I've had a thought for a while regarding the debates we used to have on what an "appropriate" ending for Batman should be. This really has nothing to with TDKR as I'm mainly talking about comic book Batman, but I thought this would be a good place to share it.
The more I think about it, the more I see mainstream comic Batman dying at a relatively young age (44-early 60's). I just don't see him realistically retiring and living a full life, not with his lifestyle and just who he is as a person. Now I know the whole "I must do this forever" thing didn't show up till Post-Crisis, and Bats talked about retiring one day prior to it, but there's a huge difference between what a character thinks he can/will do and what he actually does when the times comes. And that's a theme a lot of Batman stories have touched on before, including TDK itself. Especially when you look at many similar OCD-induced introvert geniuses or other workaholics that exist in real life, you can't really separate them from their work without putting them through some sort of treatment. Even Doyle's Holmes would go nuts if he couldn't find a challenging case in time. At the very least, someone like Bruce would have to undercover some similar treatment to such people, as Batman to him is in many ways a drug. Or else he'll wait and wait, looking for any reason or excuse to go out and help someone. This is essentially a character who carries the delusion he can eradicate all crime from top (i.e. corporate, mob) to bottom (i.e. common street crooks). That last part is something even DC's writers pointed out in the Gotham Knight commentary. I see him dying more due to over-exhaustion than to any particular self-sacrificial method, but in the end still dying as a hero and leaving an inspirational impact on both the current and next generations to come.
Sounds depressing? Yeah. But it's honestly how I see it realistically playing out, given the details we know about Bruce's life. Though it can't be too depressing, as some of what I just stated towards the end has a lot in common with the ending to TDKR itself (and it was totally unintentional). lol
But here's the catch...the main reason which got me to that point has nothing to do with the comics. Rather, it's because Bats himself reminds me of a person that existed in real life who, in retrospect, reminds me of him and met a similar fate in the end. That man's name was Christopher Hitchens, a journalist from Oxford who died from throat cancer at the age of 62.
Now, I know that may sound silly to those who familiar with his work - obviously Hitchens wasn't mentally unstable or dressed up as a bat or fought crime - but I'm particularly referring to his will and passion for the similar work that he did.
First, like Bruce, Hitchens was a very intelligent man and a jack of all trades. While he didn't exactly have multiple degrees, when it came to specific topics like history and politics he could go on for hours ranting on a particular event, bringing up which author said which and how certain religious ideas formed, etc. I remember in one debate he had with Rabbi David Wolpe over the topic of religion, Wolpe brought up how Evelyn Waugh, a famous writer had said that his Catholicism made him a better person than he would otherwise have been. Hitchens immediately responded with an avalanche of numerous misdeeds Waugh made that violated even the most basic messages of Catholicism, referencing his sources right after. The man was, in many ways, a walking encyclopedia which greatly influenced how entertaining his lectures, published and even his stand-up works. He was also an incredibly charismatic man, managing to possess both charm vigorous anger simultaneously.
But more importantly, Hitchens' will and passionate hatred towards totalitarianism were unmatched. He travelled to numerous places around the world, including the likes of Iraq, Iran and even North Korea - going as far as to go under a second identity in the latter example, as you couldn't go in as a journalist - risking his life just to witness tyrannical nature at its lowest. He hated totalitarianism and cruelty towards his "fellow brothers and sisters" (as he used to say it) of all kinds, dedicating his life to fighting it (through his travels, writings, lectures, public debates) and working towards that goal as if he were a machine. At one point someone asked him why he spends so much time "fighting" things which for the most part didn't affect him; why he didn't just stay home. To which he responded with "Though I do some nights stay home, I enjoy more the nights when I go out and fight against this ultimate wickedness and ultimate stupidity."
Of course, Hitchens was a man who had his flaws. I never found any common ground with him on abortion or the Iraq War, for one, and found his hatred for totalitarianism to sometimes cause him to make unwise decisions without considering all factors. I feel like so few people could challenge him intellectually that sometimes he went too unchallenged. Similarly, I feel as if Bruce's desire to help people as Batman sometimes gets the better of him and causes him to be overconfident, with few of his allies questioning him to the required extent. He also came off sometimes as a bit of an ass, a criticism I've heard towards Bats as well.
His constant use of alcohol and tobacco throughout his career eventually got a hold of him. Still, despite his flaws, I feel as if he ultimately left a far greater positive impact than negative and died a hero. It amazes me how he managed to continue doing what he did till *weeks* before his death, when his body finally gave up on him. Furthermore, in many ways, I find him to be irreplaceable. Expressing each point, each writing with passion, always having something witty or unexpected statement to make up his sleeve...we've truly lost a one-of-a-kind man that I doubt will ever be matched in my lifetime. To this day, I sometimes still wonder "what would Hitchens say" whenever I read a news story.
But unfortunately, it seems that's how such men are destined to end up. They live a relatively short life, but the legacy they leave behind lasts forever.
I fully expect Batfleck to be the new champion of the masses, and they'll probably trash Keaton, Bale, and whatever happened before because that's what this Twitter generation does. We obviously have no idea how deep Batfleck will be, but I assume that he'll be lovedmainly because he'll be cool and badass. Like The Batman said, it's all about flash and a TDKR-inspired Batman directed by Snyder will have that in spades. 
