12. Dr Jonathan Crane Appears As A French Revolution-Style Judge
One of the big questions for fans of the Nolan trilogy related to what the director would do with Dr Jonathan Crane AKA The Scarecrow, after allowing him to evade capture in the first film, before rather unfairly turning him into a shadow of his former self in The Dark Knight (from super-villain to street corner drug dealer in one uneasy step). The early acknowledgement that Cillian Murphy was set to reprise his role offered fans the tantalising hint that the good doctor would find some resolution in the end-tying final episode, perhaps including an appearance from the Scarecrow as part of Bane’s army.
Given the importance of fear, and even more specifically of over-coming fear in the story arc as a recurring theme, the reintroduction of Crane’s malevolent alter-ego would have fit perfectly, and more importantly it would have offered a prestigious enough conclusion to the character’s own story.
But that wasn’t to be, and instead Nolan chose to include Crane (minus make-shift mask and fear toxin) as the head of the French Revolution style people’s court that rises as a result of Bane’s revolution. As Bane instructs the inhabitants of Gotham to rise and take back what is theirs from the greedy and apathetic upper-classes (how contextually appropriate of Nolan), the lower and criminal classes turn the city into a chaotic Republic (albeit under the ominous shadow of the war-lord and his henchmen), governed by a new set of laws. Those law changes lead to the formation of the court, where Crane sits in comically egotistical manner offering the accused the choice between exile and death (which both amount to the same thing).
It isn’t exactly a fitting end for the character – though of course it leaves his story open for any future instalments set in this same universe – and in all honesty feels more like a cameo shoe-horned in as an obligatory nod to Nolan’s relationship with Murphy. And his disappearance from the final action of the film did little to abate that feeling – so while it was a fun moment, it is rather a shame that Crane and Scarecrow went out not with a bang, but a comparative whimper.
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26 Comments
The did he survive will annoy me in time.
Fox is told that the auto pilot was fixed, PLUS Waynes pearl necklace is reported missing by the guy in charge of the will.
To me this eliminates all question.
Yes he would of had to survive the nuke somehow but this is film land and that is more than possible
I may have found a loophole to how batman survived. Superman flew in and saved him :)
Batman is a hero, not a superhero…
I figured that Batman ejected from The Bat when he shot through that building. I thought he used the huge explosion as a distraction to get out, and then The Bat flew over the sea with the nuke, using the now fixed auto-pilot.
John Blake: Works out Bruce Wayne is Batman (Tim Drake), Father is killed for not paying debts (Jason Todd), is a police officer (Dick Grayson).
He isn’t Robin, he’s Knightwing or the Bat. No way would he become Robin and I think that was just misdirection from Nolan. Makes no sense to have Robin with out batman but it does make sense if the character takes up the role of batman with Wayne supposedly dead and honour restored to the batman character (since dent’s history was revealed)
His name… is Robin…
I think you’ve SERIOUSLY over-thought the “Robin” twist—similar to how people are over-thinking the ending as a dream sequence (à la Inception).
It’s the end of the Trilogy. If they wanted to imply a new Batman, they would’ve done so without revealing his name as Robin. A misdirection only makes sense if they were SURE on creating another sequel (which they haven’t implied at all).
I think too much is being read into a few points:
- Firstly, I didn’t think there was any debate that Bruce survived the explosion. Some of cinema’s classically ambiguous endings – Blade Runner and Nolan’s own Inception – at least implied by tone and use of their scores a slightly sinister undercurrent that leaves us thinking, “But what if!?”. Here there is no such inflection; Hans Zimmer’s booming, truimphant score blasts on, championing the fact that Bruce has survived. I don’t think there is any ambiguity to it whatsoever.
- Secondly, people are reading way too much into the Robin name. It was, to me, meant as something playful/cheeky that’s meant to make you laugh. I don’t think he’d have been as on-the-nose about it otherwise, and probably called him “Dick” or “Richard”. Blake will become Batman, I am sure.
Thank you Shaun!
It is obvious Bruce isn’t dead. The film gives evidence to that. The auto pilot was fixed. The Bat signal was mysteriously fixed AFTER the bomb went off and Gordon is shocked by this. The pearls are reported ‘missing’ when last we saw Bruce had recovered them. Selina is seen wearing them at the cafe. Bruce nods back to Alfred.
As for ‘Robin’. It was a tongue in cheek wink. Blake will become Gotham’s new guardian, but as the next BATMAN. He is certainly not a ‘Robin’. And if he is, he is a bastardised Robin with absolutely zero links to the 3 REAL Robins Dick Greyson, Jason Todd and Tim Drake.
I didn’t suspect for one minute that Bruce Wayne was dead, as I said in the point – I think Matt’s article dedicated to the ending, and the comments attached to it prove some people aren’t sure whether he did indeed survive. But as I said, I’m firmly of the opinion that Bruce Wayne remains alive.
And as for Robin, I completely agree it was another cheeky nod, the same way Crane’s inclusion as the judge was. But that doesn’t mean it was a wholly successful decision. I also agree that the intention was to present Blake as taking over the mantle from Batman, and not have him actually do it as Robin.
