The Dark Knight Rises It was right under our nose... How could we not have noticed?

[JokerLedger]

By now we've all seen TDKR and the outcome of John Blake.
I was thinking about where his character could go in Nolan's world and as I was looking through artwork, I realized that John Blake being a Robin/Nightwing character was foreshadowed in promotional art.

Call me crazy but I think it does make sense.

I remember seeing this image for the first time and being underwhelmed by it. I never actually liked it mainly because it looked nothing like the official logo. Plus, I love my bat-symbol with two fins on each side. I couldn't help but think why they would choose a bat-symbol that doesn't look like the bat symbol! I was complaining over a small detail and got over it.

This bat symbol was the marking John Blake drew on the walls of Gotham right? Right. So John Blake's bat symbol was used throughout promotions of the film. It's even on the cover of the soundtrack.

Then I saw the movie and we all know what happens at the end. Then I go on the boards and there's all this talk about Robin this Nightwing that. You know how the story goes.

And then I realized... maybe it was drawn like that on purpose to look like the nightwing symbol.

Just take away the birds head and replace it with the bat ears.

[edit] If this has already been posted feel free to delete topic.

 

[Nelson/Murdock]

Uh...nah!

 

[Brain Damage]

I think you've actually got something here.
We're not allowed to believe in coincidences. after all

 

[DigificWriter]

That little chalk bat is clearly a bat, but you are right about John Blake's fate being telegraphed, because Nolan drops a lot of subtle clues that point to Blake succeeding Bruce as Batman, and even some not-so-subtle clues as well.

 

[AnneFan]

The young boy is drawing the chalk logos as well, not just Blake.

 

[DigificWriter]

It's clearly meant to be a childish stylized drawing of a bat, but it's also easy to look on it as being a clue to Blake's fate.

 

[ReTrO JuNkIe 42]

It was also in No mans land that they drew bats around the city to keep hope alive in batmans absense

 

[Troy_Parker]

Forgot where I read it, but someone said if you turn the chalk symbol upside down it looks like a bird, which it does. It looks more like a bird than it does a bat. It even has a little beak. xD

 

[DigificWriter]

I'll give you that, but John Blake's fate was still telegraphed rather specifically, particularly in the two conversations between Blake and Gordon where Gordon says that he and Gotham already know who their savior is. The reprise of this conversation is particularly important in terms of the film's final scene, especially in relation to Gordon being given a new Batsignal.

 

[dmorley21]

I can't seem to find the article anywhere right now, but Mark Hughes showed the same similarities between the chalk bat and Nightwing's symbol in an article where he was arguing that John Blake could be robin. He also showed how the chalk bat upside down kind of looks like a robin.

 

[JokerLedger]

I'll give you that, but John Blake's fate was still telegraphed rather specifically, particularly in the two conversations between Blake and Gordon where Gordon says that he and Gotham already know who their savior is. The reprise of this conversation is particularly important in terms of the film's final scene, especially in relation to Gordon being given a new Batsignal.

Yeah no denying that. I had a feelling John Blake was a robin-type character after watching the scenes where he talks about the death of his parents and when batman tells him 'you're gonna need a mask'. I was still hit with that big surprise when it was revealed because I wasn't expecting THAT haha.

But what I'm saying is that this may have been hinted at MONTHS before the movie was even out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk2IteR2QxQ

Take a look around the 2:48 mark with Nolan drawing the symbols on the wall. No variation at all with the bat symbols. They all 'look' like the bat symbol but its more in line with Nightwing's (no fins, just a V).

 

[Poeman]

http://www.theyoungfolks.com/film/top-ten-things-you-may-have-missed-in-the-dark-knight-rises/9392

See #1...you are not the only one

 

[DigificWriter]

Even though there's room to interpret or see the chalk bat drawings as being similar to the Nightwing logo, the film's actual content hints pretty specifically at Blake taking up the mantle of Batman rather than creating his own costumed identity, so, at best, the chalk bat drawing was stylized the way that it was in order to pay homage to the Nightwing logo rather than actually being indicative of Blake taking on that specific identity.

 

[wootbaby]

in the old days before the internet people used to graffiti subversive messages instead of posting crap on 9gag

stuff like Frodo Lives! or the anarchy sign

the chalk is just a reference to that. it shows that regardless of what the police think or the rich and famous chat about in their parties, Batman is still a hero to the smallest and poorest in Gotham

if it's the nightwing symbol, why is the little mexican kid drawing it? he doesn't even know about Nightwing.

it's batman.

there's a resemblance because

1) it's a chalk drawing

2) the nighwing symbol itself (and even the icon of nightwing) is ITSELF A REFERENCE TO BATMAN to begin with

so of course there are similarities between batman and nightwing