Well it's been a long while since my last post, years in fact, but Batman has a way of reeling me back in.
Chris Nolan's latest has really got me thinking. We've all heard the rumors of who's really playing who (JGL as Dick Grayson or Azreal, Marion Cotillard as Talia Al Ghul etc) and I'd like to expand upon them with my theories. We're all quite certain that Marion Cotillard is going to be playing Talia Al Ghul and using the alias of Miranda Tate but I want to focus on Joseph Gordon-Levitt (JGL).
The more I see of the trailers the more it appears the Nolan's really are doing their version of the Knightfall story-line. Bats does appear to be severely broken if not paralyzed and that would account for the long absence of Batman in Gotham. With Bane thoroughly fucking shit up I would not be surprised to see Bruce accept an offer from JGL/John Blake (Dick Grayson/John Paul Valley/Tim Drake?) to take over as Batman. After all it's not so much about the man behind the mask as it is about the symbol of Batman. John Blake is most likely a top beat cop in the thick of the mayhem and clearly he finds himself in the mix with Batman. Perhaps he even witnesses the breaking of the Bat first hand... the look on his face in the bridge scene perhaps, though that could just be him witnessing the bridge collapse and seemingly having to save folks in trouble, which could be good training for the cowl too, especially if Bane is in the area at the time.
I'd love to see Azreal in the film but they'd have to establish him as Azreal before becoming Batman (although his being Batman could result in him becoming Azreal after Bruce returns). My money is on him being either Dick Grayson (who was a cop for a period in the comics and would potentially use an alias to escape the mobsters who killed his family, a perfect Batman replacement) OR Tim Drake. He's my personal favorite Robin as he didn't have it thrust upon him by Bruce (as Dick essentially did), but rather used his sleuthing skills to discover who Bats was and infiltrate the Batcave and demand to be Robin... something John Blake may ultimately do in the film.
Now Chris Nolan promised to never put Robin in his films but that does not mean he could not introduce Dick or Tim and allude to their future as Robin. The story seems to suggest that Batman ultimately cannot do it alone. He gets the shit kicked out of him, the city crumbles and he gets help from Catwoman and most likely John Blake as a possible replacement for Batman,. That all seems like a perfect intro to a future Robin (or possibly Azreal but I doubt that). Robin has a much higher status in the comics than does Az so my bet is on John ultimately becoming Robin. Hell, the final shot may be of John donning a Robin-like outfit and the 2 heading out together. The end of the film, I'm guessing, has to set up the long future of Batman as Gotham's savior. hinting at Robin would be a highly satisfying finale and let our imaginations run wild. We'd beg to see more knowing we never will. Bitter sweet.
What about Nightwing, you ask? I doubt it. You can't have Nightwing without first having Robin and I doubt the Nolans will go that route. Unless they bring in another character as Robin (Tim Drake) and just have John Blake/Dick Grayson skip right to Nightwing. I would be fine with that.
So in a nutshell my guess is that JGL is going to become Robin. I hope so. I've always hated that Robin is typically a pre-pubescent child. That's just fucked up. He really needs to be perhaps 19 or older to really be believable and JGL would be such a perfect fit.
Fingers crossed for a hint at Robin, but I'll take Azreal in a pinch coz damn he's cool too.
And that's my two cents on TDKR
