The Dark Knight The Story So Far

[count_nickula]

^ formula A. straight down the line...
N.

 

[Golgo-13]

What about the overseas stuff?

 

[DieSmiling]

with all these characters an plots big and little going on, i cant help but wonder if it might get a little confusing kind of like pirates of the Caribbean

I think a lot of the characters are going to get relatively limited screen time. Scarecrow, Maroni, AMH's character, etc... I wouldn't expect much of a story arc for them, they're just supporting players.

 

[strider]

I think a lot of the characters are going to get relatively limited screen time. Scarecrow, Maroni, AMH's character, etc... I wouldn't expect much of a story arc for them, they're just supporting players.

I dont think so....

 

[Ned Ryerson]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. I have to get back to work now, but I will update the write up accordingly later today.

 

[itsthebatman]

I just thought of something. What if (like Secret Riddle said) the bank heist is the double homicide talked about at the end of BB.

But what if the series goes "Bond" and this event is the pre-title sequence, so that Bats doesn't have to come out in the daytime?

I think that'd be pretty sick. I just hope we don't get a pop song called "The Dark Knight" over an animated title sequence.

Sung by Shirley Bassey. Silhouettes of semi-naked Rachel Dawes jumping off of Batarangs. Bats fighting off grinning purple-suited shadows.
And ends with 'Batman will return, in The Man with Two Faces.'
Hehehe.

 

[Batty Belfry]

Sung by Shirley Bassey. Silhouettes of semi-naked Rachel Dawes jumping off of Batarangs. Bats fighting off grinning purple-suited shadows.
And ends with 'Batman will return, in The Man with Two Faces.'
Hehehe.

That would be fairly entertaining. LOL!

I thought he was returning in "The Man With The Golden Belt"?

 

[itsthebatman]

That would be fairly entertaining. LOL!

I thought he was returning in "The Man With The Golden Belt"?

Damnit, that's a much better title.
'From Arkham With Love.'
'You Only Live Twice... Unless You Have A Lazarus Pit.'
'The Catwoman Who Loved Me.'
'Gotham And Its Surrounding Suburbs Is Not Enough.'
I'm stuck.

 

[undyingsoul]

bane never dies

 

[Hole Shot]

Don't see it mentioned yet, but according this clip Gotham is going to get evacuated.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK_f2CzqXGM

Think the common thought is the two barge scene would be the climax, but it appears Mr. J has something may have somethign bigger in store

 

[sasquatchs]

The evacuation is part of Joker's plan to get civilians on one of the boats

 

[Hole Shot]

The evacuation is part of Joker's plan to get civilians on one of the boats

Duh! That actually makes sense. That's going to be a whole more people he's attempting to explode that what I had imagined - NICE!

 

[Bright Knight]

The living night lights.

Dr. Crane

Dr. Octopussy (sorry, wrong franchise)

 

[strikezone89]

Cool gathering of all the info so far..

I think the first robbery scene might actually be the double homicide gordon talked about at the end of BB.

yah, thats wut i was thinking. thats probably the flashback well get

 

[Ned Ryerson]

I have updated the story synopsis below based on last week’s spy reports and some informed speculation from this thread, as well as by yours truly.

In the wake of the events of the first film, and Falcone’s incapacitation, there is now a turf war in Gotham between rival gangs. Sal Maroni is heading the Falcone family, Scarecrow is heading his own gang, there is a Chechnyan group, and then a final gang headed by a thug called Gamble. There might be others, too. As the film starts off, Scarecrow and his thugs are about to close a drug deal, possibly involving an improved version of the toxin from the first film, with some members of the Chechen gang at a car park. The Police get a hold of this, but are unable to intervene because they are thin on the ground due to the sheer number of violent cases that has Gotham in its grips. The Batsignal is turned on, and we see Bruce Wayne, living in a downtown penthouse while the Wayne Manor is buing rebuilt, react to it. He presses a few buttons on the wall, turns a screw or two, and goes inside a trapdoor to don his new Bat-costume. I have a feeling this is also where we will meet Alfred for the first time – with perhaps a quip from the ever loyal butler.

