I recently re-watched The Dark Knight Rises, and I got to say, every time I watch it, I keep feeling discontented. I’m not saying the movie was bad, and I’m not going to say that this movie didn’t lived up to the hype. There is no point in saying that The Dark Knight was much better. But I will say that I feel like the movie had so much potential, after it’s a Christopher Nolan movie, and yet, I feel like Nolan got little lazy with the movie, and just wanted to finish the trilogy, so the WB would let him work on other stuff.
We can debate on this topic for days, but I’m not doing this article to say that TDKR wasn’t a good movie, this is How It Should Have Been, and therefore, here is my idea for how this movie should have been.
As much as I loved the Dark Knight, I got to say, that animated movie “Under the Red Hood” was amazing, and so I think that the last movie in the Dark Knight trilogy should have been little more like that then TDKR.
So, in my opinion, TDKR should have been based on few really good Batman stories: A Death in the Family, Under the Hood, The Dark Knight Returns, Prey and some aspects from Knightfall. Also, as much as I loved Bane and Catwoman, these two don’t really fit into my movie.
First of all some casting. Christian Bale and all the rest are back.
Instead of Tom Hardy playing Bane, in my movie he will be Red Hood/ Jason Todd.
Hugo Strange is also in my movie, and Stanley Tucci will be playing him.
The Joker is also in my movie. Heath Ledger’s performance was legendry, and I know people won’t accept anyone as a replacement, but since this is just an idea for a movie, I will have to recast the Joker. He is a big part of my movie, and there is no Batman without Joker. I think Sharlto Copley could do some cool with the role. But still, there is not match to Ledger.
Let’s start with the prologue of my TDKR movie.
After the events of The Dark Knight, the people of Gotham City, Batman is hunted by the police. James Gordon plays his role in Batman’s lie to Harvey Dent’s memory.
About 2 years had passed since TDK, and Batman is still active. Batman learns that the Joker was right, and more and more crazy criminals appear in the city. One night Batman fights few criminals, but he learns that there is someone who helps him, and that someone had been fighting crime for the last few weeks.
Batman learns that this crime-fighter is Jason Todd, a man in his late 20’s, who have decided to take the law to his own hands and fight crime like the Batman. Jason used to be in the military, and he can kick some ass. He is also much more vicious then Batman, but he still isn’t killing criminals.
Batman decides to take Jason under his wing, and Jason becomes Robin. He doesn’t wear the Robing outfit with the stupid green shorts. His suit looks like a mix between the Batman and Nightwing.
They tag-team for about a year, until the Joker breaks out from Arkham Asylum, and he goes on a rampage. Joker leads the two heroes into a trap, looking Batman in a cage, and making Batman watch as he beats Jason to death. Joker then goes to shot Jason in the head, but Gordon gets there and he stops the Joker. Batman gets out of the cage and attacks Joker, he almost kills him with rage, but Gordon stops him.
Jason’s body is taken by an Ambulance, while Batman tells Gordon that he is done. He quits being Batman. All of this will not be in the beginning of the movie, it will be flashbacks that will be shown thought the movie.
8 years after the events for TDK, and about 4 years after Jason’s death, Gotham City is in chaos. Criminals are running wild. There is a group of criminals that resemble “The Mutants”, only they call themselves “The Jokers”, and they dress up like the Joker.
Bruce Wayne doesn’t do anything to stop any of this, he spends his days blaming himself for what happened to Jason, and also is afraid of the fact that he lost control and almost killed Joker. Gordon, who now knows Batman’s secret identity, tries to convince Bruce to do something about all of this, but Bruce says that Batman is dead.
Hugo Strange arrives to Gotham, and he meets the Mayor. The Mayor praises Strange for his past work. Strange managed to bring order in a famous prison in Europe, and he is known to be very good in stopping crime. The mayor gives Strange full authority to do whatever he needs to save Gotham.
In the same time, few criminal bosses meet in a warehouse. They are attacked by a man that has a red hood. He kills all the criminals, but leaves one alive, telling him to send a message to all the criminals of Gotham, and to tell them that there is a new boss in town, and his name is Red Hood, and anyone who crosses him, will die.
The news start to spread about the Red Hood, and that gets Bruce’s attention. We learn that Red Hood works for Hugo Strange. We still don’t know in this point who is this Red Hood, but there is a Winter Solider about him.
Red Hood looks little like Deathtrok from "Arrow".
After Red Hood kills more criminals, Bruce decides it’s time to step in and do something about it. The Batman has returned. There is a chase scene that is right from the “The Dark Knight Returns”, that shows the return of the Batman.
Later on, Batman goes after the Jokers, and takes out most of them, but Batman is outnumbered, and the Jokers start beating him up. Red Hood shows up and starts killing Jokers. In some point, Batman tries to stop Red Hood from killing one of the Jokers, and the two start fighting, and Batman is surprised to learn that the Hood fights like someone from the League of Shadows
. The fight ends prematurely, as the two are attacked by the Jokers. After that, Red Hood vanishes.
