrupt. Also takes over as Black Mask at the end of the first film. Ben Foster is one of my favourite actors and would do both innocent young brother and creepy villain well.
Sionis's parents were friends of the Wayne family, and he always resented Bruce. He lost his fortune as a young man, but is steadily making his comeback. Fassbender is a fan favourite here, and would play the double role excellently.
In the realistic world here, Fries does not have his accident. Instead, he is a small time gangster whose wife was brutally murdered in front of his eyes. Losing all respect for humanity, he is a cold-hearted hitman. Paul Bettany has the ice coolness to play this with gravitas.
Again, a more realistic take on Croc, taking a leaf from Brian Azzarello and Jock's Joker graphic novel. Scaly psoriasis always affected the young Jones, who lived up to the name the kids in school gave him. Akinnuoye-agbaje would be an ideal fit forthe 'Joker' version of this character, and would fit well in the Nolan-verse.
Barbara wants to be a cop like her dad, but he does not want her to follow this life. She is feisty and fights with him constantly over this. Moretz would be old enough for the role by the time this was made, and she is a fan favourite here.
Vicki is a reporter for The Gotham Gazette. She is a love interest for Robin in the second film. Blunt is a great actress, a fan favourite and Nolan has expressed interest in casting her before.
Cobblepot's family were one of the wealthiest in Gotham until they were exposed as crooks. He is now desperate to return to power. Molina made a great Doc Ock, but I think he would make an even better Penguin.
Yes, Nolan would never do this, but it's fan fic. Joker returns in the second film. I think diCaprio would make a great Joker, in the vein of Heath Ledger's performance. He is a versatile actor, and has worked with Nolan before. This might be difficult to envision, but we all found it hard to imagine Ledger as The Joker at first!
Dr. Quinzell's origin is close to her comic book one. She does not wear a costume, as we are going for a realistic approach. I have always thought Seyfried would make a good Quinzell- both the reserved doctor and the psychotic side-kick of Joker's.
A nod to Frank Miller's TDKR. Yindel is the new commissioner in the third film and has no tolerance for Nightwing's actions. Moss is a wonderful actress, and plays tough and bitter well. She worked with Nolan before on Memento.
After Yindel closes Arkham, Strange takes his revenge by using his connections with former Arkham inmates. Tucci is a very versatile actor, and can play villains with great depth.
Riddler is a terrorist, who likes to leave clues in order to lure people into a false sense of security. Very like Jigsaw of the Saw films. Edward Norton is an actor who throws himself into every role. I could see him as a cold and distant Riddler, a an intelligent and calculating villain.
Dr. Isley is a botanist whose work was stolen from her, sending her over the edge. She uses her plant-based work as weaponary, a sort of minor eco-terrorist. Weisz is older than the traditional view of Poison Ivy. But Joel Schumacher tried a traditional approach and look what happened there. Weisz is a great mature actress and she would bring an air of experience to this role.
And the stories. As I said, I only half thought these out, so they're not very clever, but I guess it adds to the fan cast a bit.
The Gangs of Gotham
The first film starts with Sofia Falcone asserting her rule over the Falcone family. Early on, she murders Scarecrow for his part in her father’s condition. With the help of her brother, Mario, she systematically begins taking out all rival mob leaders. Assisting them is the cruel hitman, Viktor Fries. Their main rival is Black Mask and his vicious enforcer, Waylon Jones.
Bruce Wayne immediatly suspects Black Mask is a childhood acquaintance, Roman Sionis, and instructs Nightwing to investigate. Nightwing begins to understand that these two rival families will eventually tear each other apart, and asks Alberto Falcone (a scholar who left Gotham years ago) to return to the city, and appeal to his family to stop the fighting.
In the end, it turns out that Alberto had been working with Black Mask all along and, armed with the information Nightwing has provided him, he then has the ability to get rid of Sionis, and his siblings. He merges the crime families together, and pits Jones and Fries against Nightwing. Falcone then assumes the Black Mask role.
Nightwing eventually turn Fries and Jones against each other and Fries is killed in the batte. Beaten, the new Black Mask leaves Gotham, demanding from a mysterious source that he will need more money.
Barbara Gordon has a role in this film. She is contantly fighting with her father about her career path.
The theme is partnership and family. Bruce and Nightwing’s strong family-like relationship contrasted with the Falcones tearing each other apart. Gordon and Barbara’s relationship falls somewhere in the middle- we see they are close, but are beginning to drift.
The Fall of Gotham
The film begins with Bruce and Selina celebrating the birth of their daughter, Helena. Along with Alfred, they have moved to the UK. Selina suspects the move is crimefighting-related.
In Gotham, Robin has been dating reporter Vicki Vale, much to the dismay of Barbara Gordon who has a crush on him. Gordon and Robin have become very close as friends and allies. It has been 15 years since The Joker’s attack on Gotham and Vale is writing a piece on the criminal, making occasional visits to Arkham where Joker is under the care of Dr. Harleen Quinzell. The asylum is now run by Professor Hugo Strange.
Selina follows Bruce (a master thief, she accomplishes this quite well), and disovers Bruce is indeed crime-fighting, having tracked down Alberto Falcone’s benefactor, Oswald Cobblepot. Cobblebot’s family were well respected in times past but due to criminal activity, his ancestors were arrested and had (most of) their fortune taken away. He is using Falcone’s connections to put himself back into power. Selina begs Bruce not to get back into crime-fighting as he will only come to harm. She goes after Cobblebot herself and is killed by Waylon Jones. Bruce goes after Jones and almost kills him. Ashamed and heart-broken, Bruce disappears, leaving Alfred to look after his daughter.
