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Joseph Gordon-Levitt

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Dark Knight Rises: What's Next For The John Blake Character

Will "Dark Knight Rises" be the very last time that John Blake, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, will be seen? With the recent movie ending as it was, chances are no. However, the trilogy does apparently mark the end of the god-like Christopher Nolan era of the franchise, which begs the question: if another film were made, what could be next for the open-ended character of Detective John Blake?

Many Batman fanatics have been buzzing as of late on what direction the John Blake character could potentially go. Based on both popular public opinions, the following three scenarios appear to be the most logical:

(1) In order for the franchise to continue where Christopher Nolan has allegedly left off, many fans wouldn't be opposed to a John Blake return as Batman in the very next future flick; which would pick up from the end of "Dark Knight Rises." With Gordon-Levitt having pretty darn good acting chops, the transition for Blake's character development could clearly pay off.

Interesting to note, Warner Bros. has already stated that a reboot of the successful franchise must come to fruition for something like that to happen. However, that would involve coming to terms with a differently constructed story without any ties to any of Nolan's.

(2) Putting the Blake character into a "Justice League" movie flick was a scenario discussed. However, this could potentially cause confusion and conflict. Therefore, whoever would write the character into the story would need to confront the relationship Blake had with Bruce Wayne first; which in turn may make the story more complex.

(3) If Bruce Wayne were not in the picture, then clearly John Blake would do well filling the shoes of Batman in a "Nightwing movie. That is, if Gotham needed a new Batman in the story. Many of the fans have shown favoritism toward Blake in a "Nightwing" film over any other character possibilities.

If there was a film of this sort made, chances are it would be spun by a different director in a vastly unsimilar direction. While Christian Bale has publically said that he will not return for another run at the Batman franchise, Levitt-Gordon has not. Hence, Gordon-Levitt as Blake in the spotlight is still feasible.

In closing, the possibilities are endless for John Blake. Only time will tell us who Warner Bros. will slate as their next director for the flourishing Batman franchise. Although nothing is written in stone on the film front, it would be unintelligent for the studio not to continue to capitalize on the cash cow of the silver screen.

Read more at http://www.enstarz.com/articles/4483/20120724/dark-knight-rises-john-blake-character-spoilers.htm#vlFxTYBg9j5UEt8K.99

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    Joseph Gordon-Levitt's 'Looper' to open Toronto Film Festival

    Joseph Gordon-Levitt's thriller Looper will be the opening night movie for the Toronto International Film Festival.

    The science fiction film, which sees Gordon-Levitt reunite with his Brick director Rian Johnson, will kick off the annual event on Thursday, September 6.

    According to Variety, Ben Affleck's Argo, Terrence Malick's To the Wonder, controversial Paul Thomas Anderson drama The Master, the Jake Gyllenhaal-led crime thriller End of Watch and Emma Watson's The Perks of Being a Wallflower are among the 40 to 50 titles screening at the festival.

    Other notable inclusions are The Wachowskis' long-awaited Cloud Atlas adaptation, Hyde Park on Hudson, Silver Linings Playbook, The Place Beyond the Pines and Anna Karenina.

    Joss Whedon's take on Much Ado About Nothing, the new Great Expectations film and Kristen Wiig-starring Imogene are also being shown.

    In previous years, the Toronto International Film Festival has awarded its 'People's Choice' award to The King's Speech, Precious and Slumdog Millionaire. All three films went on to secure Academy Awards after their Toronto debuts.

    The Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 6 to September 15.

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    ^^ I can't take it anymooooore :chicken:

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    The Meaning Of Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Fate In 'The Dark Knight Rises' - SPOILERS

    Now that Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy has come to a conclusion with The Dark Knight Rises, everyone is talking and debating the meaning of the end of the film, and what happens to Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character John Blake. So let me break it down for you and explain, including perhaps the one obvious thing that everyone seems to have missed so far. Read on! But be warned, here there be SPOILERS!

