Hello CBM! Jamedog here! I have returned from a self imposed exile to comment on one of my favorite things...
Batman!
First off, most of you probably don't even remember my posts, which is all good. I was regularly posting editorials up here for most of the year, but then things in my life got kinda crazy. Add in my increasing annoyance at the stupidity of most of the users of this website, and I decided to take a break for a while.
But I've been wanting to post up my thoughts on this subject for a while. My friends and I have been debating over this ever since the first trailer for THE DARK KNIGHT RISES hit. I'm sure there has already been multiple editorials on this subject on this site (and I've read a couple on other sites), so I decided to toss in my two cents.
Will Batman die in THE DARK KNIGHT RISES?
It seems to be a favorite conversation topic amongst geeks. There are a million reasons Nolan could kill Batman, there's also a million reasons they could keep him alive. A popular argument against killing Batman is that WB wouldn't let Nolan do it. Batman has been a huge cash-cow for WB and they want to keep him around for more movies, blah, blah, blah. While this would be valid for other superhero franchises, I don't think you can really use this as an argument for not killing Batman.
Nolan has WB by the balls. It's that simple. He's made them so much money that they will let him do whatever he wants because they're confident in him delivering. So, if Nolan wants to kill Batman, he can go ahead and do it without any pressure from the studio. Also, its a well known fact that WB already wants to reboot the Batman franchise after Nolan finishes. So, if WB is indeed hitting the reset button, that means that Nolan can in fact do whatever the hell he pleases with this, seeing how everything will be returned to status quo next movie.
So yes, the odds are in favor of Batman dying. Another popular theory is the one centering around the character of John Blake. The theory is that at the end of TDKR, Batman will die saving Gotham, but not before passing his mantle onto John Blake, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. While I like this theory a lot, I would have to say it won't happen simply because it seems to obvious. Nolan likes surprising his audiences, and I'm sure that if he wanted to end his epic trilogy, he wouldn't go with the most obvious ending he could find.
I do have a theory of my own.
First off, let me say that WB and Nolan are doing an excellent job of making you think that Batman will die in TDKR. Both trailers openly state that this is the end of the series, both Nolan and Bale have been saying this is the end, and just look at the newest poster. All signs point that something big is happening to Batman, and of course everyone is assuming that he'll be joining his parents in the big Batcave in the sky. We all think Batman will die at the end because WB and Nolan want us to think that he's going to die. It's an excellent way to build tension and make you fear for the character, months before the movie even comes out. But here's my theory...
Bruce Wayne dies. Batman lives.
At first, this seems like the aforementioned "John Blake becoming Batman" theory, and its a slight variation on it. What I'm saying is that by the end of TDKR, Batman will shed his Bruce Wayne persona entirely and give himself entirely to the Batman persona. If you look, it's been planted throughout both previous movies.
"As a man, I'm flesh and blood. I can be destroyed, I can be ignored. But as a symbol, as a symbol I can be incorruptible, I can be everlasting."
"I'm not sure that there will ever be a time that YOU don't need Batman"
"This is your mask. Your real face is the one criminals now fear. The man I loved. The man I lost. He never came back."
"You're getting lost inside this monster of yours!"
Now, let's look at the newest trailer. We see Bane telling a beaten and bloody Bruce Wayne that when Gotham is ashes, he has his permission to die. Bruce Wayne, not Batman.
My theory is that Bane attacks Batman at his most vulnerable: Bruce Wayne. If you also take in the "Miranda Tate is really Talia" theory as well, this means that Talia was posing as Tate in order to get close and gain his trust, just for Bane to strike when Bruce least suspects it. But being caught unawares won't be the thing that makes Bruce give himself fully to the darkness.
It will be Alfred dying.
During the attack on Wayne, Alfred will die. As we've seen in the previous movies, Alfred was very much the angel on Bruce's shoulder, keeping him from "getting lost in his monster". With Alfred's death, Bruce will lose that final link to his human side, to his parents. Now, Bruce only has one thing...
Batman.
After recovering from whatever injuries he receives at the hands of Bane, Batman will come back and help Gotham take control. But even with the threat of Bane extinguished, Bruce will find that he can't stop his battle for Gotham because it's all he has now. Hell, the movie may even have him do something like fake his death as Bruce Wayne or something just to prove that he is only Batman now. However it happens, Bruce will find himself as Batman and forsake his public persona forever. Just like in INCEPTION, where we wonder if Cobb is still dreaming or not, we will wonder if Bruce will ever go back to his old life.
You can even throw in the "John Blake as the new Batman" theory and have it that Bruce takes him under his wing at the end, to carry on his legacy once his quest for justice gets the best of him.
I said it in a previous article, but in TDKR, Gotham will prove that it doesn't need Batman, but Bruce Wayne will realize that he will always need Batman.