The Dark Knight Rises is the closing chapter in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, and gave Bruce Wayne/Batman an ending that surprised viewers – but the film, as well as the previous ones, subtly set up how Bruce’s arc was going to end. As one of the most popular and beloved comic book characters ever, Batman has expanded to other media and has had an interesting (and mostly successful) run on the big-screen, starting in the 1940s with two serial films and in 1966 with the feature film adaptation of the Batman TV series, starring Adam West and Burt Ward.
The Caped Crusader returned in 1989 in Tim Burton’s Batman, with Michael Keaton as the title hero, and was followed by Batman Returns before going through major changes in Batman Forever (starring Val Kilmer) and Batman & Robin (starring George Clooney), both directed by Joel Schumacher. The character went through his most successful and praised version to date in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, starting in 2005 with Batman Begins and introducing Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman. Nolan brought a darker, more realistic Batman and Gotham City, a style that was very well received by critics and viewers. The second film, The Dark Knight, arrived in 2008 and is considered one of the best superhero films ever, and in 2012 the trilogy came to an end with The Dark Knight Rises.
Set eight years after the events of The Dark Knight, the story saw a retired Bruce Wayne who was forced to resume his role as Batman as Bane (Tom Hardy) arrived to Gotham with dangerous plans. In the process, Bruce came across with Selina Kyle/Catwoman (Anne Hathaway) and Miranda Tate/Talia al Ghul (Marion Cotillard). The Dark Knight Rises had some twists along the way, such as Miranda Tate’s real identity and the apparent death of Batman, which turned out to be all part of a plan to retire for good and have a fresh start somewhere else. Bruce’s ending came as a surprise, but looking back at this and the previous movies, Nolan had been subtly setting it up from the beginning – here’s how.
Bruce Was Already Searching For His Batman Successor
Bruce Wayne was aware that he couldn’t be Batman forever and that someone had to take his place at some point, though not exactly as the masked hero. In The Dark Knight, viewers met Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), the district attorney known as Gotham’s “White Knight”. Dent’s plan was to end Gotham’s criminal underworld and managed to lock up many corrupt officials and mobsters, but all this came with a big price. Dent and Rachel Dawes were captured by the Joker, who made Batman choose which one to save. Batman then went to Rachel’s rescue while Gordon rescued Dent, but the Joker sent them to the other’s location. The building where Rachel was exploded, while Dent was rescued by Batman, but was left with severe burns on half of his face, thus becoming the villain Two-Face.
Prior to that, Bruce was eyeing Dent as his successor, given his hard work in making Gotham a safe city and his views on Batman’s role. During an impromptu dinner, Dent shared his views with Wayne, explaining he saw Batman as a necessity during Gotham’s dark times and believed he wasn’t looking to fight crime forever and was searching for a successor. Dent wasn’t wrong, and this conversation made Bruce realize Dent could be that successor, and so began to support his career – of course, it all changed once he became Two-Face. The Dark Knight Rises brought another candidate to take Batman’s place once Bruce retired: John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). Blake was a young police officer whose instincts and skills led Gordon to promote him to detective. He knew Wayne was Batman, thus understood a side of him that no one else did, and became a trusted ally to the Caped Crusader during Bane’s reign. After Bruce’s supposed death, Blake inherited the Batcave after receiving the coordinates to it from Batman, and as a final twist in his arc, his first name was revealed to be Robin. Bruce knew his time as Batman was coming to an end and someone else had to take his place, and he found that successor in John Blake.
The Dark Knight Trilogy Established Bruce Couldn’t Find Peace In Gotham
Bruce Wayne was born and raised in Gotham City, but his relationship with the city was complicated. Fourteen years after his parents’ murder, and after confronting mafia boss Carmine Falcone, Bruce spent seven years traveling around the world and training in all types of combat and martial arts. This took him to the League of Shadows, but he ended up rejecting them after learning they thought Gotham was beyond saving and intended to destroy it. Bruce returned to Gotham, took control of Wayne Enterprises, and became Batman. Since then, Bruce was unable to find peace in all aspects when in Gotham, as he was followed by the League’s leader, Ra’s al Ghul, who had been posing as Henri Ducard to gain Bruce’s trust.
Rachel’s death in The Dark Knight was another event that heavily impacted Bruce and his relationship with Gotham City, but the last straw was the Miranda Tate twist in The Dark Knight Rises. Miranda Tate was a businesswoman and philanthropist, and a recently promoted member of the Wayne Enterprises executive board who played a big role in encouraging Bruce to stop being a recluse and rejoin society. Miranda was actually Talia al Ghul, Ra’s al Ghul’s daughter and accomplice of Bane, who had been making her way through Gotham and Wayne Enterprises for years with the purpose of destroying them. Miranda’s twist and betrayal further proved Gotham wasn’t the place for Bruce to start over and find peace, and if he wanted to achieve that, he had to leave the city.
Alfred Foreshadowed Bruce Wayne’s Ending In Dark Knight Rises
The clearest piece of foreshadowing about Bruce’s ending in The Dark Knight Rises was thanks to Alfred. While Bruce researched Selina Kyle after their encounter at Wayne Manor, Alfred arrived and told him it was time to move on and get his life together, and also shared that when he left to travel and train, he wished he never came back to Gotham. Alfred explained that every year he took a holiday and went to Florence, where he went to a cafe every evening and had a “fantasy”: he would look across the tables and see Bruce, with a wife “and maybe a couple of kids”. They wouldn’t say a word to each other, but both would know that Bruce had made it and was happy. Alfred also told him he knew there was nothing for him in Gotham except pain and tragedy, thus why he hoped he never came back. Alfred’s wish came true, and Bruce started a new life far from Gotham and next to Selina Kyle.
Bruce & Selina’s Relationship (& Fresh Starts)
Bruce’s relationship with Selina offered some clues about his ending, especially during their conversation at the ball. Selina confronted Bruce, telling him he didn’t know a thing about her, to which he replied that he knew where she came from. Selina told him he didn’t get to judge her and that she started off doing what she had to. Selina went on to say that “once you’ve done what you had to they’ll never let you do what you want to”, to which Bruce said “start fresh”, but Selina told him there was “no fresh start in today’s world”, and warned him about a “storm” that would affect the wealthiest people in Gotham. Selina was waiting for a chance to start over, even if she claimed to not believe in fresh starts – and with Bruce preparing for the same, they took the chance and started a new life on the other side of the world, far from their past personas and Gotham’s criminal underworld.
The Dark Knight Rises gave a proper ending to Batman by allowing Bruce Wayne to detach from his alter-ego and have the happy, peaceful life he could never have in Gotham. Batman served his purpose and his time came to an end, but that didn’t mean it had to be the end for Bruce Wayne as well.
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