The escapades of Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Batman will only exist in the minds and imaginations of fans. In today’s culture of seemingly never-ending movie franchises, Christopher Nolan remains firm on keeping “The Dark Knight” trilogy as its own contained narrative despite the latter two entries making over $1 billion each worldwide. This mindset has earned massive respect from fans while similarly being admired by those who worked on the landmark superhero saga.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt certainly counts in this boat, despite some feeling that he deserved a spinoff either focused on his time as Robin or the new Batman. Nevertheless, the “500 Days of Summer” star respects Nolan’s decision and believes that the more ambiguous conclusion leaves a much stronger mark. In a 2013 interview with “The Howard Stern Show,” Gordon-Levitt commented, “And I think it’s a really good ending, because it talks about it throughout [the trilogy], that Batman is more than a man and it’s a symbol, and we all have a hero within us. So to have somebody else in the Batcave at the end of that trilogy, not Bruce Wayne, I think, is a really cool ending.”
Knowing that John Blake eventually becomes Batman has potential but would likely weaken what came before if fully explored. How Blake does as Batman isn’t as meaningful as him taking the first step into owning the responsibility. What we are left with communicates a stronger message: as long as evil exists, someone will always step up to fight for what’s right.