Batman starts doing some detective work, only to find that the Red Hood has been around for some time, killing criminals all around the world. Batman starts to peace the things together, and he understands that Hugo Strange has something to do with all of this.
Batman goes to Strange’s place, there he confronts Strange. Batman is shocked to learn that Strange knows everything about him, including his secret identity. Strange revels to Batman that he is trained by Ra's al Ghul, and after Batman killed him, he became the new head of the League of Shadows. Strange tells Batman that it took him some time, but he used his brilliance to find out who the Batman really is.
Strange tells Batman that they are very similar, they both lost their parents in a very young age because of criminals, but unlike Batman, his father was a poor man, who belived that the only way to be rich and happy is to steal. His father got intruble with the wrong people, and Strange watched his parents killed brutally right in front of him. Like Batman, he has devoted his life to stop crime. His work got Ra's al Ghul’s attention, and he joined the League of Shadows, and became Ra's al Ghul’s right hand man. Strange says that Ra's al Ghul showed them both the way, but Batman decided to turn from it. Strange tells Batman to look outside and see what he has created with his crime fighting. Strange says that Batman thinks he does justices, but Batman only fallows some written laws, the only way to achieve true justice is to kill those who pose a threat to society.
Batman says he has heard enough and he wants to know who is the Red Hood. Strange says that it’s a surprise he doesn’t want to spoil. Batman attacks Strange, but then few members of the League of Shadows. Batman fights them, and then goes to take Strange out, but Strange tells him that he better go and check if his home is safe. Strange says that Red Hood doesn’t kill innocent people, but he can sometimes get carry away. Batman goes to save Alfred.
Batman arrives to the Batcave, only to find there few members of the League of Shadows, and they are holding Alfred. Red Hood appears and attacks Batman. The two have an epic battle in the cave, even better than the Batman Bane fight.
This time Red Hood kicks Batman’s ass, but Batman manages to break his red hamlet, and Batman is shocked to realize that it’s Jason Todd. Batman is so shocked, that he stops fighting back, and that let’s Jason to beat Batman down. Hugo Strange arrives there, and he says that he is glad that he could see the shock on Batman’s face.
Strange says that it’s time for Batman to pay for his crimes. Not only he has betrayed the League of Shadows, not only he killed Ra's al Ghul, he let criminals run wild, and he let a crazy psychopath like the Joker almost kill Jason.
Batman is still shocked, and he tells Jason that he watched him die. Jason says that this is the problem, he stood there, and he let the Joker beat him half to death. Jason says that Batman should have killed the Joker long ago.
Strange then explains to Batman how it is that Jason in still alive. He tells Batman that ever since the death of Ra's al Ghul, the League of Shadows has been watching Batman. Strange says he wanted to make Batman pay long ago, but he wanted to see if Batman will understand that he can’t stop crime by locking criminals up. He hoped that Batman will do what needs to be done, and yet, he never did. Strange says that he witnessed what the Joker did to Jason, and so he took Jason and saved his life. The League saved Jason, and they gave him a purpose. Strange says that Jason is a true hero, and now he will save Gotham. Strange says that the first act is to save the city from Batman, who had created crazy criminals like the Joker.
Strange tells his men to take Batman and Alfred, and they all leave the cave. Jason stands there all by himself, as he watched around.
We see Gordon in the GCPD, when there is a news report that Strange has taken the Batman. Gordon, and all the rest watch the screens, as Strange appears giving a speech about the League of Shadows and that they will save the city. Then Strange brings Batman in, and then tells the city that all the things that happened to it is because of the Batman. He then takes Batman’s mask off, reviling to the world that it’s Bruce Wayne. Strange then looks at the camera, and says that project Lazarus begins now.
The League of Shadows members begin their assault on Gotham. They take out the Mayor and all of the key figures of the city. There is a big shootout scene in the GCPD. Gordon and few other cops manage to escape.
The city is thrown into chaos, as Strange releases inmates from Arkham. All hell breaks in the city.
Strange visits Batman, and Strange shows Batman what he has done. Strange says that Gotham will burn, and a new city will rise from the ashes. Strange says that Ra's al Ghul’s vision will come true. Strange then takes Batman into a dark cell. Batman is left in the shadows, and then he hears a crazy laughter, Batman realized that he shares a cell with Joker.
The Joker starts laughing (he now knows that Batman is Bruce). Joker then reveals to Batman that Strange had broken him out of Arkham few years back, and he arranged what happened to Jason. Joker says that Strange wanted Batman to lose control and kill him, and Joker couldn’t refuse to that offer.