When we cut back to the drug deal between Scarecrow and the Chechens, we see that things have already started turning sour. There might be some threats to and fro between the two gangs, and there might be talk of a traitor or an inside man: I am basing this speculation on the carpark filming clip where that guy who thrown onto the ground in front of the Scarecrow. Anyway, the thugs hear something - the thunderous roar of the batmobile as it demolishes the far end of the carpark – and they quickly scramble. Those that stay behind fire at the Tumbler, only to find out that Batman is not even in there when he ambushes them from behind (not like that, you perverts). Meanwhile, Scarecrow shuffles to the van and tries to make a quick get away. Batman jumps on the van and tries to get Scarecrow out of the van as it spirals down the car park. Eventually, he does, and Scarecrow is apprehended.

There is a also new major villain on the loose who calls himself The Joker, who is unrelated to any of the rival gangs. Fairly early on in the movie, he and his cronies pull off a major bank heist which involves driving a school bus into the building, and ends with the shooting dead of the bank manager. Joker does not leave the scene right away; he has a chat with the bank manager before he kills him, who says that the Joker doesn’t know who he is working for. This might end up being Sal Maroni, but I think the Joker will be aware of this and we, as the audience, will only come to realise that he was in cahoots with the Maroni gang (or some other organisation) near the end of teh flick. It is also my feeling that he does not make his get away straight away because he wants Batman to make an appearance. With the police and a SWAT team surrounding the bank, and with the bank personnel and the customers as his hostage, Joker bides his time, until Batman intercepts the event. There is a chase scene, that might involve the Batmobile or even the Batpod, yet the Joker manages to get away. There is a chance the Joker might get injured during this action scene, but I, personally, don’t buy it. I also don’t think this will be a flashback. The film seems to be tightly packed and very fast paced: the immediacy and the urgency of the situation at hand does not leave any room for leisurely flashbacks as in the previous film. Again, that’s my personal opinion.

Meanwhile, there is a new district attorney called Harvey Dent who might or might not be going out with Rachel Dawes. Like his predecessor before him, he is trying to bring to justice a Gotham crime lord called Sal Maroni, and he is in a clandestine league with Batman and Jim Gordon to do so. His alliance with Batman is tested during at least one scene on the rooftop with the Batsignal where the two meet, and this might very well be the scene where Gordon and Bats discuss whom to go after: the gangs or The Joker. I think Harvey Dent will think it more pressing to go after the gangs. At one point, all the major gang members, including their leaders, are apprehended and are taken to court. Sal Maronis is there, too. Now there are two ways this can work: either Sal Maroni scars Dent in this scene, or later, possibly, when Dent goes to talk to Maroni behind bars. Either way, I think one of the corrupt police officers will let someone slip the acid to Maroni, and it is this very officer whom Dent/Two-Face kills at the end of the film.

We are still not clear about the Joker's true intentions. However, his homicidal nature is complemented, as in his first comic book appearance, with a lust for cash or jewels or whatever it is he's trying to get his hands on. I have a feeling that his apparent psychosis will, at least initially, be a cover to his larger ambitions to steal a huge amount of loot of some sorts (kind of like Hans Gruber in Die Hard). At one point in the film, he probably comes into contact with the Scarecrow (if that is indeed him on that footage - and it seems likely). It seems logical that he works with the Scarecrow, if only briefly maybe, to fashion his laugh toxin. One of the major set pieces includes a lively parade through Gotham (which will be filmed in Chicago in August). It is reasonable to assume that Joker will make an appearance of sorts. Maybe a Joker balloon releasing the Joker toxin as an homage? I doubt it, but the Joker will be there in one way, shape or form.

Bruce Wayne will also be up to his usual playboy shenanigans - during one interlude, having a Bolshoi ballet performance cancelled when he holds a party on his boat for the cast. He also holds a party at his penthouse for Gotham's glitterati, which is crashed by The Joker and his thugs. The Joker asks for Batman to reveal himself, which is when Harvey Dent falsely claims that he is Batman (I am Spartacus), only to be hidden in a closet by Bruce Wayne, who summarily makes an appearance as his alter-ego. A fracas ensues, and it is safe to say that the Joker, once again, manages to get away.

The Joker's piece de resistance, and the film's finale, seems to involve his threatening Gotham in a way that involves, possibly, the releasing to the air of his toxin. There is a mass exodus from the city inviolving two boats, one full of criminals (and, possibly, the general populace of the Narrows), and the other full of Gotham's more affluent denizens. The Joker claims both boats are rigged with explosives, and dares the authorities to blow up one boat, lest they want him to destroy both. We won't know the outcome, but the final confrontation with Batman seems to be set against this tense backdrop.

