The Dark Knight Trilogy’s Ending Makes Batman Begins Completely Pointless

Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy delved deeper into what makes Bruce Wayne tick than any previous DC movie, but the ending of The Dark Knight Rises undoes a lot of the struggle Bruce went through to develop his protector of Gotham. Each movie in the trilogy focuses on a specific stretch of Bruce’s career as Batman, and Batman Begins spends a significant chunk of its run time on Bruce’s international travels. While overseas after his parents’ deaths, Bruce undergoes grueling training under R’as al Ghul and the League of Shadows.

Throughout the rest of the trilogy, that training proves useful as Batman uses the lessons he learned to overcome the terrifying villains of The Dark Knight trilogy. However, in step with the grounded nature of Nolan’s Batman movies, Bruce has to hang up the cape eventually. After he retires and moves abroad with Selina Kyle, he seemingly sets up his ally, John Blake, to inherit the mantle of Batman. While the closure of seeing Bruce finally finish his mission is welcome, the ending also makes much of Batman Begins completely pointless.

The Next Batman Proves Bruce’s Training Was For Nothing

Every movie in The Dark Knight trilogy is among the best Batman movies of all time, but the ending of The Dark Knight Rises falls slightly apart after some thought. It makes complete sense for Bruce to pass on the mantle of Batman as he ages, but how it’s done invalidates much of Bruce’s journey. Bruce chooses police officer John Blake to take over for him after the two develop a bond in the movie, but the young hero – despite the tongue-in-cheek reveal that his name is Robin – is woefully unprepared for the job.

Bruce selecting John as his successor seems to imply that the young man is prepared to handle the burden and demands that the cowl requires. However, Blake has no training or expertise beyond those bestowed upon everyday police officers. This leaves two options – either Blake is not ready to be Batman and is unlikely to survive for long, or he has all the training he needs to succeed.

It’s unlikely Bruce would pass on the role of Batman to someone who lacked the skills to do the job, which means Wayne must believe that Blake’s training is enough. However, this invalidates a significant portion of Batman Begins. If all it takes to be adequately trained and ready to be Batman is basic police skills, then Bruce could have foregone his time with the League of Shadows and been none the worse off for it.

Why Blake’s Lack Of Training Doesn’t Stop Hom From Being A Good Batman

Despite John Blake’s lack of training, there are still a few reasons why the new Batman may be able to succeed as The Dark Knight. The first is that Gotham itself has significantly changed between the beginning of Batman Begins and the end of The Dark Knight Rises. At the beginning of the trilogy, Gotham may have lacked true supervillains, but it was incredibly deep in corruption and organized crime. Safety seemed far from a guarantee, and crime bosses like Falcone wielded just as much – if not more – power as politicians and the police.

However, by the time of The Dark Knight Rises, Gotham is on an eight-year run of no major organized crime or villain activity due to the success of the Dent Act. Bane and Talia’s takeover proves anything is possible, but the “default” state of the city has changed to one of order and peace. As such, a less experienced Batman likely won’t be thrown to the wolves quite as quickly. Blake will likely have time to develop his skills with the aid of the now-functional police instead of having to fend off foes as powerful as R’as right away.

However, the possibility of things going south after The Dark Knight Rises still necessitates John Blake being largely prepared to be Batman without training. Bruce believes that he has the ability to handle villains – both traditional and of the super variety – as is. However, to a degree, this still plays down the importance of Bruce’s overseas journey in the grand scheme of the Batman mythos.