Characterization of the Knight - Nolan and Bale's Bruce Wayne/Batman - Part 1

[Thread Manager]

This is a continuation thread, the old thread is Here

[batman11]

It seemed a travesty that amongst all the villain, batsuit, manip and caption threads, the boards were actually lacking a thread dedicated solely to The Dark Knight himself. So let's rectify that.

(I'm sure there was one a really long time ago, but I figured a new thread couldn't hurt. And the dreaded Thread Manager will surely be around to fix things if necessary.)

This thread is for the discussion of Bruce Wayne/Batman's characterization in The Dark Knight Rises. Naturally, this includes discussion of what we've seen so far in Begins and TDK, and what we expect/hope to see in Rises. Chat about Nolan's take on writing the character, his overall arc, and where he'll wind up at the end of the trilogy, as well as Bale's portrayal, both in the previous and upcoming films, of Gotham's silent guardian.

[MrWayne]

And he appears to be dancing with no cane....

[The Batman]

Its incredibly sad that it took THIS long for this thread to go through thread manager compared to other threads

[Nevincer]

It's a good thing. I always saw that thread as an assortment of constructive, speculative posts about the nature of the character and his future in TDKR. It's not like the Marion, Anne and Tom threads where most of it is taken up from pictures of the actors/actresses camwhoring and members foaming at the mouth over them whilst having next to no discussion to do with their characters. No offense.

[The_Raganork]

Also Wayne is sort of tied in with the main ideas of TDKR, so a lot of what is said in the General Discussion thread (when on topic) is about this subject.

[Nevincer]

Yep. Saying that I wouldn't mind a Bale/Bruce/Batman thread based around just hyping the guy like the other ones. This one has a lot of pressure with the whole "characterization" stamp

[kvz5]

Originally Posted by Darkhunt

Yep. Saying that I wouldn't mind a Bale/Bruce/Batman thread based around just hyping the guy like the other ones. This one has a lot of pressure with the whole "characterization" stamp

Haha I hear ya. This is definitely one of my favorite threads. I mean even the talk about Bale in this thread is just about his work which I love. Sometimes I wish there's a thread where we could just be silly and just post being hyped for Bale (actor) and/or Bruce/Batman (character) like the other actor/charater threads but I just couldn't bring myself to do it in this thread just because this thread is sooooo good and I don't want to stain it if that makes sense. So yeah long story short, this thread rocks.

[The Batman]

Originally Posted by Darkhunt

It's a good thing. I always saw that thread as an assortment of constructive, speculative posts about the nature of the character and his future in TDKR. It's not like the Marion, Anne and Tom threads where most of it is taken up from pictures of the actors/actresses camwhoring and members foaming at the mouth over them whilst having next to no discussion to do with their characters. No offense.

I was actually thinking this.

The other threads are popular while being full of the most useless garbage.

[Nevincer]

Originally Posted by The Batman

I was actually thinking this.

The other threads are popular while being full of the most useless garbage.

Yeah. We're kind of ruining this thread just talking about it, honestly

[The Batman]

^ True

Being that this is the characterization thread..how do you guys see Bales Bruce reacting to characters like Selina and Miranda?

[kvz5]

I think he'll resist it initially specially since he's still grieving over Rachel and it seems that he's in a depressed state.

[MrWayne]

I hope we get much more screen time of Bale as Bruce. I really do enjoy his performance in that role. There is just something about Bales acting that really does something for the character, and for me he has become my favorite portrayal of Bruce Wayne.

[Nevincer]

Miranda... it really depends how that character is presented. We know certain spoilers about her so it coul go either way. I'm anticipating his interaction with Selina mostly because it'll be a completely different avenue from what was tackled with Rachel. There's some really exciting potential there with the whole gray aspect of the Selina character.

[The Batman]

Originally Posted by kvz5

I think he'll resist it initially specially since he's still grieving over Rachel and it seems that he's in a depressed state.

^ I agree. I wonder how he's gonna tackle the Miranda situation. It seems like she'll be chasing after Bruce, not the other way around. I wonder if Bruce is gonna be a jerk about it at first, or is he gonna try and let her down gently?

Also, I wanna know what kind of things Bruce will say to Selina at the ball.

[kvz5]

From Bale:

By the third movie is Batman’s drive still fed by the death of his parents?
It’s all in there. […] He doesn’t want to forget it, he wants to maintain that anger that he felt at that injustice but equally he wants to present this very vacuous soulless persona to Gotham so hopefully no-one will suspect him but will just think he’s a spoiled bastard. But consequently in his most intimate moments he has Alfred, he has Rachel and there is not a whole lot there. And at some point, he’s got to start living.* He is seriously behind in terms of life and enjoyment of life. That’s all been sacrificed and at some point, hopefully it’s Alfred’s wish that he will start to live again. Of course this tragedy has defined him but to a degree he’s sacrificed everything that most people would consider worth living for in life and he’s going to have relearn that, embarrassingly late in life.

