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Five theories about 'The Dark Knight Rises'

The third trailer for 'The Dark Knight Rises'



The third trailer for 'The Dark Knight Rises' was released recently following a viral campaign with clues placed in cities across the globe, and without a doubt, gives us the best look yet at scale and seriousness of the conclusion to Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy.

There are plenty of standout moments in the new footage packed into the 2-minute-and-19-second trailer. In addition to a plane being skyjacked in mid-air (part of the six-minute opening that screened in front of 'Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol' last December) and an entire football field collapsing under the players, there is a new shot with two of Gotham City's bridges blowing up and falling into the water. And there looks to be plenty of panic and violence in the streets, all lead by Batman's new masked adversary, Bane (Tom Hardy).

While 19th July can come soon enough for all Bat fans, we took a good look at the trailer and came up with five predictions that we think will happen in 'The Dark Knight Rises'.




THEORY #1 Catwoman works for Bane to get Bruce Wayne/Batman’s trust
The trailers didn’t really indicate if Catwoman (played by Anne Hathaway) is on Batman’s side or Bane’s, but judging by the snippets so far, we suspect that she’s on the latter’s side. We also suspect that Selina Kyle (Catwoman’s alter ego) is a spy for Bane, who was sent to charm Bruce Wayne up and infiltrate his new manor – and Batcave, by the looks of it. Another strong reason why we believe Catwoman is Bane’s slave is Selina was heard saying in the trailer: “You should be as afraid of him as I am”. And here’s what we think is gonna happen next: Selina falls in love with Bruce, and she’ll be his new love interest-slash-sidekick. In the trailer, there are a couple of scenes where we see Catwoman fighting alongside Batman, feeling extremely guilty when she answers that she doesn’t know if they killed Batman and of course, her taking a stroll in Batman’s bike. But the biggest clue is towards the end of the trailer, where we see Catwoman catching a ride with Bats in his “flying car”.



THEORY #2 Joseph Gordon Levitt is not just an ordinary Gotham City cop


‘Inception’ star Joseph Gordon Levitt’s plays John Blake, a Gotham City police officer who works for Commissioner Gordon.  Or so they say. Judging by the trailer, we suspect that Blake is not just an ordinary cop. He’s more important than that. In a scene, Blake was seen asking Catwoman, “Did they kill him?”, which we presume he was referring to Batman. Netizens have speculated that Blake is Robin, Batman’s long-time superhero sidekick, or that he’s the new Batman (we’ll let you know why in the next theory)! In fact, Bat fans are also speculating that Blake is Azrael, a Gotham cop who fills in for Batman in the Knightfall comics saga. It does make a little bit of sense, doesn’t it?






THEORY #3 Batman dies in ‘The Dark Knight Rises’!
If you’re an avid comic book fan, you should know by now that Bane breaks Batman’s back during a fight and the caped crusader has to be replaced. This scenario is very likely to happen because in the trailer, we see Bruce Wayne sporting facial hair, looking quite beat up and presumably being held captive by Bane. Now, Netizens are already speculating that Batman will be killed in this movie, and we second their thoughts because of one very simple but powerful reason: Christopher Nolan! He has revealed that he doesn’t play by the rules, that his Batman films are his own stories to tell. So, with ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ being his last Bat film, we suspect he’ll go out with a bang and leaving everyone in a daze (remember ‘Inception’?). Not just that; some scenes in the trailer (Bane holding Batman’s mask), the dialogue (“I won’t bury you. I’ve buried enough members from the Wayne family,” says Alfred) and the tag lines (The Legend Ends) are pointing towards Batman’s death. And if this turns out to be the case, it could support the theory that Blake will sub in as the new Dark Knight.




THEORY #4 There will be a new Batman by the end of the movie
Assuming that we get Theory #2 and #3 wrong – Batman doesn’t die, and John Blake is indeed, after all, just a street cop – we still think that they’ll be a new Batman by the end of the movie. Here’s why we think so: in a scene from the trailer, we see a boy asking John Blake if he thinks “he’s coming back” and right away, it flashes to a chalk marking of a bat shape. Now, this bat shape looks very different from the Batman logo we’ve come to love from Nolan’s trilogy. Could this be the symbol for the new Batman? Chances are that it is. We suspect what will happen is Bane will break Bats’ back, and while he is paralyzed and sitting at home, John Blake – or someone else, we don’t know – will take over the cape and the scowl.




     



THEORY #5 ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ could be the beginning of the Justice League movie


That’s absurd, you might be thinking. But let us explain: a couple of months back, eagle-eyed Bat fans noticed that there’s a rather subtle easter egg in the first ‘Dark Knight Rises’ poster. If you look very closely at the bottom left of the poster, you’ll see a Superman logo. Yes, a Superman logo! In case you’re not familiar with the comics, Batman teams up with Supes, Wonder Woman and Flash among others to form the Justice League, a unit similar to Marvel’s The Avengers. We know that Christopher Nolan would rather kill Batman in an ejector seat accident than have Superman make a cameo in his movie – he’s bada$$ like that! – but with him conforming that this will indeed be his last Batman movie, could he be building a bridge for his successor to set up a Justice League movie? Or it could just be a tribute to Superman? Or that the fella who designs the poster decided to pull a quick prank? Only time will tell.

Think our theories are total nonsense? Have your own theories? Let us know by commenting below.