Was the ending of the Dark Knight Rises in character for Batman?

[SicariiDC]

I thought it was a proper ending to Nolan/Bale Batman Trilogy. It was a more realistic (??) take, and it was supposed to have a beginning, middle and end; not go on forever like comics or cartoons. And while I love those, I really appreciated how Nolan did it.

I also liked that it left us with questions like the OP stated

[Clark_Kent]

I thought it was a proper ending to Nolan/Bale Batman Trilogy. It was a more realistic (??) take, and it was supposed to have a beginning, middle and end; not go on forever like comics or cartoons. And while I love those, I really appreciated how Nolan did it.

I also liked that it left us with questions like the OP stated

Yeah, I came in to pretty much post what you did. I agree.

Bale's Batman was always going to be temporary. A symbol for Gotham to rally behind and build itself up again, and this is even talked about as early as the first film. Then they go all-in in TDK with this idea. I think the ending fit the trilogy nicely. It was cool to see a version of Bruce get a happy ending.

Not at all aligned with the comics version for sure, but it wasn't meant to be.

[ekrolo2]

Nolan's Batman always wanted to be a temporary thing, he wanted to fix Gotham then retire but he wasn't able to properly let go of the Batman side until this movie. Him dying a martyr for people to rally behind so Gotham never falls into disrepair is a culmination of everything he set out to do from the first movie.

[sunofdarkchild]

Bale's Batman never sought to eradicate crime entirely, as that is impossible, but to cripple the mob and end the corruption which caused crime rates to be so ridiculous in Gotham. And he accomplished that task, plus saved millions of lives. He's not looking to fight a global war on crime and there are no superpowered villains or aliens to make him build a satellite to house superheroes.

[Korath]

Nolan's Batman never was an absolute crusader against crime.He was far more in love with Rachel than punching criminals. In that regard, considering the very long gap he spent doing nothing even while he could have fixed himself rather quickly, it is safe to say that in the Nolanverse, Bruce Wayne's truly is the face and Batman the mask, when it is a lot less clear-cut in comics.

[godisawesome]

I agree with the last few guys, though I'll add another point; this Batman is also showcasing how the physical demands on Batman would guarantee a short career. Only two or three years into his crusade (TDK) and he's suffering from some major injures that would hamper even the toughest SpecOps guys. By TDKR, he needs a mechanical knee brace to lose a limp (still no idea if he had it in the pit or if he replaced it after escaping).

This is a human Batman, and a trilogy where Bruce Wayne gets to retire because Batman is an exceptional response to an exceptional crisis. It's important to note that; Gotham in the trilogy is not even just a corrup city, it's a man-made distaster zone that the LOS is deliberately poisoning over decades. And this Bruce is as far removed from the vengeance interpretation of Batman as possible; I'd argue that he's actually moved past his parents' deaths by the midpoint of Begins and is far more concerned with a realistic objective in the stabilization of Githam and the rule of law and Justice. They even feature a subtle theme of him coming to grips with how poverty and crime interweave on a level different from pure malice and greed. He's not about punishing evil; he's about putting out the fire of injustice and despair in his city.

And since he actually achieves his goal in the last two films, he can retire. TDK gives him a chance to have the city's bureacracy and cops successfully clean themselves up, then his combat with Bane allows them to clean up the abuses of power in the new system, with his martyrdom and positioning of Blake acting as a safety net.

[Mutant God]

The whole concept that "anyone can be Batman," never stood right with me. Nolan got a lot of stuff right, but that was not one of them. Money and gadgets aside, not just anyone can be Batman. It takes a deep rooted amount of drive and determination to be Batman. So no, not just anyone can be Batman.

It was rushed. Nolan should have fleshed out Robin more and show how he is like Bruce. Instead we get an amalgamation of the Robins which is a let down.

Yes, which for me I think the cop is going to fail big time and turn more into Red Hood/Jason Todd which causes Bruce to come back as Batman, or thats my idea if they did a 4th movie.

[Spencermalley935]

I think it's perfectly keeping in character with this version of Batman.

For me, The Dark Knight Rises (2012) is specifically and definitely the end of the Batman story as I wanted to tell it, and the open-ended nature of the film is simply a very important thematic idea that we wanted to get into the movie, which is that Batman is a symbol. He can be anybody, and that was very important to us. Not every Batman fan will necessarily agree with that interpretation of the philosophy of the character, but for me it all comes back to the scene between Bruce Wayne and Alfred in the private jet in Batman Begins (2005), where the only way that I could find to make a credible characterization of a guy transforming himself into Batman is if it was as a necessary symbol, and he saw himself as a catalyst for change and therefore it was a temporary process, maybe a five-year plan that would be enforced for symbolically encouraging the good of Gotham to take back their city. To me, for that mission to succeed, it has to end, so this is the ending for me, and as I say, the open-ended elements are all to do with the thematic idea that Batman was not important as a man, he's more than that. He's a symbol, and the symbol lives on.

[Darkseid Is]

I think the only reason it's in his character to keep going as Batman is because the books have to keep going. I thought it was refreshing to see Bruce get a happy ending.