Of course, there are huge gaps here. Sal Maroni's role in the proceedings; what Jim Gordon gets up to; what about Alfred or Rachel, etc., etc. Feel free to fill in the missing pieces.

 

[MAKIEVELLI]

I could see that.

"Take this guy, armed robbery, double homicide."

I don't think so. Didn't somebody say that during that robbery Batman injures the Joker with some kind of zipline? If that was the robbery then Batman would already know about the Joker. Is that the same robbery or no?

 

[Shoemeister]

The newest revision here sounds pretty accurate so far based on what we've collected. Nice job, Ned.

 

[Steelsheen]

this thread should be part of the Links thread that Hunter has stickied up on top of the forums.

 

[BruceBanner]

copycat vigilante

Copycat vigilante? What copycat vigilante?

 

[BruceBanner]

Sounds good but what about the AMH part where does he fit in? I think there will be something involving Gordon's wife, where the Joker offs Mrs Gordon ecalating the partnership of Gordon and Batman while also making the Joker more hated.

You mean like when the Joker killed Sarah Essen?

 

[Watson]

thats fantastic. thanks so much ned. so much of that id like to see on screen.

One of the only hole's I saw that needs to be filled is when Joker becomes the actual Joker (appearance wise)...because we know from pics of the robbery scene that he didnt appear to have scars or face make up at that point.

 

[Juanigi]

Copycat vigilante? What copycat vigilante?

the reports of the scarecrow shooting mentioned at least one obvious batman imitator, and that either a faux-batman or the real deal gets fear-gassed

 

[smatt584]

Here are a couple of things i think fit pretty well with our current plot speculations:
1) In the scene with the scarecrow that we know of, the guy being thrown down by the Chech gang is supposed to be a junkie and definitely appears so in the pictures (dirty, t-shirt instead of a suit, etc), which leads me to think that maybe scarecrow and his crew were supplying drugs to the chech gang, but lacing them with his toxin without them knowing it and they bring in an "example" of how his additives are effecting their customers. Otherwise, there has to be a reason for the chechs to bring a junkie, of all people, to their meeting.

2) From set reports and speculations from the sides, there seems to be a scene, (hopefully near the end), where Dent, as Two-Face kills a cop in or around a bar. Another rumor stated that the cop was Flass from BB (although i have no idea where that guy heard this from or if there is any of it that is confirmed outside of NoirMan's report). If this info is to be trusted, then it seems logical that the one who gives Maroni the acid in TDK will be Flass instead of Vernon like in TLH. It makes sense with Flass' connection with Falcone from BB and with the Vernon Character being a corrupt cop working with the mob just like he is, then he would be the perfect person to play their mole just as Vernon did in TLH. Throw in a little sideplot of Dent making things tough for crooked cops and you have the perfect little revenge where Flass slips Maroni the bottle before the trial, Dent is scarred, and kills Flass in the end for the betrayal.

Any ideas?

 

[sasquatchs]

Ahh, cool refreshing logic from smatt. Seems very plausible, Flass could even be the Rossi character from the sides, pretending to strike a plea deal with Dent until he gets to court, then he takes the fall for Maroni. Not sure how well he matches up to his Y1 counterpart though, he's a bit spineless for that perhaps.

Actually, scratch that. They wouldn't put the part out there if it was Flass. Doh

 

[smatt584]

i always thought the "Rossi" alias seemed to fit Boss Maroni, because in TLH Maroni had struck a deal with Dent and was persuaded by Falcone's daughter to not betray Falcone. During the trial he starts to change his story about Falcone and Dent is losing his temper when Maroni pretends to start coughing and whips out the bottle of "antacid" that Vernon, (possibly substituted by Flass in TDK), supplied him before the trial and sprays Dent. The sides seem to give the dialogue between Dent and Maroni during the trial when Maroni is changing what he told Dent he was testifying about and right before the acid comes into play. Plus, "Rossi" seems like another overly Italian name like "Maroni", which makes it seem like the person who wrote the sides thought they were being clever when they picked the alias. I figure the sides were for the Maroni character who seemed to be cast pretty late in the game, while the sides for the bar scene were for a bartender.