THE DARK KNIGHT RISES: 10 Things We Demand To See

The Dark Knight Rises. As one of the most anticipated movies of 2012 from the minute it was announced, the film has inspired strong feelings for years about what direction it should go. For months the internet has been devouring spoilers, screen caps, bootleg footage and other leaked information with fervor and it seems that every bit of information brings about either dread or joy. Christopher Nolan's 2008 film The Dark Knight is considered one of the best examples of the superhero genre in film and it set the bar extremely high for the sequel. On the backs of Inception, Nolan has become one of the biggest directors in Hollywood and he inspires an awful lot of confidence, but even he was quoted as saying, €œHow many good third movies in a franchise can people name?€ as he had doubts over whether to even make the film, until he set himself the challenge of completing the trilogy. There€™s a lot riding on this movie and it€™s going to take a lot to keep things fresh and exciting. Plenty of people expect it to fall short of The Dark Knight and still have horrible nightmares from the jarring drop in quality of Spider-Man 3 or for those with longer memories, The Godfather Part III. Although it's now too late to advice the production crew and even though we have faith in Nolan that he doesn't need it, here's 10 things we€™d enjoy (or demand!) seeing in this next Batman film.

More Detective Work

One of the things that€™s been sorely missing from the Nolan films is the sense that Batman has trained his mind as well as his body. The training he received in Batman Begins was focused entirely on acquiring the skills of an assassin. Sure, Bruce learned to take down fifty men without breaking a sweat, but when Lucius Fox explains to him how he created the antidote for the Fear Toxin, he says €œAm I supposed to understand any of that?€ The Batman we€™ve seen in other media was an expert in chemistry and would often synthesize formulas for use in crime fighting. In The Dark Knight, Batman does do some forensic investigating to obtain fingerprints from a shattered bullet, but the reasoning behind that was faulty at best. That was not detective work; it was pseudo science and the entire sequence could have been removed from the film without missing a beat. Batman€™s greatest weapon is his mind and he should be finding clues, reasoning things out and solving problems with tools other than his fists. He doesn€™t have to be Sherlock Holmes, but Batman is a detective above all and should be given a challenging mystery to solve.

Cleaner Streets

We learned this week that The Dark Knight Rises takes place eight years after the end of the last movie. Batman has had almost a full decade to wage his war on crime. When last we saw Gotham, the mob was on its last leg after the destruction caused by the Joker. We should be told that Batman used that opportunity to put the last nail in the coffin of organized crime. Now, the city should still be dangerous and the theme of escalation should be present. More and more, criminals should be adopting new tactics for breaking the law to avoid easy capture by the Caped Crusader. Maybe we could even see a few shots of the interior of Arkham, showing recognizable members of Batman€™s Rogues Gallery imprisoned. It would make a great opportunity for some fanboy shout-out cameos and could be handled well without falling into the trap of €œHey, everybody! Look! It€™s the PENGUIN!€ Having the mafia and crime families still present and as active as they were previously will force us to wonder what Batman was actually doing for those eight years. Gotham needs to be different otherwise there is no explanation for why Batman is relevant or necessary.

Ra€™s Al Ghul Remains Dead

In the comics, Ra€™s Al Ghul is hundreds of years old and prolongs his life with the use of Lazarus Pits: mysterious, naturally occurring pools of green ooze that can heal wounds, cure disease and bring the recently deceased back to life. With the announcement (via numerous reports that he was spotted on set) that Liam Neeson will be reprising the role in The Dark Knight Rises, speculation erupted that he would be revealed as surviving his death at the end of Batman Begins. However, people coming back from the dead does not fit into the realistic setting that Nolan has created for his Batman universe. That type of thing works well in comics, but the last two movies worked hard to create a world that felt like our own reality. We can only assume that Neeson will be appearing in some sort of flashback or dream sequence; having him return as the main villain would undermine Bane and Catwoman€™s roles in the story.

Marion Cotillard is Actually Talia Al Ghul

When Marion Cotillard was first cast in the film, a lot of fans (this website included) believed that she would be playing Ra€™s Al Ghul€™s daughter, Talia. In the comics, her and Batman have a romantic history and Ra€™s Al Ghul€™s original plan was to wipe out humanity and start over with Bruce and Talia repopulating the world. Of course, Batman refused, so Talia remains as a scorned lover from his past. Cotillard and Nolan have both denied the idea, stating that she would instead play an original role to the film universe: a Wayne Enterprises board member named Miranda Tate. But, Nolan has played a similar trick before. In Batman Begins, Liam Neeson€™s character was billed as €œDucard€ and though many fans correctly guessed he would actually be Ra€™s Al Ghul, Nolan was tight lipped. It would be quite brilliant for Talia to disguise herself as Miranda and infiltrate Bruce€™s inner circle. The official description of Miranda Tate describes her as wanting to help Bruce rebuild the legacy of his father, which would be very interesting if she was also trying to do that with her own father as Talia. She could tease Bruce with help while antagonizing Batman (surely she would be aware of his secret identity). On top of that, Cotillard has been seen wearing a costume that would fit Talia way more than some board member. It almost feels like a foregone conclusion that Tate will end up being Talia.

