The Dark Knight Rises Joseph Gordon-Levitt as John Blake VI

[Smallville13]

i still think he'd take on the name robin as a masked crime fighter (ESPECIALLY because that's his real name). the guy said himself he wasn't afraid to show himself in the face of corruption, but batman told him to wear a mask to protect his loved ones. being "Robin" in the mask is doing both. and unlike Bruce Wayne, john blake's a nobody...bruce wayne created "Batman" out of a childhood fear of bats - i could totally see john blake not using the name "Robin" because of some kind of childhood tragedy. it would be poetic from him to adopt the name again to fight crime. am i alone here?

oh well. I still don't think he'd be the next Batman though...that would undo everything bruce accomplished as batman. why would he be mad at the copycats, but be okay with blake dressing up as batman? i'm pretty sure he wants blake to find his own way, but offered his tools and gadgets. i sort of get why people would want him as nightwing, but that identity belongs to dick grayson and the ancient kryptonian.

for me, blake will always be this trilogy's robin.

For me, Blake throughout TDKR being instrumental in helping Bruce and Gordon is Blake essentially being 'Robin', just in the Nolan idiosyncratic way of making it more grounded enough that people wouldn't bat an eyelid or do a double-take of a 10-year old carnie in a bright outfit leaping skyscrapers.

The end of the film though, he is replacing Bruce for the mantle of Batman just like Grayson does in the comics. It goes back to the first film about being a symbol that can't be destroyed. Gotham will always need Batman. That's why the bat-signal was repaired. I think the copycats in TDK was making a point of this as well. Essentially those people had just as much claim to the title as Bruce did. Bruce knew this too, he knew the only thing differentiating them was that he's 'not wearing hockey pads' (and of course is much more trained and prepared). But they're just doing the same thing as himself really (except killing, which played into Bruce's 'one rule' in that film).

 

[Deserana]

Deleted - pic wouldn't work

 

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

I love this character. He's not just John Blake, he's Robin. A Robin, like his preceding boy wonders, is brave, heroic, and reminds Bruce to not give up. I'm glad they didn't go with the obvious Dick Grayson or Jason or Tim. It makes the Nolan Robin more special because he's unique.

 

[BatmanBeyond]

I love this character. He's not just John Blake, he's Robin. A Robin, like his preceding boy wonders, is brave, heroic, and reminds Bruce to not give up. I'm glad they didn't go with the obvious Dick Grayson or Jason or Tim. It makes the Nolan Robin more special because he's unique.

Nice way of putting it.

 

[Zatanna]

I love this character. He's not just John Blake, he's Robin. A Robin, like his preceding boy wonders, is brave, heroic, and reminds Bruce to not give up. I'm glad they didn't go with the obvious Dick Grayson or Jason or Tim. It makes the Nolan Robin more special because he's unique.

The more I've watched this film, the more he's actually become my favorite character. I couldn't say that before but I say it now.

 

[georgec]

Called it months before the movie came out.

Nolan's version of a Robin.

 

[FeedOnATreeFrog]

I don't think they didn't call him Dick Grayson because the audience wouldn't get it. I mean they could have called him Grayson the entire film and just reveal that his first name was Robin at the end the same way f they wanted to

I think they instead just wanted an amalgamation of the multiple robins which play such a big part of the comics. John is Dick's middle name, and Blake is reminiscent of Drake. Plus all the hothead references.

I don't see the big deal with a 'made up' Robin either. Miller did it in TDKR.

 

[BatBat]

I don't think they didn't call him Dick Grayson because the audience wouldn't get it. I mean they could have called him Grayson the entire film and just reveal that his first name was Robin at the end the same way f they wanted to

I think they instead just wanted an amalgamation of the multiple robins which play such a big part of the comics. John is Dick's middle name, and Blake is reminiscent of Drake. Plus all the hothead references.

I don't see the big deal with a 'made up' Robin either. Miller did it in TDKR.

Sure it's good for a Nolan movie. But it should stay there and end there. When done right Robin (Richard Grayson) is a good character. Just because other films have done poor jobs of ALL of these characters doesn't mean another film series couldn't show some improvement.

 

[Brother Jack]

I think they instead just wanted an amalgamation of the multiple robins which play such a big part of the comics. John is Dick's middle name, and Blake is reminiscent of Drake. Plus all the hothead references.

