I never realized how far into this I would get until I began writing this final film's outline...in the end, it turned into a script!! It's content is so much that I had to split it up into 2 parts! So please enjoy the conclusion that is Part 6...
Batman: Dark Knights Part 1!!
This concluding film’s villains are the Joker, Ra’s Al Ghul, Bane & Hush. The film’s other cornerstone is the return of Jason Todd as the Red Hood. I wanted to combine small but significant parts from the classic comic story-lines, with slight changes- you’ll know ‘em when you see ‘em! ;)
The movie opens with an armed robbery at a gala ball in Gotham City, two weeks following the end of the previous film. The five men think they’ve made a clean getaway when suddenly they see Robin standing in the road in front of them. The driver puts the gas pedal to the floor, accelerating towards the boy wonder as the passengers hang out of the windows with their guns drawn. Tim smiles and throws two unique sharpened ‘R’ shaped shuriken at the vehicle’s front tires; the impact stops the car instantly- causing it to front flip. The disoriented thieves exit the car guns blazing. As Tim takes cover, he throws two more of his shuriken- successfully disarming two assailants. The other three take their shares and run in separate directions- two running down an alley while the leader runs the opposite direction. As the two gunmen run, one asks if they lost Robin; and is simultaneously snared around his ankle by a bat-grapple- screaming as he’s sent directly upward and revealing Batgirl as the trapper. The other thug runs faster hoping to escape, but is stopped by Batgirl as she drops directly on top of him, knocking him out cold.
The leader of the thugs hears the hanging gunman scream in fright and begins to run frantically. High on the rooftops we see a black blur quickly jump past. The leader continues to run until he hits a dead end. He runs to the doors to each building trying to get one open, when a familiar pointy-eared shadow engulfs his light. The mugger is completely consumed by fear and begins to recklessly shoot in the shadow’s general direction and all around until his machine gun is completely empty. At which point Batman appears in full site, jumps from the rooftop and glides down with his cape toward his opponent. The unarmed assailant screams in terror as the Dark Knight descends upon him and ultimately knocking him unconscious. Batman joins up with Robin & Batgirl in the street and proceeds to tie the criminals up together and wait for the police. Commissioner Gordon steps out of the lead squad car and looks at Batman in disbelief for a moment.
‘…Batman. It is good to see you. Rumor throughout the Gotham underworld is that you’re dead…’
‘I’m sorry to disappoint Commissioner. That’s why I waited for your arrival to show you otherwise.’ responds the Dark Knight.
‘If you need us, you know what to do.’ And as Gordon nods in acknowledgement, Batman and his team deploy their grapples and swing off into the night.
‘Uh, Commish? Did Batman seem…different to you?’ asks the assisting officer.
‘Different yes, but still…familiar.’ responds the puzzled Commissioner.
Dick Grayson has temporarily taken up the mantle of Batman in Bruce’s absence. Reluctant to become his mentor’s alter-ego, Grayson agrees only on the sole promise that when Wayne returns, he will take his rightful place as the Dark Knight once more.
Meanwhile in Japan, we find Talia healing Bruce’s injury- revealing that her father does not know she is nursing her love back to health. She takes Bruce & Alfred to a secret Lazarus pit where she explains their origins & effects- as well as the side effects of temporary rage & insanity. It is here she begins a month long process of reversing the damage done to Bruce’s spine at the hands of Bane. As Bruce grows stronger again, Talia and Alfred help him re-learn how to walk and help him rebuild his strength in his legs. Using ancient chiropractic techniques, in addition to the Lazarus pit’s rejuvenating abilities, Talia reinforces Bruce’s back to be more resilient to ever breaking again.
Back in Gotham, we see Dick still in costume minus the cowl on the computer in the Bat Cave. Barbara comes around the corner to see her troubled boyfriend studying Bruce’s file on Bane. He quickly backs out of the file upon seeing Barbara. She tells him they all promised Bruce not to face that monster; to which Dick replies that he intends to keep that promise.
‘…but what happens if he comes to face US Barbara? If he knows Bruce’s secret identity, what’s to say he doesn’t know ours as well? What if he comes back here? Then what?’
