Honestly, and maybe this is a big “hot take”, but I find TDKR to be really dated. And I honestly would have no interest in a straight up adaptation of it. I felt the best part of the story is the opening, through him capturing Two-Face. The idea of the aging Batman, seeing him really struggle with his own morality in the no kill rule, the montage of everyone seeing him return, great stuff.
From there, the political commentary is very much a product of its time, and we see many of the over the top elements of Miller’s writing that would later dominate his work popping up. The need to make any prevalent female hero/anti-hero a hooker, the weirdly militant Batman towards the end with him adopting the formerly murderous gang members into his fold, etc.
It’s a book I’ll always appreciate for its huge influence and what it did for the genre, but I much prefer things like TLH, or even Miller’s Year One over TDKR.
I think the character has evolved beyond the book at this point, and taking the time to do a direct TDKR adaptation would be a step back in many ways. I’m fine with homages to it here and there, or taking elements, but I think it’s a story that is more important for the tone it introduced rather than its actual content, if that makes sense.