Yeah, that's what I got from it. He's an amalgamation as well as a unique character in his own right, which isn't actually that far off from other characters in the series including the Joker. The name drop at the end of the film is kind of only a confirmation of who Blake already was instead of a traditional reveal. Somehow it still surprised me though, haha.

I don't see the big deal with a 'made up' Robin either. Miller did it in TDKR.

There seems to be a strange double standard with that. Writers in the comics make up new character all the time and people usually don't bat an eye, but when a filmmaker does it in a comic book film there's commonly a lot of complaints.

 

[Tequilla]

There seems to be a strange double standard with that. Writers in the comics make up new character all the time and people usually don't bat an eye, but when a filmmaker does it in a comic book film there's commonly a lot of complaints.

I've just learned to laugh at that sort of argument. It's so ridiculous you just have to chuckle. Even more considering the basis of it , is as well written as paper napkin prose (a lot of it , not all).

There's this fun book i recommend reading , called Stanley Kubrick and The Art of Adaptation . Its a nice study of how mr Kubrick handled adapting the work of someone else (which he did all his career).

 

[terry78]

Well, Paul Dini did create Harley Quinn via the animated series, now she's become a massive part of the canon.

 

[HighFivingMF]

There's also Renee Montoya, Jimmy Olsen, Perry White, Phil Coulson, Livewire.

 

[herolee10]

I mentioned in another thread that I had wished that they could have substituted (replace) some of the earlier scenes in the film that showed Blake and instead, showcase moments that would have established him as a good street fighter with potential if he were to hone his fighting skills.

Heck, if we could have seen him chasing down a few thugs/criminals in a way that we saw Will Smith's character doing at the start of the first Men in Black film that would have been good.

And another thing that would have helped back up Bruce's belief that Blake was a worthy successor and not someone like Dent who could fall so easily if pushed too far was showcasing some kind of moment to display that Blake wouldn't give into his hate; maybe he catches a criminal who ruthlessly murdered one of the orphans from his orphanage, and when he has a chance to execute the guy in cold blood, he choose to rise above that and turn him in. There are scenes that I could easily pick from the film that I would have replaced them with my options.

 

[Just_Human]

Holy ****

I'm going through some very old threads, and wow, god dam


I've been reading the "Poll : Robin" thread, and post number 42 is just

http://forums.superherohype.com/showthread.php?t=245662&page=2

AnimeJune

 

[Llama_Shepherd]

That's freakin' awesome. Love it!

 

[Spider-Fan83]

with rumors/speculation about him get geting a spin off, or being featured in JLA...
I was thinking about it an was wondering, would he be more suited for a Teen Titan/Young Justice type movie (if he were to get any type of spin off)

have him be more of a mentor/lead type, and recruiting young hero's, and with Wayne Manor being turning into an orphanage it gives him a good cover for recruiting young heroes

just a thought

 

[Kane52630]

Another reason to love the internet.

 

[JackWhite]

I have a question for those of you who didn't care for the John Blake character:

Had Blake's name been Dick Grayson, and his arc and scenes stayed the exact same throughout the film, and he still had the reveal of his "legal" name being Robin at the end; would you have liked the character?

 

[Kane52630]

Nah, people will find an excuse and still complain.

 

[JackWhite]

Nah, people will find an excuse and still complain.

Possibly, but I still wanted to just throw it out there.

 

[BatLobster]

My guess: Fans would have been more invested in him, and therefore complained that he didn't get enough screentime/development...even if it was the same exact amount of screentime that Blake got. I also think the lack of the circus origin would have been cited as pretty blasphemous.

 

[A Necessary Evil]

Joseph Giraffe-Levitt?

 

[BatLobster]

WTF lol

Something that just occurred to me. Bruce had Blake listed in his will under his full legal name. I never really thought about this, but that means Bruce obviously had to have done a full background check on him (like he was shown to be able to do with other cops in TDK). For some reason I think it's kind of cool that he thought of him as "Robin" all along.

 

[georgec]

Bruce thought of Blake as Robin all along because he was Robin all along.

I agree, another nice touch. I wonder when Bruce put together his will?

 

[BatLobster]

I always figured at some point when he first returned to Gotham. There's a legal way to do it all by yourself without any legal council, forget what they call that at the moment though. The reason I say this is I think he also had to have fixed the autopilot and restored the Bat-signal somewhere during this time too. I figure he might have been back in Gotham for a week getting all his ducks in a row before he revealed himself to Selina.