Alfred is in a cell, and he is joined by Strange. Strange asks Alfred how does it feels like knowing that he stood by and watched, while Batman created all of this madness in Gotham. Strange says that Alfred needed to be the one the tell Batman that he doesn’t do any justice. Strange says that Alfred needs to be punished for his crimes.
Strange orders his men to kill Alfred, but Jason appears and kills them. Jason confronts Strange, saying that he didn’t sign up to kill innocent people. Jason says that the criminals of Gotham need to be punished, but Strange’s men are killing others too. Strange says that all the men and women of Gotham are criminals, and therefore they all must be punished.
Jason says he won’t stand for this, and so Strange orders his men to take Jason down, as he himself runs away. Jason fights and saved Alfred. Jason tells Alfred that he saved him because he was good to him, and he is a good man. Jason tells Alfred to go, and never come back to this city. Alfred tells Jason that this isn’t the right way, and Jason is a good man too, and the Jason he knew would never let all of this happen. Jason tells Alfred that the Jason once he knew is dead.
Later on, Alfred joins Gordon, and brings some of his knowledge from his days in the army to fight League of Shadows back.
Strange takes Batman and Joker out of their cell. Strange reveals that his man set bombs all around Gotham. Batman manages to use some ninja moves to escape, and he takes few of League of Shadows members.
Batman reunites with Gordon and Alfred (Lucius Fox is also there). They preparer to take Strange out.
There is a battle scene similar to TDKR, with the big battle in the street. One thing leads to another, and Batman and Jason clash, while the battle for Gotham happens.
Batman and Jason get into one last epic fight. They end up in Strange’s HQ, only to find that Strange has Joker there. Strange is has a Batman suit on.
Jason pulls a gun on the Joker, while he is pointing another gun at Batman. Joker starts laughing, saying that this is a great reunion. Joker then reveals to Jason what Strange did years back, setting Jason up to be killed by the Joker. Once Jason understands that it’s the truth, Jason shoots Strange in the head. Batman tries to stop Jason, but Jason still pointing his guns. We then have a scene that is little like that final scene from Under the Red Hood.
I don’t know how to make this scene better, but I will try. In stand the all bomb thing in the end, there will be something more like The Dark Knight Returns. After Batman then disables Jason's gun, Joker pulls a knife and stabs Jason in the gut. Batman jumps to save Jason, but the Joker stabs Jason again. Batman grabs Joker and throws him to the side. Batman goes to check on Jason.
Jason is bleeding out, but he still tells Batman to kill Joker. Batman then realizes that Joker is near the control panel that controls all of Strange’s bombs. Joker pushes one of the buttons and a building near-by blows up. Batman goes to rage mode, and grabs Joker and starts choking and beating up Joker.
Joker starts to laugh, asking Batman if is this is the point where Batman almost kills Joker but then lets him live after all, even if after he killed so many people. Joker says that he understands why Batman is so afraid, he is scared to live in a world without someone like the Joker. The Joker is in a way Batman’s moral compass. Batman says he should have killed Joker long ago, Batman he is the one to blame for all the deaths, all what Joker has done, is on Batman, and he will have to live with this to the rest of his life. But he won’t kill the Joker, because he sees through Joker’s lies, he knows that Joker wants to die, he will see it as a victory, but Batman will not let Joker win.
Batman punches Joker one last time, and then goes to deactivate Stranger’s control panel. Batman has turned his back on the Joker, who gets up and runs to stab Batman, but in the last moment, Jason shoots Joker in the back.
The Joker falls into Batman arms. Joker says that he always thought that it would be Batman who would kill him. He hoped that Batman will cross the line, and Joker would win even in death. But now, he doesn’t win, and it’s not fun. Joker dies in Batman’s arms.
Jason says that someone had to do it. Batman would never do it, so Jason did the one thing that Batman would never do. Jason says that even after all what the Joker did, Batman still wouldn’t kill him. Batman says that it was never about killing Joker, it was about saving the city. It was about giving Gotham hope, it’s about showing the people that there is always another way. Batman says he spent every day of the last 8 years thinking about killing Joker, and making him pay for all that he has done, but Batman needs to be more than that.
Jason says that this is the difference between them. Batman says that he was selfish to ask Jason to be his partner. He can’t ask somebody else to share his burden. Jason asks Batman what happens now, and Batman says that nothing has changed, Gotham needs Batman, and he will be what they need him to be. Jason asks Batman what will he do about him, and Batman says he can’t ask Jason to stand by his side, but he can’t let Jason be the Red Hood. Jason asks Batman if that means that now they are enemies. Batman says that with the death of Hugo Strange, Jason is now the head of the League of Shadows. Batman asks Jason to be a better leader, and find a true purpose.
The movie ends with Batman becomes Gotham’s true hero, and Bruce Wayne invests all his money to rebuild the city and make it safe.
Hope you enjoyed this "How It Should Have Been"...