"Knightfall" is probably the comic book people most associate with
The Dark Knight Rises. It lifts the infamous back-breaking straight from the panels. Many fans loved this moment, but there is actually a lot more comic book love in this film than maybe it gets credit for. As in "Knightfall", freeing the scum of Gotham, Bane plunges the city into chaos. But that isn't the only piece of Batman history
TDKR is drawing from. The Bruce and Talia romance happened in 1987's "Son of the Demon" first, and Detective John Blake taking up the fight plays a role similar to that of a Nightwing in the movie, despite his name being Robin.
Last year,
I championed the much maligned Man of Steel on Superman's B-day. To Celebrate Batman's 75th anniversary, I want to look at the many more cool ways
The Dark Knight Rises pulls from Batman history, perhaps more than any other film.
In Batman #1, two of his most famous adversaries ever debut: Joker and Catwoman. I would have been sorely disappointed if Christopher Nolan's trilogy concluded without introducing sexy cat burglar. Michelle Phiefer had done a stunning job in the role previously, in
Batman Returns, but Tim Burton's version had a distinct, otherworldly approach to her (She comes back from the dead). Like many other things in
The Dark Knight Rises, Nolan's Selena Kyle draws from comic book roots, including the street-raised backstory, first meeting Bruce by stealing a necklace, and the inclusion of young friend Holly Robinson. Even the fact that Selena is never actually called 'Catwoman' is an allusion to the fact that in Batman #1, Kyle had neither an official name or a costume.
Suggested Reading: Catwoman: My Sister's Keeper
Batman # 1
Some of my favorite superhero stories involve when the hero quits or an examination of how much the world needs them when they are gone. When
The Dark Knight Rises begins, Bruce Wayne/Batman hasn't been seen in years. For story purposes, this is a consequence of the preceding movie,
The Dark Knight, but for comic readers, this is all too familiar- Frank Miller's game-changing "The Dark Knight Returns" starts the same way, with Batman basically retired. Nolan's movies have always been influenced by Miller's work, but this is one of the most overt nods, and it doesn't end there. In the graphic novel, Batman fights a brute who is leading an uprising. Just like in the film.
Suggested Reading: The Dark Knight Returns
Tom Hardy was somewhat of a controversial choice for the character of Bane. Bane himself was even somewhat of a controversial decision for the main villain in
The Dark Knight Returns, especially after such a poor representation in 1997's
Batman & Robin. Hardy is Caucasian, and not particularly big- two of Bane's most distinct characteristics being his size (even before using venom, he is a hulk) and his ethnicity, which is traditionally of South American decent. But the part of the backstory that
TDKR does zero in on, is Bane's time as a child growing up in prison. Of course, ultimately, the prison is almost mythological, and there is a trademark Nolan swerve with this plot point, but to even include his prison time at all was a fun nod to comic readers.
Suggested Reading: Vengeance of Bane
The most notable thing to happen in
The Dark Knight Rises is that Gotham falls into anarchy. The city is crippled, the bridges are destroyed, they are cut off from the outside world, and the government can't help them. This is basically the "No Man's Land" story arc come to life. What I personally liked best about these events is that, it expands on
The Dark Knight, and
Batman Begins at the same time. The difference being this time , the villains beat Batman, they destroyed the city, evil ran amok, and it stayed this way for months. In a sense, Bane is finally the one who won. I don't think there is another villain in any comic book movie that can boast this.
Suggested Reading: No Man's Land
So now I finally come to the thing people complain about the most in
The Dark Knight Rises- The Bane/Talia switch-eroo. What these fanboys fail to realize is that this twist doesn't actually betray any characters. Bane had, in fact joined the League of Assassins in the late 90s, and yes, tried courting Talia. Not only does the villainous alliance in the film resemble this, but Ra's Al Ghul also declared Bane his heir in the comics, so the intention of finishing Ra's work in
TDKR is a direct allusion to that. So does it really matter who was pulling the strings? As stated in Bane's
very first scene in the movie, it's not about the
who, its about the
what. All that mattered was the plan.
Suggested Reading: BANE OF THE DEMON
I hope I helped some people find a little more to like in The Dark Knight Rises. I know when it comes to Batman mythology the Nolan trilogy, and this film in particular, bring as much as they can- more than any Bat-film before them, which is both impressive and surprising, for films that seem so grounded and unlike other superhero movies.