Actor Christian Bale returns to the dual role of Bruce Wayne and Batman in The Dark Knight Rises. He appears in the first trailer and the second trailer for The Dark Knight Rises. He appears in the montage at the end of The Dark Knight Rises prologue.
Near the end of Batman Begins, the League of Shadows plan to destroy Gotham City was foiled by Batman and Jim Gordon. At the end of The Dark Knight, Batman took the blame for Harvey “Two-Face” Dent's murders in order to protect the reputation of the Gotham City District Attorney as a “White Knight” and foil the Joker's plan. Gotham City Commissioner Gordon cooperated with Batman's plan, and dubbed Batman, a “Dark Knight.”
According to director Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight Rises “picks up” eight years after The Dark Knight; it is what he called the film's “jumping off point,” and that this was done primarily to give meaning to a “big sacrifice, a big compromise” that occurred at the end of The Dark Knight between Gordon and Batman and that it “takes time to establish that and to show that” meaning. Entertainment Weekly magazine stated that the film will explore the ramifications and repercussions of the ending of The Dark Knight. Actor Gary Oldman stated that Gotham City has been cleaned-up with the “Harvey Dent Act,” but the city is “seething” below the surface. Nolan said that Gotham has “moved on” after The Dark Knight, and the city has gotten “better in a sense.” Gotham is prospering from Batman and Gordon's deception “superficially,” as the cracks have been “papered over,” Nolan said to Entertainment Weekly. Nolan said Gotham has come to revere Harvey Dent in the way Batman intended at the end of The Dark Knight within those eight years. Co-writer Jonathan Nolan stated that Batman's plan to “stamp out crime” had succeeded.
Christopher Nolan said that The Dark Knight Rises is about “finishing Batman and Bruce Wayne's story.” He also said that Bruce is “not in a great state,” and “He's frozen in time. He's hit a brick wall,” and that he “has nowhere to go” after The Dark Knight. Entertainment Weekly stated that Bruce is “still recovering from the physical and psychological traumas of his Joker/Two-Face double whammy,” and that Batman was “still a reviled cultural scapegoat.” Entertainment Weekly stated that Bruce will have to repair his troubled relationships with Alfred and Lucius Fox. A Warner Bros. press release described Bruce as “still-grieving,” and that Wayne Enterprises board member Miranda Tate is eager to help him resume his father's philanthropy. Another press release announced the film's inclusion of “one of Batman's most formidable enemies,” Bane. Nolan said to Empire magazine that with the choice of villain and the choice of story, Batman will be tested “both physically as well as mentally.” Christian Bale said that his character will have to try to come up with an answer to the pain in his life in order for his character to “move on.” Oldman said Bruce will discover and learn something about himself at the end of the film.
In the first trailer for The Dark Knight Rises, computer-generated representations of Gotham skyscrapers are shown as debris falls from them interspersed throughout the trailer. Ra's al Ghul's statement to Bruce Wayne from Batman Begins is repeated in voice-over, “If you make yourself more than just a man...if you devote yourself to an ideal, then you become something else entirely. A legend, Mr. Wayne. A legend!” as title cards stating “Every hero has a journey” and “Every journey has an end” are shown interspersed. Gordon, who is hospitalized, says “We were in this together...then you were gone. Now this evil...rises. The Batman...has to come back. He must...he must”; Bruce whispers the question, “What if he doesn't exist anymore?” A bearded Bruce is shown doing push-ups in an underground location. A showdown between Bane and Batman is shown near the end of the trailer.
In the second trailer, Alfred tells Bruce, “You are as precious to me as you were to your own mother and father. I swore to them that I would protect you, and I haven't.” A man tells another man “This is peacetime” in Gotham. Bruce walks with a cane in his right hand inside Wayne Manor, as well as outdoors in silhouette below a dark blue sky. He walks into a masque party with a cane and leans on it while standing before Miranda Tate. Selina Kyle issues a warning to Bruce at the masque party, “You think this can last...there's a storm coming, Mr. Wayne. You and your friends better batten down the hatches, 'cause when it hits, you're all gonna wonder how you ever thought you could live so large, and leave so little for the rest of us.” In an underground location, a bearded Bruce asks a man “What does that mean?” and is told “Rise.” Bane tells a battered Bruce, “When Gotham is ashes...you have my permission to die.” A masked Bruce is shown rapelling down the side of a building. Batman is shown on the Batpod wielding a device. Batman is shown engaged in hand-to-hand combat with Bane. Batman's new aerial vehicle is shown in flight near multiple camouflaged tumbler vehicles and an HEMTT at the end of the trailer. The second movie poster shows Bane walking away from a broken Batman mask. The end of The Dark Knight Rises prologue montage shows Bane holding the Batman mask in his hand and then dropping it aside. The trailers and the second movie poster have emphasized the end of the Dark Knight legend.
Empire made note of Batman's new flying vehicle, which is called “The Bat” according to toy-maker Mattel. Entertainment Weekly reported that the Batcave—unseen in The Dark Knight—returns in The Dark Knight Rises.