    First of all, let me clear one thing up right away — yes, Bruce Wayne really is still alive at the end. For some reason that escapes me, a segment of fans are insisting it’s “open to interpretation” whether Bruce actually is sitting in that cafe, or if it’s just Alfred’s imagination. But there should be no confusion, the shot of Bruce at the cafe comes amid a montage of scenes showing each person close to Bruce finding out a bit of information revealing Bruce survived the nuclear blast. Lucius finds out Bruce secretly did repair the autopilot on “the Bat,” Gordon finds a repaired bat-signal on the roof of the MCU (contrary to some reviewer’s misunderstanding, Gordon didn’t repair it himself, he walks up and looks shocked to find the new bat-signal, runs a hand over it, grins, and looks around, all in the montage about Bruce’s actions), John Blake gets a big bag full of equipment and a GPS locator, and Alfred gets Bruce’s money and then sees Bruce at the cafe. Bruce’s arc ends with him finally being able to move on with his life, and without that fulfillment Bruce would actually have no true character arc (getting his back fixed and climbing out of the hole to fight Bane again is not a full arc, for those inclined to say the climb out of the pit is the major point in his arc).

    Now, I’ll move on to the main question about the film’s end, and the one most of you are probably still unsure about — what happens to Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character at the end, and who exactly will he become? I previously wrote, prior to the film’s release, my theory that the character John Blake would be Nolan’s version of Robin in this film, and it of course turned out to be pretty much true. Blake has the background of Tim Drake, for the most part (his father is murdered due to a gambling situation, and he later deduces Batman’s identity while still a young kid), but then grows up to have Dick Grayson’s adult life (being a police officer and ally of Batman who has dealt with the tragedy in his childhood in a more productive and healthy way than Bruce dealt with his own tragedies, plus that whole chalk emblem, all adds up to a “realistic” incarnation of Nightwing). Then, we find out that his actual legal name is Robin. So I’d argue that yes, he definitely served the role of Robin in The Dark Knight Rises. Meaning he was ALREADY Robin, he isn’t going to become Robin in the future.

    Is Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Character In 'The Dark Knight Rises' Secretly Robin? NEW UPDATES WITH SPOILERS Mark HughesContributor

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    Who is he going to become, then? Obviously, Batman. I know most fans seem to feel Blake is going to continue being Robin, and will just now use a mask to disguise his identity — although, that would mean his “secret identity” is his actual literal first name! Nope, that isn’t the meaning of the end of the film. A major theme in the story is “Who was Batman? He was just Batman, the person under the mask doesn’t matter, because ANYBODY can be Batman!” We hear this several times, and it speaks back to the longstanding concept in the Nolan trilogy that a symbol is eternal and cannot be killed or destroyed, and that is what Batman became — an eternal symbol for Gotham, a symbol that would be anybody.

    Then, Bruce gives Blake a bag full of equipment to help him locate the batcave, which still contains all of Batman’s equipment. Meanwhile, Gordon was given a brand new bat-signal to call Batman. With Blake getting a cave filled with bat-themed equipment and suits, and Gordon having a signal with the bat-emblem on it, that’s some additional strong evidence that Blake is indeed going to become a new Batman.

    But there’s one final piece of evidence, and it’s the “big guns” in my argument. I’ve not seen anyone mention this yet, despite how powerful the imagery is. Consider…

    What is the very last shot in the film? It’s Blake, stepping forward in the batcave as the big platform comes up out of the water to lift him into the air toward the Batman equipment that we can see in the distance. The platform lifts Blake out of sight, turning the screen black. And what comes next? The title: The Dark Knight RISES.

    Yep, that title has many meanings in the film, including Batman coming back from retirement, Batman climbing up out of the pit to save Gotham, Batman rising as a symbol of hope again in Gotham, and Batman’s general victory over Bane and over the tragedy in his own life. But it has one final meaning, symbolized extremely clearly in the final shot of the film when we see John Blake step forward and that platform RISING to lift him to claim the legacy of Batman that Bruce has passed on to him. The Dark Knight will rise again, with someone else taking up the mantle to keep the symbol alive.