Just then a police radio transmission is intercepted by the Bat Cave’s computer, informing them that the police have discovered a rotting corpse in an alley and that the victim is Edward Nigma/the Riddler.
We then see a warehouse on Gotham’s docks and three of the Joker’s men tied up to three chairs side-by-side. Lying on the ground below their feet are three other slain Joker henchmen.
‘Tell me gentlemen; do you realize who you work for? Who your boss really is? WHAT your boss REALLY is?’ inquires the killer in the dark. The thugs are petrified of the killer as he laughs at their cowardice.
‘Hahaha what’s the matter? I don’t see any of you smiling! You call yourselves the Joker’s henchmen?? You call yourselves followers of that black hearted MONSTER?! That’s a joke in itself!’ continues the killer.
As one thug begins to cry, the killer responds with:
‘Are you crying?? DIDN’T YOU HEAR WHAT I SAID?!’ as a gun is raised from the figure and comes into full view in the dim light
‘I said SMILE’ and fires a single shot into the thug’s head.
The two remaining henchmen grow increasingly frantic at the sight of another man killed. The gun then takes aim at the man on the left:
‘Come on now….SMILE’
The thug forces a smile while tears run down his face.
‘HAHAHA NOW THAT’S FUNNY!’ bellows the killer hysterically laughing as he then fires a bullet in between the forced smiling thug’s eyes ‘…and pathetic .’
The remaining man finally screams: ‘WHO ARE YOU?! WHAT DO YOU WANT?!’
The figure stands silent for a moment ‘Who am I….’ repeats the killer, confused at the question for a moment.
‘I am DEAD…and as to what I want…’ states the killer; more sure of himself as he steps out of the shadows and reveals that he is the Red Hood, ‘I WANT REVENGE’ and he takes aim with his pistol as he fires a single shot into the man’s chest.
‘Well, it’s been a load of laughs! Its unfortunate all the fun you will miss…but, such is the way of the world.’ happily states the Red Hood as he walks into a far corner.
He reveals a bomb to the barely alive thug as it only has a minute left and counting and walks out. The bomb is shown with its timer at zero and the warehouse explodes in an engulfing red fire.
Meanwhile Batman & Batgirl arrive at the crime scene in the alley. Commissioner Gordon brings them up to speed; two shots were fired and the bullets were being sent to forensics. The shots were point blank and very precise. The only thing the killer left behind was a black knight’s rook from a chess table, placed on the slain Riddler’s chest. The crime scene investigator calls to the Commissioner and says it’s something that will interest both Jim and Batman. The investigator reveals on the bottom of the knight’s rook a carved Batman insignia. Batman looks at the piece after making sure there are no prints on it and puts it together:
‘A black knight’s rook…the…my insignia carved into the base of it…a DARK Knight.’
‘I don’t understand…why a knight’s rook?’ asks Gordon.
‘Because whoever this murderer is, he outsmarted a genius…a slightly insane one…but a genius nonetheless. Chess is a game of strategy and intellect…whoever this killer is, he’s calling me out to a battle of wits…’ replies Batman.
‘Whatever the case, whoever this new mad man is, we need to find him and fast…before he can kill again. ‘ says Gordon.
‘Agreed, but I don’t think going on a killing spree is what this perpetrator is after…’ states Batman.
‘I don’t understand…then why kill Nigma?’ inquires Jim.
‘Because the killer wanted the one thing the Riddler knew that no one else has been able to figure out; and with the Riddler dead, the killer is now the only one who has that knowledge.’ responds Batman.
‘And what knowledge is that?’ asks the Commissioner.
After a brief moment of hesitation, Batman quietly replies: ‘My true identity.’
The Commissioner is stunned and before he can respond, an explosion from the East deafens all sound from the area.
‘That sounded like it came from the Gotham docks… Batman?’ as he turns to look at Batman & Batgirl and discovers they’re already gone.
‘I’ll never be able to get used to that…’ mutters the Commissioner as he runs to his squad car.
