The Dark Knight’s Most Underrated Scene Teased Nolan's Batman Trilogy’s Ending 4 Years Before It Happened

An underrated moment in The Dark Knight helped set up part of the ending of The Dark Knight Rises. The Dark Knight includes the single appearance of Christopher Nolan’s version of The Joker – played posthumously by Heath Ledger – whose clashes with Batman are often as ideological as they are personal. The Batman comic mythos are among the most malleable in the superhero genre, lending themselves well to reimaginings. While some iterations of The Joker portray the DC villain as a simple murderer or criminal prankster, many make him a nihilist whose crimes are aimed at validating his views.

The villains of The Dark Knight Rises – Talia al Ghul and Bane – are more concerned with exacting revenge on Batman for causing the death of Ra’s al Ghul and damaging the League of Shadows in Batman Begins. As such, they plot to not only destroy Gotham City with a nuclear bomb in the live-action Batman movie, but also to punish Batman by imprisoning him in the Pit to helplessly watch the carnage. Batman manages to escape and thwart their plot, but not without the assistance of Gotham’s citizenry and police force, something foreshadowed in The Dark Knight.

The Dark Knight's Ending Set Up The People Of Gotham Standing Up To Bane In The Dark Knight Rises' Ending 4 Years Earlier

In the setup for The Dark Knight's ending, The Joker rigs two ferries with explosives – one filled with citizens and the other with criminals – and gives each boat the detonator to the other, threatening to blow up both ferries if one does not destroy the other by midnight. Ultimately, neither boat destroys the other, with one criminal tossing his boat’s detonator overboard and no citizen willing to become a killer. The sequence proved that Gotham’s citizens were willing to stand together against people like The Joker and refuse to play his game.

The Joker’s whereabouts during the events of The Dark Knight Rises are unknown, though the film’s novelization implies that he might have been the sole inmate in Arkham Asylum.

Gotham’s citizens would rise to the occasion once again in The Dark Knight Rises. While Batman battled Bane and Gotham’s recently-freed police fought the League, James Gordon and a group of citizens rallied and ambushed the League’s vehicles, hoping to find and deactivate Bane’s nuclear bomb. Both instances prove that the people of Gotham would stand and fight when faced with certain death by a major villain like The Joker or Bane.

Why The Dark Knight's Story About Gotham's Civilians Is So Important

The ferry sequence in The Dark Knight is essential to Batman’s victory over The Joker. Although Batman manages to overpower The Joker and prevent him from detonating both boats, the refusal of the citizens and criminals to kill each other disproves Joker’s belief that anybody will become monstrous under the right circumstances. Batman himself highlights this, mocking The Joker with the line “What were you trying to prove? That deep down, everyone’s as ugly as you?” Joker’s role in corrupting Harvey Dent forces Batman to take responsibility for Two-Face's murders, arguably granting The Joker a different victory.

By protecting the image of Harvey Dent, Batman seemingly preserves Gotham City’s faith in heroism and law with a lie, yet Bane reveals the truth in Rises. After taking over Gotham City, Bane assaults Blackgate Prison and announces to the public the truth about Harvey Dent and that Batman falsely took the blame for his crimes before freeing every criminal imprisoned under the Dent Act. While Bane – perhaps understandably – assumed that this would break Gotham’s spirit, its citizens still fought his forces, demonstrating that they remained resolute in their principles even with their image of Harvey Dent shattered.

The Dark Knight Rises' Batman Ending Only Works Because Of Its Gotham Storyline

The Dark Knight Rises ends with the supposed death of Batman. In truth, Bruce Wayne faked his demise and retired, living happily with Selina Kyle (who similarly left her old life behind for a fresh start). John Blake, whose legal name is revealed to be Robin, inherits the Batcave and is poised to become the next hero to protect Gotham City.

While Blake is the ideal successor to Batman on his own merits, this too is set up by The Dark Knight’s ending. Gotham’s citizens are repeatedly shown to stand up for each other when the city is threatened. Even with Harvey Dent revealed to have been corrupt and with Batman seemingly dead, this makes the eventuality of a successor to Batman fitting for Gotham City.