    You simply cannot ignore the overt imagery of Blake rising on that platform followed by the title appearing on screen. Notice that Nolan’s films always leave the title until the very end of the movie. That’s where the title of each film has its final, full embodiment: from the announcement that Batman has begun; to the proclamation that Batman is Gotham’s dark knight protecting the city; and lastly to Batman rising to his final, firm status in Gotham as an incorruptible symbol that cannot be killed.

    While of course people are free to interpret the story and the end of the film however they wish, I feel that there’s too much importance in the symbolism of that final scene, and in Blake having already served the role of Robin before moving on to serve as the man who will keep Batman’s legend alive. Without those things, the story has a gap and doesn’t truly come full circle with all of the themes of the trilogy. Just as Bruce being alive is necessary for his arc to be fulfilled, so to is it necessary for Batman’s arc and Blake’s arc to be fulfilled by John Blake assuming the mantle as Batman.

    And there you have it, dear readers, the real meaning behind the end of The Dark Knight Rises. No doubt, the debate will continue, but I think the evidence is pretty overwhelming and supports my conclusions. What say you, fans? Sound off in the comments below!

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    Is Joseph Gordon-Levitt's 'Dark Knight Rises' Character Going To Be Nightwing?

    A number of people have pointed out two things to me in regards to my last post on John Blake and The Dark Knight Rises, helpfully noting where my speculations may have gone astray.

    1) Many of the plot points in Rises are pretty much taken from The Dark Knight Returns. Even though the Nolan trilogy is (somewhat loosely) based on the Knightfall sequence, elements of this last film were obviously harvested from Miller’s later work. So we probably won’t see a Returns film and almost certainly not a Nolan version of that film given Nolan’s own statements on being finished with the project.

    2) It’s more likely that John Blake (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) will not be Batman as this is pretty confusing for audiences not already familiar with the various non-Bruce Wayne Batman characters. Instead, it’s possible we’ll see a Nightwing offshoot of this series, with Blake as Nightwing rather than Batman. There are several clues that might point to this.

    First of all, Nightwing wears blue and black. In virtually every scene that Blake showed up in, whether in uniform or out of uniform, he is dressed in blue and black.

    Meanwhile, both Batman and Nightwing have a similar aesthetic, making a transition from the Dark Knight films to a Nightwing franchise visually seamless. I don’t see Blake showing up in the batcave only to leave dressed in a gaudy Robin outfit. Much more likely to carry on in the dark hues of his predecessor.

    Becoming Nightwing after being Batman’s “Robin” sidekick in Rises makes sense, since Dick Grayson (the original Nightwing) was also the original Robin before becoming Nightwing. This is set up perfectly in Rises.

    Nightwing also serves as a bridge between the Batman and Superman comics in the DC universe. Given Nolan’s involvement in the upcoming Superman film, Man of Steel, this may be a way to even subtly weave these universes and stories together (even if it’s not explicitly done, i.e. we wouldn’t have to see Nightwing share screentime with Clark Kent.)

    I’d definitely go see a Joseph Gordon-Levitt Nightwing film.

    In fact, I like this theory more than the Blake-becomes-Batman theory (proving once again that many of this blog’s readers continue to outsmart me) if only because the Dark Knight trilogy was given such finality and handled with such dark grace.

    I don’t want it to continue as a Batman story (though I really hope we don’t see a Batman reboot any time soon. The whole Spider Man reboot idea was awfully premature. Maybe taking a decade off would be a good idea.)

    I doubt Nolan will take the helm on a Nightwing project, preferring to play a producer/writer role similar to his role with Superman.

    How about you, dear readers? Would you see a Nightwing film with Gordon-Levitt as the star? Who would you put in the director’s chair?

    P.S. Final thought: Doesn’t it just seem weird to bring in the character John Blake to begin with, three movies in, with someone solid like Gordon-Levitt in the role, and then end the way the film does without building toward something like this?

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