The Dark Knight Rises -- Blake Question (possible spoilers)

[darkshadow0001]

I hope this hasn't been discussed already, but is Blake supposed to be Robin in this movie? I realize Blake is a cop, but at the end it seemed as though maybe that was a cover-up because the lady at the end of the movie said he should use his real name, Robin. After this occurance, it seemed like Blake was Robin because he was always there to help Batman when needed.

Any thoughts?

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

Uhh. why is this in a separate thread?

[Captaindemotion]

^ I think that your question is more than a 'possible spoiler.' I've seen the movie, so it didn't bother me, but you may just get people who haven't yet seen TDKR popping in and being hugely pissed off at the way you've phrased it all. It's too late to re-word your title but you may want to edit your post and use some spoiler code.


In answer to your question (HUGE SPOILERS AHEAD, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!)







Blake is not meant to be Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake or Damien Wayne (much less the female Robins who have helped Batman in the comics!). Nolan and Bale always said that they didn't want the character Robin in these movies. However, there is no doubt but that he is meant to be a Robin-type character and the last-minute reveal of his name acknowledged that. Like Dick he was an orphan, like Jason a street kid and like Tim he figured out who Batman was.

It's not unlike how a draft script for Batman Returns would have featured a young street kid (who would have been played by one of the Wayan brothers, IIRC), who didn't wear a costumebut helped Batman out on a number of occasions. At the end, Batman asked him his name and he said 'Robin.'

But if there is a sequel to TDKR (which I don't expect), I'd be very surprised if he was wearing a green and yellow costume and calling himself Robin. His final scene is meant to suggest that he's taking Batman's role, making the role of The Batman immortal, bigger than one man.

[Admiral_Young]

Blake is meant to be Batman II Not Robin. He just happens to have the name Robin, which I believe was Nolan's homage to the character. Personally I see more of Terry McGuiness in Blake than any Robin.

[Allyn Gibson]

Captaindemotion wrote:

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But if there is a sequel to TDKR (which I don't expect), I'd be very surprised if he was wearing a green and yellow costume and calling himself Robin. His final scene is meant to suggest that he's taking Batman's role, making the role of The Batman immortal, bigger than one man.

If I were the one calling the shots at Warners -- and I'm not, have no fear -- I'd take a good hard look at the numbers on The Bourne Legacy before deciding on the direction for the Batman film franchise post-TDKR. if BL flops, then reboot the Batman films a la The Amazing Spider-Man in a few years. If BL is a decent success, putting out feelers to directors and screenwriters for a moderately budgeted film with JGL wouldn't be a bad idea.

[Captaindemotion]

^ Yeah, that might be a good guideline. JGL has the charisma to hold his own in a series of movies, IMHO.

Still, I think most people do associate Batman with Bruce Wayne and Spider-man has shown that it is possible to successfully reboot a superhero series while the last version of it is still fresh in peope's minds. And even if TBL is a hit, by-and-large sequels which replace the original hero do not do well - Speed 2 and xXx2 come to mind.

[Agent Richard07]

Captaindemotion wrote:

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But if there is a sequel to TDKR (which I don't expect), I'd be very surprised if he was wearing a green and yellow costume and calling himself Robin.

If Blake did that, I could see Bruce somehwere reading the paper and doing a facepalm.

[Warped9]

Admiral_Young wrote:

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Blake is meant to be Batman II Not Robin. He just happens to have the name Robin, which I believe was Nolan's homage to the character. Personally I see more of Terry McGuiness in Blake than any Robin.

Agreed. That said I'm not really keen on seeing a John Blake as Batman film even though it probably could be made to work. For me Bruce Wayne is the Batman, period.

Now a proper Batman Beyond film could be fun, but how many of the general audience beyond fans of the series would buy into this?

[darkshadow0001]

Warped9 wrote:

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Agreed. That said I'm not really keen on seeing a John Blake as Batman film even though it probably could be made to work. For me Bruce Wayne is the Batman, period.

Now a proper Batman Beyond film could be fun, but how many of the general audience beyond fans of the series would buy into this?