But anyway, Blake effectively played a Robin-like figure throughout the film – you can see it in the dynamic between himself and Batman. That was the intention of my point.
“You should wear a mask”
I took it as Bruce is still alive, and I don’t think it was supposed to be as ambigous as some people are trying to make it. The evidence of the auto-pilot being fixed, the necklace being gone(which Bruce made a big deal about showing it’s importance in getting it back from Selina), and Alfred clearly seeing Bruce’s face(not just the back of his head) as well as being with Selina Kyle(why would he imagine her if it were a dream, when he had no idea they became partners so t speak?). They got the clean slate, and now they are both trying to start a new life. Seems to be pretty concrete to me, and plays up the ending in The Dark Knight Returns novel.
As for John Blake being Robin. I don’t know if it’s denial or what, but John Blake IS supposed to be seen as Robin. Once again this seems pretty concrete, and those disputing it saying he has no connection other than the name which was just thrown in for kicks are missing the point. Sure, John Blake isn’t the exact same story and origin of Robin from the comics, but this is Nolan’s Robin. Much like he makes little changes here and there to each character’s back story or purpose, John Blake is no different.
1. He says during the film he was an orphan.
2. His parents were killed a couple years apart from each other when he was young.
3. He had a hard time growing up, learning to smile through the pain, and never felt like he fit in.
4. He met Bruce at a young age, and he realized quite easily that he must be Batman.
5. Towards the end of the movie, they reveal John Blake is not his birth name, and that it’s actually Robin, to which the lady suggests he use more often. (Why would they throw this in at the very last 10 min, if it wasn’t meant to be a confirmation to what seemed so clear before? If they wanted it to be left up in the air for our interpretation, they would have kept it that way.)
6. He is given coordinates to the bat cave, and it is last shown with him swinging in and discovering the platform rising out of the water to reveal the batsuit etc.
He IS this universe’s Robin character. He may not be Dick, Jason, or Tim…but he is supposed to be the idea of the character Robin realizedm with the name solidifying it. However, he would likely not be Robin the superhero as we know. He is still the same character, but he would likely be taking up the role as Batman, as he eventually does in the comics. To continue on the symbol.
That’s what I got from it anyways…
I think Nolan is setting us all up.. Perhaps for another bite at the Cherry…
In the comics.. Batman needs someone to replace him when he was beaten by Bane right? However in the movie it seems that he puts it to the end that He finds a replacement for Batman with John Blake.
Also… If you remember in the comics. The guy who replaced batman during that time became more over the edge than batman, and started killing the villans. In the movie, John Blakes character kills two bad guys, perhaps a subtle hint at Johns perhaps more extreme nature.
But during the scene where he kills those guys, I think he shot at the truck to scare the truck driver, not knowing the bullet would ricochet and kill the driver. Once he saw what he had done, Blake threw the gun, disgusted, and realized that he would never kill again. And he seemed wholly good in the film, I don’t think he is a killer.
Did anyone else pick up on the fact that the doctor in the prison beared a strong resemblance to the Dr. Hugo Strange? He has the same face, same bald head, and speaks with some kind of foreign accent, plus he completely screwed up Bane’s surgery.
And he told Wayne everything to get out from the prison. I think your perception maybe true.
Has everyone missed the point that Batman is a hero and not a superhero? Superheroes have special powers…
Actually Batman does have the equivalent of a super power, and that would be “the mind” of The Batman. Super-heroes are not defined by the ability to fly or bend steel bars or see through everything but lead. And if you take a trip back through the history of DC Comics you will find a pretty long list of super-heroes who did not have what you call super-powers.
What happened to Lucius Fox?
The ending with “Robin” John Blake enters the batcave with his touch. He is then met by a swarm of bats which is also Bruce’s 1st realisation that he is becoming The Batman.
I think Bruce is alive but physically not able to continue as Batman so he identified Blake as a predecessor and a new trilogy can begin with Blake as The Dark Knight.
Batman has a enough villians to create an
The ending with “Robin” John Blake enters the batcave with his touch. He is then met by a swarm of bats which is also Bruce’s 1st realisation that he is becoming The Batman.
I think Bruce is alive but physically not able to continue as Batman so he identified Blake as a predecessor and a new trilogy can begin with Blake as The Dark Knight.
Batman has a enough villians to create another trilogy which will be in keeping of Nolan’s Gotham.
Its obvious how he survived the nuclear explosion. He had a led lined refrigerator stored in the back of the bat.
Fox was told by engineers that the auto pilot had been fixed. Therefore Batman was never in the Bat to begin with. A profound duh inserted now.
Ending the movie with Alfred’s smile of recognition would have been ‘tasteful’ from a movie-making point of view, but certainly not as satisfying for the audience -myself included- to actually SEE Bruce alive, with Selena Kyle (which by the way completely debunks the ‘Fantasy’ theory)… I loved the Inception ending, but I can’t go through another couple of months of explaining to people why it wasn’t a dream.
Lol people think name one batman comic book were batman isnt bruce wayne hes obviously alive and i blieve its pretty obvious blake is robin doesnt occur to you that you might actually be over thinking the whole robin thing his name is robin its kinda the ultimate forshadowimg people please think