I think Batman will die, but not Bruce Wayne. I think it will come full circle to batman begins. Bruce's dad wanted Gotham to eventually be Bruce's city... and when they died everything went to ****. Bruce had to fight crime and bring those to justice as a symbol.. and you started to see at the end of TDK that Gotham was beginning to "come around".. Bane will give it one last shot to try and make Gotham and its people evil and it will be an epic battle between batman's best and Crime's best (bane).. when its all over Batman will win, and hang up the cowl and will have made Gotham into what the wayne family originally intended. Bruce never wanted to be Batman, he HAD to be batman.. but not forever. Batman Begins, The Dark knight (falls), The dark knight rises (batman ends)
a nonhistorical or unverifiable story handed down by tradition from earlier times and popularly accepted as historical.
Legend:
Between this interesting thread, an interesting article I just read, and comments my brother made (i.e. Occupy Gotham), I started thinking the end is about the true fulfillment of Bruce's work - to get people to stand up against crime...even more simply, to get people to care and take action. In the first two movies, the villains are attempting to destroy the city by pitting the citizens against one another. I'm not exactly sure how Bane will do this in Rises. But truly, this has always been about Gotham, and only about Batman insofar as he is that part of Gotham that cannot be perverted or corrupted, but remains hopeful and works towards peace. In Begins Bruce wanted to shake people out of their apathy, in TDK he saw Harvey as a vehicle of hope, and in Rises, is it so much The Dark Knight is rising as it will be the good people of Gotham, and their hope, that he has embodied throughout the trilogy? There's something powerful about the images (and video) of Batman standing on those stairs, with the police behind him, taking on Bane and his army.
Perhaps this "legend ending" is Batman no longer being this entity that exists and functions on the perimeter (a mystery), rather he is unveiled and made known, and because Gothamites see he is one of their own, they rise up themselves inspired by him, not to wear masks or fight crime in dark alleys like him, but to drive some serious social change.
It's late and I'm just talkin'
This looks more to me like: "Batman, you're surrounded, step away from the vehicle or we'll open fire..." The start of a chase.
After watching Clint Eastwoods "Halftime in America" commercial:
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I stumbled upon this video "Halftime in Gotham"
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after watching them both, it really struck me how this could be something like the ending speech in The Dark Knight Rises. it reflects upon making "comebacks", and coming out of dark places, and what matters is the future... this "future" is basically the underlying goal of Batman and Gordon as a team to bring Gotham to its golden age... i think this could be epic.
Nolan said money is Batman's super power. And Bane cripples the economy. I think we'll get Bruce donating/leaving in his will a lot of money to help stimulate Gotham.I think Bruce will learn that good can come from him without wearing the mask. He try to create a fake Identity by being the stereotypical playboy which will be one cause of the rebellion.
with the Bat flying through the screen and a quick shots of all Gothamites cheering him in broad day light.
I have a very good idea how Nolan is going to end this. I don't know if I want to share yet. I am afraid Nolan would have me killed.
^
Why stop there, why not have Batgirl running with them.