Dick & Barbara arrive at the docks to find a raging fire swallowing up a warehouse. They glide down with their capes to get a closer look. Dick stops dead in his tracks when he sees a Robin logo laying in front of the warehouse’s entrance. The logo was one that neither Grayson nor Tim have ever worn; only one even wore that design. He was suddenly taken back many years ago to a burning warehouse with Bruce screaming for:
‘Jason…’ whispers Dick as he picks up the emblem and the color drains from his face.
Barbara and Dick look around and realize to their horror that this entire scene was a recreation of what happened on that fateful night.
Back in Japan, Talia is continuing to successfully rehabilitate Bruce. When he is able to walk normal on his own once again, Talia takes him to a sparring ground to return Bruce’s abilities as Batman back to their peak. Finally, Bruce is completely healed and ready to return to Gotham. As they spend more time with each other, Talia & Bruce continue to fall further into love. They become so close that Talia can no longer deny herself to Bruce and is unable to lie to her beloved any longer; she begins to reveal to Bruce her terrible secret. When Bruce asks her what she’s talking about, Talia places from her pocket and into his hand a crimson Robin mask. Bruce’s face turns pale; neither Dick nor Tim ever wore a crimson mask, only one Robin ever did- Jason Todd.
‘He’s alive, Bruce.’
It is here we finally are brought up to speed as to what happened to Jason Todd. After digging Todd out of his grave, Talia discovered that they have a small window to bring Jason back. Ra’s orders his men to take Jason to his transport to take him back to the Demon’s mansion; it is there they submerge the fallen Robin into a Lazarus pit, bringing Jason back from the dead. Unfortunately, reversing the damage of being recently dead takes much longer to accomplish than simply healing wounds- it would take years for Jason to fully recover. When the healing would be finally complete, Ra’s intended to train Jason as a member of the League of Assassins and ultimately use him against the one man who could stop his dream to purge the world- he would pit Jason against the Dark Knight to turn Bruce to his side. However if Batman could not be turned, Ra’s Al Ghul would use Todd to destroy him. Talia was placed in charge of nursing Jason back to health & it was then she discovered that he was healing faster than Ra’s foresaw- his sight and ability to speak had already been returned to him. Jason and Talia began to talk to one another about how he died and she helped him recover from the shock of returning from the dead. He told Talia every day how his stupidity & aggression was his downfall and how he would never forgive himself for failing Bruce- the only man who ever believed in him.
In the years following his recovery, Talia learns more about Bruce and his crusade- it is here that Talia’s feelings for Wayne begin to blossom. Todd also tells her how he harbors nothing but murderous feelings for the Joker and how he must return to Gotham to take his revenge and help his family by killing the clown. Talia decides she will disobey her father’s will concerning Todd by fully healing him and then allowing him to return to Gotham. After the events of the 4th film, Talia is more than determined to disobey her father’s wishes after seeing just how evil & twisted he had become. As Talia keeps tabs on Gotham City in order to stay informed to Bruce and his allies’ statuses, they learn that Bruce is alive and well; but to Jason’s dismay, when the Dark Knight finally faced the Joker, he didn’t avenge Todd- he only apprehended the clown prince of crime. Jason decided he had forgiven Bruce for being unable to save him, but he would never forgive him for not avenging his death by killing the Joker. When Todd’s healing was almost complete, rumors reached Talia and Jason that Batman was defeated and killed by a super-powered brute who now calls himself the ‘Man Who Broke the Bat’. Jason jumped out of the pit in an attempt to run for Gotham- he was unable to stand yet.
He begged Talia to heal him faster, so she took him to the master Lazarus pit: her father’s. She knew the Demon used that particular pit alone for a reason, and she believed that reason to be it had faster regenerative abilities. Talia carried Todd to her father’s pit and placed him inside it in hopes that her plan would work- but something went very wrong. The pit did in fact heal Todd much faster, but at a terrible cost. As Jason healed, his entire life replayed before him, ending with the Joker and his awful laugh. The conversation he had in his last few moments with the clown repeated in his mind like a movie- and stopped with the story of the Joker’s rebirth. Todd leapt from the pit finally healed and unbearably insane- the major side effect of Ra’s pit; his already fragile mind had finally come undone. As he screamed the word ‘Joker’ at the top of his lungs, Ra’s and his men were alerted of his presence- bringing the Demon to face to face with the now deranged Todd.
