1. Batman
Batman has been one of the most popular superheroes for decades. One of the fundamental reasons for this is that unlike any other superhero you can think of there is nothing super about Batman at all. He doesnt garner super agility from being bit by a radioactive spider. He doesnt have super strength or the ability to fly solely because he is from another planet. He is just a man, flesh and blood. Given the right physical ability and motivation anyone in theory could be Batman. There is something very primal and elemental about the fact he is risking his life day in and day out. At any moment, Batman could die. This is a main reason why Batman is the most relatable of the comic book superheroes. He is vulnerable. He is mortal. This fascination with Batmans mortality is evident in the fact that once it was known that The Dark Knight Rises was Nolans final Batman installment, and that Bane was going to serve as the Caped Crusaders main adversary, the overriding question on every fan-boy and girls mind was will Nolan actually do it? Will he kill Batman? This idea really struck a chord for an obvious reason; its never happened before on screen. As we now know it will have to wait for another day and another directors interpretation of the character. But the fact that he didnt die in Nolans finale doesnt matter. Its the basic idea that he could. And during certain parts of The Dark Knight Rises it really felt all but certain he would. It is within this mortality concept and its exploration that The Dark Knight Rises separates itself from The Dark Knight. In "The Dark Knight Bruce Wayne was fighting the good fight as Batman. He was continuing to try to stop the injustice and the corruption of Gotham City. More importantly he was on top of his game. There was no doubt that Batman would defeat the Joker due to the fact that, as I discussed earlier, the threat level wasnt quite to that will he die plateau that The Dark Knight Rises and Bane achieved. We love seeing our heros battle through adversity. We love seeing them struggle so they can persevere. As Miranda Tate tells Bruce as he was going broke and losing everything he owned, it is through suffering that character is formed. She is so right, especially when it comes to superheroes. While greatly entertaining as a movie, the hoops Batman has to jump through with the Joker in The Dark Knight has more of that following-the-crime-trail-and-figuring-out-where-the-Clown-Prince-of-Crime-will-strike-next feel to it. There is no substantial physical pain and suffering that Batman has to go through. No true adversity. Granted yes, he loses Rachel and that is a terrible thing for him and does cause him some emotional pain. But it wasnt enough to warrant the notion of Batman actually being defeated by the Joker. The Dark Knight was Batman in his prime. We as an audience just went along for the ride and enjoyed the show. In The Dark Knight Rises things took on a completely different feel. Bruce Wayne reluctantly took up his mantle as Batman yet again. He tried to go through the motions as if nothing had changed. Unfortunately for him, a lot had changed. This time it wasnt the Joker he was going up against. It was Bane. And this time Batman wasnt at the top of his ability as a crime fighter. He was mentally and physically rusty from not donning his Bat-suit for eight years. Batman is then literally broken by Bane and thrown into a prison pit never to be seen again. He has to suffer through excruciating pain and recovery as well as some serious self-reflection and soul searching before he fully understand what it would take to come back from this to not only save himself but to save his city. It is the journey we love watching heros make. During this journey Nolan yet again shows his brilliance for story telling by including that five second clip from Batman Begins. It was such a subtle scene that many average movie goers might have missed it completely. Of course Im referring to the scene where Bruces father is climbing down the well to save Bruce after he fell in. His dad then asks him that so simple yet such a trilogy-defining-question, why do we fall? As any fan of Nolans Batman movies knows by now, it is so we can learn to pick ourselves back up. That is just what Bruce Wayne does. That is just what Batman does. Seeing him go through all that and come out on top is what makes Batman captivating to so many fans. It is what helps make The Dark Knight Rises truly the best of the Nolan Batman films and yeah, I said it, better than The Dark Knight.