I think that the symbol of Batman in itself leads to that intimidation; whether or not he's a creature comes second to the fact that he really is force to be reckoned with. In the comics this is even more so because he's "just a man" who's doing all these invincible feats, just imagine what he'd do if he did have superpowers.
There is something inherently terrifying about an ordinary man who is driven to the point of lunacy where he keeps coming back from broken backs, keeps taking the bullet, keeps defeating the biggest enemies (both physical and otherwise) imaginable, and still not breaking a sweat. Even if he is a man, he's a scary one at that.
His legacy is made not by his presence in a given situation but through the consequences of his actions - walking down a street in Gotham City you know that there is a man dressed as a giant Bat who would go to any bounds to bring his sense of order to the streets. He cannot be reasoned with, cannot be defeated, and above all, he cannot be escaped. A personification rather than a creature. In TDKR I want to see that immediately as it starts - that shadow lurking in the night, being everywhere, that feeling of being 'watched by a silent guardian'. That's Batman. The guy who's even out on torrential rain, a detective who stops at nothing. You can hunt down a creature but you cannot wound an elemental symbol.
With TDKR, I want to be able to see that LEGEND of the Batman persona from the beginning, and it's really already established; he's living in the cave, at the Wayne Manor as we know him to be, his gadgets are more reflective of the bat-theme, he has a rogue's gallery of freaks, his only ally in the city is COMMISSIONER Gordon... come to think of it, forget a 'Life Beyond Nolan' batman movie where everything is more akin to the comics, I think we got ourselves a very comics-faithful Batman coming sooner than that.
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