[The_Raganork]

I think things will be legitimate with Miranda. She coaxes him out of hiding along with Fox and Alfred. He'll see that and respect that however the whirlwind of Bane will snatch that all up. He's not going to have time to be really pressed about it.

[Nevincer]

Originally Posted by Raganork8

I think things will be legitimate with Miranda. She coaxes him out of hiding along with Fox and Alfred. He'll see that and respect that however the whirlwind of Bane will snatch that all up. He's not going to have time to be really pressed about it.

That's how I'd imagine the story going.

[kvz5]

Originally Posted by The Batman

^ I agree. I wonder how he's gonna tackle the Miranda situation. It seems like she'll be chasing after Bruce, not the other way around. I wonder if Bruce is gonna be a jerk about it at first, or is he gonna try and let her down gently?

Also, I wanna know what kind of things Bruce will say to Selina at the ball.

I don't think he'll be a jerk about it. I mean even when he's in "playboy" mode I can't see him being a jerk to a woman specially someone with seemingly good intentions. He'll probably just show her that he's not interested in whatever she's offering.

Originally Posted by MrWayne

I hope we get much more screen time of Bale as Bruce. I really do enjoy his performance in that role. There is just something about Bales acting that really does something for the character, and for me he has become my favorite portrayal of Bruce Wayne.

I think we will. In the end when it's all said and done, I think Bale will bring the heart to the story this time around.

Originally Posted by Darkhunt

Miranda... it really depends how that character is presented. We know certain spoilers about her so it coul go either way. I'm anticipating his interaction with Selina mostly because it'll be a completely different avenue from what was tackled with Rachel. There's some really exciting potential there with the whole gray aspect of the Selina character.

I'm genuinely excited for both. This is really the first time we'll see Nolan's Bruce falling in love. Rachel doesn't count. He was already in love with her.

[MrWayne]

Originally Posted by kvz5

I don't think he'll be a jerk about it. I mean even when he's in "playboy" mode I can't see him being a jerk to a woman specially someone with seemingly good intentions. He'll probably just show her that he's not interested in whatever she's offering.

It's going to be interesting to see when he is around Miranda and Selina. Seeing how much is Bruce in "playboy" mode. Who will he be Bruce around and who will he choose to be playboy around?

[RachelDawes]

Originally Posted by MrWayne

I hope we get much more screen time of Bale as Bruce. I really do enjoy his performance in that role. There is just something about Bales acting that really does something for the character, and for me he has become my favorite portrayal of Bruce Wayne.

True. That's why I love your avatars; they showcase Bruce, which is pretty rare.

[batman11]

Originally Posted by batman11

(...And the dreaded Thread Manager will surely be around to fix things if necessary.)

The prophecy has been fulfilled. Mark the date.

On the topic of Bruce and Miranda, it will indeed be interesting to see how he responds to her interest in seeing him take his father's place as a Wayne that Gotham can look up to.

I'd imagine that his first response would be that of apathy rather than hostility, given a Bruce Wayne that is "frozen in time," but I feel this will only be a knee-jerk reaction. Eventually, we'll not only see Bruce taken with the idea, but perhaps smitten by Miranda, someone who so strongly believes in aiding the real Bruce, and not the playboy nor the Batman.

As has been mentioned countless times, legacy is obviously going to be an important theme in this film, and you can be damn sure that in the process of recognizing and attempting to live up to one legacy, Bruce will simultaneously be forging his own. It will be really neat to see this all come together, as the act of fulfilling one (more than one? Ra's and the LoS? Batman AND Bruce?) legacy will bring about the inception (ucwutididthar?) of another. I think it's an interesting concept, especially when taking the idea of duality, which so often (and for obvious reasons) associated with Batman, and then melding it with other themes at play.

[AnneFan]

It will be interesting if Bruce is in playboy mode, Selina comes out and dances with him. Bruce is in character, doesn't know who this is but likes the look of her. Selina isn't having any of it. She starts her jibes about the storm coming which takes the humour away from Bruce's tone. He'd be taken aback by it, but would think there's a lot more going on under the surface, and thus be interested in her.

[The_Raganork]

I think him not being in Playboy mode is what suddenly draws these "real" women to him. Not pretty faces with no connection.

I'm sure it's Tate who convinces him to come to the party and he reluctantly does so for her. He puts no front up. He doesn't really know what to do. He's a hermit at a party but something about Wayne, inherently attracts Selina.

Our first clue that the true Bruce Wayne was always more powerful than the personas he puts in front of it.

[kvz5]

Yeah I don't think he'll be "playboy Bruce" at the ball. More like the dark, brooding Bruce Wayne. In that set video of him entering the ball, he was alone and IIRC he completely ignored the paparazzi.

I'm curious which came first - his dance with Selina or that scene of Miranda flirting with him.