In Gotham, Black Mask continues to try and overthrow the other mobsters. Cobblepot, terrified after the attack on his home and the near-death of Jones refuses to provide more money. In desparation, Black Mask breaks Joker out of The Asylum, hoping the media attention will garner him some attention. However, Joker has no intention of working with Falcone and he instructs Dr. Quinzell to kill him.
Joker tries to prove that Nightwing is just as corruptible as Dent and Quinzell, that anyone can be corrupted. Over the past couple of years, Nightwing has saved various people and places from destruction. Joker (with the help of Quinzell) systematically murder these people and burns the relevant buildings. Nightwing begins to lose his grip on reality, becoming angrier and angrier. Gordon encourages him to retreat, form a plan of attack with him, but Nightwing continues his aggressive pursuit of The Joker.
Joker shoots Barbara Gordon, paralaysing her. Nightwing is nowhere to be found. Gordon is about to kill Joker when Bruce shows up (in ninja garb) and stops him. Gordon knows Bruce feels his pain. Gordon is now bitterly resentful towards Nightwing. This has been The Joker’s plan all along – it wasn’t Nightwing he wanted to prove was corruptible, it was Gordon.
Joker, excited that The Batman is still alive has an epic fight with him, which Bruce barely wins, especially as Quinzell assists. He is saved at the end by Nightwing. Both Joker and Quinzell return to Arkham- this time, the latter as a patient.
Gordon retires from police work. We hear that Ellen Yindel is the new commissioner. Robin breaks up with Vicki Vale, and goes into exile.
The theme of the film is learning your limits, and what one is truly capable of.
The Legends of Gotham
Ellen Yindel has closed Arkham down, declaring it unsafe, and emphasises a community-based approach. She has also issued a no tolerance policy on vigilantism, and destroys the statue of Batman. She belives the only true heroes of the city are its police force and the good people there.
Alfred, playing with Helena (now 3 years old) suffers a heart attack and dies. Robin, having spent some time in South America training returns for the funeral. Bruce is in terrible shape now, and the only keeping him alive is his daughter. Gordon is also at the funeral and refuses to speak to Robin.
Hugo Strange, enraged at what Yindel has done, contacts a former patient, Edward Nigma for assitance. Strange has been opearting as a force of evil within the asylum for years, unbeknownst to others. He was fully aware of Dr. Quinzell’s relationship with The Joker, but let it progress due to his interest in publishing work on it. As ‘The Riddler’, Nigma terrorizes Gotham City with bomb threats, all linked to riddles. Nightwing returns to Gotham to stop the Riddler’s scheme. Strange is always around to help the victims post-rescue as some of these people suffer from acute post traumatic stress disorder. Strange’s presence in the media is strong, and he argues that a place like Arkham is needed more than ever with people such as the Riddler out there. He has several public battles with Yindel.
Several of Riddler’s bombs are linked to plant-based chemicals. Nightwing- showing his skill as a detective- locates botanist Dr. Pamela Isley. She uses plant-based technology to subdue him. She unmasks him and reveals his identity to Riddler, who from this, deduces that Bruce Wayne is the Batman. He knows he is still alive from statements The Joker has made.
He leaves a very specific clue in the media for Batman to answer. Bruce asks Lucius for help, and recieves an updated Bat suit which is somwehere between the Nolan suits and the Batman Beyond suit.
Batman shuts down several of Isley’s contraptions, before arriving at Isley’s lab. Isley, wearing a protection suit with plant-chemical gun attacks him but Batman beats her. Hugo Strange arrives and tells Batman what he and Riddler have planned- Helena has also been kidnapped. Strange makes direct reference to the choice Batman made years ago between Rachel and Harvey Dent. He now has a similar one- Strange has kidnapped Helena, and Batman must choose between Helena and Nightwing. Strange explains that either way, Batman will die, and Strange will be the first to publish any information on Bruce Wayne’s crusade, thus fully repairing his reputation.
Both James Gordon and Yindel appear. Yindel has been aware of Strange’s mal-practice for years, and whilst she could not gather the correct evidence, she knew closing the asylum was the right choice. Also, just before he was kidnapped, Nightwing deduced Riddler’s plan and contacted Gordon. Both rooms in which Helena and Nightwing have been trapped are safe. Strange kills himself, knowing he has been defeated.
Nightwing appears, having been saved by Gordon and Yindel, thanks to the information with which he provided Gordon. Gordon shakes his hand, forgiving him. The Riddler has one last bomb which is going to go off, and Nightwing figures out his riddle. Batman, Yindel, Gordon and Nightwing rush to its location (Helena is safe with Barbara). The final riddle has been pre-set by Strange, and is somehow linked to Yindel’s DNA- ie, as soon as she steps into the room, it activates (it had been pre-ordained essentially that she would step in). Thus, her actions will trigger a major explosion.
Yindel accepts her fate. Batman, knowing that people inthe surrounding area will inevitably die, is not willing to leave, but Gordon and Nightwing encourage him to leave. He confronts Riddler who is just about to escape. Batman attempts to take him down but is subdued. Riddler is finally subdued by both Gordon and Nightwing. The bomb goes off, and several people die. However, Nightwing is able to save some people.
Bruce and Lucius examine the work of Isley and realise that the plant-based nerve gas she developed has other implications. Originally, she used her research for nerve repairment technology. However, due to its link with medicine, her work was taken from her, and passed off as somebody else’s. She murdered these people and vowed never to help people again. Bruce pleads with her to atone for her sins and she accepts. The technology is used to help Barbara walk again.
The statue of Batman is restored, and a statue of Yindel is added. Bruce returns to the UK with Helena, and Nightwing remains in Gotham. Gordon is offered his old job back but refuses. However, he says that there may be another Commissioner Gordon some day, and we see he has finally come to terms with his daughter joining the GCPD.
The theme here is acceptance.
Thanks for reading!