There are a number of inconsistencies in The Dark Knight Rises. How does Bruce rise from the pit and then somehow, without any money, manage to get back to Gotham and sneak in, despite the city being cut off from the outside world? Here's an answer: it was Superman. Support for this theory says that Jonathan Kent told Clark to keep his powers a secret, but Clark still helped people, albeit in secret. And in The Dark Knight Rises, Gotham is facing a more serious threat than ever before. Plus there's the fact that Christopher Nolan produced Man of Steel. It doesn't work in practice, though. Even if we take the idea that it's a pre-Superman Clark, how does he discover Bruce Wayne is Batman and how does he know where Bruce is being held? And why does he bother letting Batman taking the bomb at all? Batman v. Superman pretty much completely negates this theory, since it's the first time the two characters meet. And we know BvS doesn't take place before The Dark Knight Rises, because the only Robin in Nolan's trilogy is Robin John Blake, but there's clearly a desecrated Robin suit in the BvS version of the Batcave.
Percival Constantine is the author of several novels and short stories, including the Vanguard superhero series, and regularly writes and comments on movies, comics, and other pop culture. More information can be found at his website, PercivalConstantine.com