It just seemed like they were trying to make him into Robin. I thought maybe Blake was just a fake name until they introduced him as Robin. Granted, I never thought they were going to make him where the suit, because I always thought there'd be no reference to Robin at all.

I thought he found the Batcave because he knew Batman previously and somehow was told who he was.

I also apologize if I spoiled anything for anyone, I thought maybe most people have seen the movie by now

[JarodRussell]

Throughout the film I had the suspicion that Blake was working for the League of Shadows, or had at least a history with them. I found it contrived that he figured out that Wayne is Batman just because he saw some "stuff" in Bruce's face. I'm not sure if I'm disappointed that he was just an ordinary guy or not.

[Gotham Central]

JarodRussell wrote:

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Throughout the film I had the suspicion that Blake was working for the League of Shadows, or had at least a history with them. I found it contrived that he figured out that Wayne is Batman just because he saw some "stuff" in Bruce's face. I'm not sure if I'm disappointed that he was just an ordinary guy or not.

As pointed out by someone earlier, John Blake is really an amalgam of 3 of the 4 male Robin characters. Dick Grayson was formally a cop as his day job while he was Nightwing and Tim Drake, even as a kid, was a good enough detective to figure out who Batman really was. They just took the orphan, street kid, cop and observant detective and rolled it all into one character.

[Admiral_Young]

Again...John Blake was Nolan's homage to Robin. He isn't meant to be Robin. The first name is a homage to the character. It was a way to tip the hat without breaking his own credo that we would never see Dick Grayson in these movies. As pointed out Tim Drake discovered who Bruce Wayne was on sheer detective work, I'm guessing Blake worked that out on his own using the same methods as well and putting two and two together.

The end of the film very clearly shows that Blake has the coordinates tucked into to his duffle bag, thus he inherits the cave from Bruce.

As for a fourth movie, I would love to see one, but I seriously doubt that would happen. Warner Bros has an excellent working relationship with Chris Nolan. Nolan has stated quite clearly that he has no wish to continue this universe. Warner Bros would be rocking the boat with this relationship if they even considered doing something without first seeking Nolan or Goyer's blessing first.

[Warped9]

Admiral_Young wrote:

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Warner Bros has an excellent working relationship with Chris Nolan. Nolan has stated quite clearly that he has no wish to continue this universe. Warner Bros would be rocking the boat with this relationship if they even considered doing something without first seeking Nolan or Goyer's blessing first.

And that isn't really outside the realm of possibility. A lot can depend on how much Warner thinks they can make by continuing in this continuity and what they might have in mind.

Candidly I haven't much interest in seeing a Justice League film, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't enjoy it if it came to be and done well. I had no burning interest in an Avengers movie and yet I still enjoyed it. But Warner seems intent on doing a JL film first and then maybe branch off into separate character films...with the possible exception of Man Of Steel. And I'm ambivalent about MoS---I want to see a good Superman film even though I'm not keen of some aspects of what I'm hearing about MoS. I had hoped Green Lantern would have been better and I'd have liked to see a good Wonder Woman feature, but doesn't look like I'll see either before the JL project comes to light first.

Batman is my favourite of them all and I wouldn't mind seeing perhaps one more feature in the Nolanverse, be it a Batman Beyond type story or a Catwoman standalone. But I also wouldn't mind a relaunch exploring a more classic Batman similar in vein to an Alex Ross take on the character.

[Admiral_Young]

I'm not saying it wouldn't happen, I'm saying that they'd have to seek his blessing first before even considering something beyond. I just don't see that likely. They've been exceptionally respectful towards Nolan during the trilogy process and while he was working on "Inception" as well. I don't see them doing anything that would rock this boat. Not to mention his "godfather" position on "Man of Steel". They've a lot riding on Nolan still beyond Batman.

[Warped9]

Admiral_Young wrote:

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I'm not saying it wouldn't happen, I'm saying that they'd have to seek his blessing first before even considering something beyond. I just don't see that likely. They've been exceptionally respectful towards Nolan during the trilogy process and while he was working on "Inception" as well. I don't see them doing anything that would rock this boat. Not to mention his "godfather" position on "Man of Steel". They've a lot riding on Nolan still beyond Batman.

Agreed.