Explanation for Batcave Construction

One of the larger plot holes of the Batman story is the Batcave. Batman Begins handled it well with a sort of protobatcave that was already there as a result of the Wayne family€™s participation in the Underground Railroad. But, the more elaborate the Batcave becomes, one has to wonder how Bruce managed to have it built without alerting anyone to his identity. In most incarnations, it€™s something that is just completely ignored. The movie provides the convenient excuse of Wayne Manor needing to be rebuilt after the fire, but there€™s no way Bruce and Alfred could build the whole thing themselves. We€™re hoping that Nolan can come up with an explanation that seems plausible and doesn€™t involve a bunch of shallow graves underneath the Batcomputer.

Some Reference to The Joker

Heath Ledger was unquestioningly an enormous part of The Dark Knight€™s success. With Cillian Murphy appearing in all three movies as the Scarecrow, it€™s sad that we€™ll never see a Joker cameo due to Ledger€™s untimely demise. But, the character and the actor deserve to at the very least be mentioned at some point in the film. Even if it€™s just a line of dialogue like, €œAnd the Joker is still safely locked away in Arkham Asylum.€ The Joker is arguably Batman€™s greatest enemy and we should at least get the sense that he€™s still a concern for both him and the people of Gotham. A man who caused that much destruction would leave an irreparable mark on the city and there€™s no way he would just disappear from people€™s awareness.

Bane Slamming Batman Over His Knee

During the Knightfall storyline of the €˜90s, the comic book Bane broke Batman€™s back, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. The image has become one of the most iconic from Batman€™s history. We€™re not saying that Batman should end up in a wheelchair by the end of the movie, but having an homage to this moment in the film would be vastly appreciated. It was a scene that really showed how much of a threat Bane poses and why his handling in Batman and Robin was so disastrous. Bane is not a mindless simpleton who can barely speak; he€™s a cunning strategist who managed to put Batman out of commission for an extended period of time. It would show that the film makers know the source material and respect it.

Batgirl

A recent and unconfirmed rumor has sprung up regarding Commissioner Gordon€™s daughter, Barbara. Apparently, a sign was seen on set with €œE.Page€ and €œB. Gordon€ written on it, perhaps referring to actress Ellen Page. Considering that Nolan has a habit of working with certain actors repeatedly (Marion Cotillard, Tom Hardy and Joseph Gordon-Levitt were all imported from Inception), it would not be surprising that he reserved a role for Page, who was also in Inception. Having a brief cameo from her in the movie would be fun and she can definitely play a teenager. (We definitely don€™t want to see her anywhere near an actual Batgirl costume, though.) While Barbara is a great character, the odds of this rumor being true are pretty low. All it takes is one smart ass on set with a felt pen to get the Internet buzzing. Still, Barbara€™s presence in the movie helps with building the fictional world and making things feel fully realized.

Robin

Just kidding! It€™s pretty much universally agreed that Robin shouldn€™t go anywhere near this movie. Christian Bale said in an interview that he would walk from the production if they chose to include the character.

Batman€™s Redemption

But seriously, folks, by the end of the film, Batman must redeem himself in the eyes of the public. For eight years he€™s been seen as a murderer, which is the exact opposite of his life€™s work. The type of stress associated with pressing on with the fight against crime while everyone thinks you€™re no better than a cold blooded killer has to be horrible. The people of Gotham deserve to know the truth and Batman deserves recognition for his actual deeds. Nolan has said that he is treating the movie as the final chapter and plans to offer some finality for the story of Bruce Wayne and Batman. Whether or not this means Batman will retire by the end of the film is anyone€™s guess, but if Nolan does end the movie with Bruce ceasing his activity as the Dark Knight without getting credit for his accomplishments, we will be severely disappointed. The very name of the movie is The Dark Knight RISES. This is something that has to happen. Christopher Nolan has done right by Batman up until now, but it€™s still a very strong possibility that he could drop the ball this time around. Hopefully, even if the movie is not as good as The Dark Knight, it will still be a high quality film. Only time will tell, but if some of these things are included it should certainly help. How do these ideas measure up to your own preferences?