As Ra’s and Jason fought, Talia discovered Todd had become stronger and more agile than he had ever been as Robin- always wondering if this was also an effect of the pit. He killed Ra’s men and almost killed the Demon himself if Talia did not stop him. In a moment of clarity, Todd gathered his belongings and told Talia he would always be grateful to her for her kindness - and how he would never forget it. Jason then departs for Gotham to finally take his revenge after all of these years.
Soon after, Ra’s came to, backhanded his defiant child and informed her of the ramifications of her actions; claiming her love for Bruce Wayne now outweighs her loyalty to her father- By placing Todd in the pit the Demon immerses himself in, the exposure to a used pit had far more severe and permanent side effects; the used pit did heal him physically, but destroyed him mentally- Ra’s told Talia she has released a curse upon the world & that she was forever banished from his presence and the League of Assassins for her defiance.Talia searched for Jason for weeks without any leads; always assuming he had made good on his promise and returned home to Gotham.
Bruce looked at Talia in disbelief; Jason was alive all these years and Talia knew, but never told him. The shock of this knowledge caused Bruce to breakdown into tears. After regaining his composure, Talia begs Bruce to forgive her- promising the reason she didn’t tell him after all this time was to protect him. Bruce believes her and tells her he will always love her, but now he must return to Gotham; telling her that he is a cursed man and forbids her to come back to Gotham with him- fearing that she will suffer the same fate as Jason one day. However, he makes a solemn vow that if Gotham one day no longer needs Batman, he will return and be hers for eternity.
Talia agrees and they passionately kiss one last time before bidding each other farewell. As Bruce and Alfred begin their journey home, Bruce tells Alfred there’s one last place he must go alone before returning to Gotham. Alfred understands and gives Bruce a black briefcase, telling him: ‘When you face your Demon, don’t stray from your path Master Bruce. Once you do, you will never find your way back, and as I have said before, I won’t be there to watch you destroy yourself.’ With that, we see Bruce finally re-don his batsuit and make his way to Ra’s Al Ghul’s mansion for one final battle. Back at Talia’s home, we see her crying in the dark, whispering:
‘Gotham will always need Batman...’.
At Ra’s mansion, Batman descends and incapacitates the Demon’s men and makes his way inside. Upon entering, we see Ra’s is already waiting for him- greeting the Detective to his home and informing him he knew that Bruce was healed by Talia, that he knew the truth about Jason & that he knew he would come here. The Demon assures Bruce that he will deal with Talia after he’s through with him, unless he reconsidered Ra’s offer to become his heir. Bruce responds by removing his gauntlets, utility belt and his cape; informing Ra’s that he will never join him and that he is ready to end this. Ra’s removes his ceremonial robe, now wearing only his lower torso garments. He picks up a katana and tosses one to the Dark Knight:
‘So be it Detective’ responds a disappointed and angered Demon.
They begin their final battle that spans over the entire mansion and ends below the estate- in the underground caverns that hold the Lazarus pits. Finally after a long drawn out battle, Bruce cripples the Demon. As Batman turns to leave and says this is over, Ra’s screams for Wayne to never turn his back on him; that he would just heal in a pit and return to achieve his goal again and again until it’s complete. Bruce realizes that the Demon speaks the truth, so he carries the crippled Ra’s out of the caverns and returns into the Lazarus pits with a torch. Ra’s mustered up the last of his strength to try and stop Bruce and leapt for the torch after Wayne threw it. Bruce tried to stop him, but when the flame hit the rejuvenating reservoir, the entire cavern erupted into a ball of fire. Batman had defeated Ra’s Al Ghul once and for all- but in reality, the Demon was finally ended by the very force that kept him alive all these years. Bruce reunites with Alfred and together, they finally begin their journey home.
Meanwhile in Gotham, Dick & Barbara are following every lead concerning the unknown murderer who killed Edward Nigma and the person responsible for killing 6 of the Joker’s henchmen & re-creating the night Jason Todd died. Originally Dick thought these crimes were committed by one and the same person, but he deduced the killing of the henchmen was more aggressive and personal than Nigma’s murder. He told Barbara that as impossible as it sounds, he believes the one responsible was someone who had close ties to the night Jason died; Whereas Nigma’s murder was not personal, but committed by someone who is after Batman. While investigating these murders and trying to solve mysteries behind them, Dick also has the fear that Bane will eventually hear Batman is not debilitated anymore and return to finish the job.
