Hopes for the Dark Knight Rises

[SPOILERS FOR THE DARK KNIGHT BELOW]

I love Christopher Nolan's Batman franchise. That man has worked cinematic gold with those films. And with the third one coming out next year, I am feeling mixed emotions about it. I am excited for the latest Nolan offering. No doubt it will be spectacular, even with the hard to top Dark Knight of three years ago. But it will also be a spectacular finish. The last of Nolan's run of the Batman films before he moves on and the series is rebooted (which I am not particularly pleased about).

That being said, I am hoping Nolan does something earth-shattering in this next film. Something that no one will ever expect or see coming.


I hope Christopher Nolan kills Batman.

Yup, I said it. It has been established that Nolan's Batman film's took the concept of a superhero film to new levels of gritty, edgy, and disturbing. The last film ended on a very low note. A city practically in ruins, the best of Gotham turned villain and dead, Batman himself hounded and hunted by those he's sworn to protect. In the logical order of things, one would expect the third and final act to end on a high note. Such is the nature of the trilogy.

But I expect better from Christopher Nolan. I don't doubt that in the end, the film's villains will be defeated, the city will be saved, and the people of Gotham will see Batman for the hero he is. But I want Batman to die doing it. Because it would be something new in a genre where everything of late has been fairly cookie-cutter predictable. I want to see Nolan push the envelope farther than anyone has ever dared. It seems a fitting goal for the mind that brought us Memento, The Prestige, The Dark Knight, and Inception.

~ Tommy