Back in the Bat Cave, we find Tim in his Robin costume minus his mask welding together something that looks like a mechanical batsuit. He then takes a break to get a drink of water and we see he is studying the file Bruce made on Bane displayed on the Bat Cave’s computer. He then turns to the work table and looks over the blueprints- the title reads: ‘The Exo Suit’. Tim takes a wrench and a welding tool and returns to work. After working on the suit a little while longer, he takes a few steps back and says with a victorious smile: ‘It’s finally finished.’ We then see the Exo-Suit Bruce wears in the episode Disappearing Inque from Batman Beyond. Tim has created this suit so the wearer can take on Bane, matching him blow for blow.
‘Well done Mr. Drake…you truly are as intelligent as I have heard.’ calls a voice from the dark.
‘I now have a better understanding as to why Bruce took you under his wing.’ he continues as he steps into the light, revealing himself as the Red Hood in a trench coat.
A startled Tim quickly throws one of his shuriken at the intruder- to which the Red Hood grabs out of mid air before it reaches him.
‘Don’t be stupid you clueless impostor.’ warns the Red Hood.
‘Who are you? How did you get in here?? Answer me!’ shouts a frantic Drake.
As the Red Hood walks towards the alarmed Robin, he freezes as he sees a Robin memorial dedicated to Jason Todd. He walks to the case & tenderly places his palm on the glass concealing the suit.
‘I am the Red Hood…and who I WAS…is who you are now… Robin.’ replies the Red Hood as he returns his attention to Drake.
Tim was shocked- he now understood: ‘You’re him aren’t you…you’re Jason Todd…’
‘As I said before…’ responds the Red Hood as he removes his scarlet helmet and reveals that he is in fact Todd wearing his crimson Robin mask,
‘You truly are an intelligent young man Tim…’ Jason removes his trench coat to reveal he is wearing a new militarized version of his Robin suit and says
‘…but is that the extent of your power? Let’s see if you are worthy of MY title…little ROBIN!’ as he charges Drake.
Tim and Jason fight in the Bat Cave, Todd having a slighter advantage due to the Lazarus pit’s enhancements on his strength and agility. Jason finally overpowers Drake and demands him to tell Todd if he is as good as he’s been told and if he is a better Robin than Jason was. A barely conscious Tim tells him ‘Yes’ before passing out. Infuriated by his response, Jason rips the Robin emblem off of Drake’s costume and throws it onto the floor. As he looks around the cave, he goes to the computer and reads what Tim had displayed on the monitors- the file on Bane; Jason finally leans that this is the brute that crippled Bruce. He orders the computer to give him a printout of the file.
Jason takes the file and reads the small information Bruce and Dick have gathered on him.
‘Super-human strength fueled by an unknown green substance that flows through the tubes embedded into his skin…’ murmurs Jason as he reads the description of Bane’s power aloud.
He then directs his attention towards the Exo-Suit, realizing what Tim had created:
‘So that’s what this is for…I’ll give ya that kid, you’re pretty damn smart.’ as he walks to the blueprints and reads the instructions on how to operate the suit.
We then see Todd enter the Exo-Suit and make his way out the cave saying:
‘If you can hear me Tim, I want to thank you for creating this suit…it’s exactly what I need to accomplish what I’m about to do. The Joker can wait...right now, I’m going to go break the monster that broke our father…something you frightened children could never do. But I don’t fear death…I already died once.’
He walks back to Tim, throws him over his shoulder and then exits the cave; leaving his crimson helmet & the torn off Robin logo behind.
‘This should get their attention…’ Jason says to himself as he & an unconscious Drake disappear into the night.
There you have it! Part 1 of Dark Knights!! Be sure to come back tomorrow for the continuation of this epic conclusion...
Batman: Dark Knights Part 2!!
Til then, comment in the usual place!
-Your UFNSM