History Film / TheDarkKnightTrilogy

In 2005, eight years after ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'' put the ''Film/{{Batman|Film Series}}'' film franchise on [[FranchiseKiller deep]] [[IncrediblyLamePun freeze]], Creator/ChristopherNolan and Creator/DavidSGoyer [[ContinuityReboot rebooted]] the franchise with the first entry of a series called ''The Dark Knight Trilogy''.

* BigBad[=/=]BigBadEnsemble: Ra's al Ghul [[spoiler:a.k.a Henri Ducard]] in ''Batman Begins'', The Joker in ''The Dark Knight'', Bane and [[spoiler:Talia al Ghul]] in ''The Dark Knight Rises''.

In 2005, eight years after ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'' put the ''Film/{{Batman|Film Series}}'' film franchise on [[FranchiseKiller deep]] [[JustForPun freeze]], Creator/ChristopherNolan and Creator/DavidSGoyer [[ContinuityReboot rebooted]] the franchise with the first entry of a series called ''The Dark Knight Trilogy''.

* CallBack: A rather dark one combined with FreezeFrameBonus. In ''The Dark Knight'', the Joker claiming that humans will eat each other if they have to may be referencing the destruction of the Narrows. After the fear toxin was released, someone was seen savagely biting another person's face.

*** Batman wasn't so much "given up" (indeed, Rises make a point about Bruce's inability to give the identity up), as forced into retirement due to a lack of organised crime in Gotham.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: In ''The Dark Knight'', Lucius Fox makes a rather pointless comment about Batman's new costume resisting cat scratches. This was immediately recognised by fans as a broad hint that Catwoman would be appearing in the next movie.

*** His third anecdote that was interrupted by Batman flinging blades in his face is a nod to ''Lovers and Madmen'', which shows the Joker getting his trademark smile from havinghis face cut open by batarangs.

** Bane probably figured out Batman's identity via similar logic to how Ra's Al Gul did, but Officer John Blake, who also lost his parents to violent crime and grew up an orphan, figures it out after meeting Bruce Wayne and realizing he and Bruce were both the same, having had to learn to cover their grief and anger with smiles and pretend they're getting on with their lives.

In 2005, eight years after ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'' put the ''Film/{{Batman|Film Series}}'' film franchise on [[FranchiseKiller deep]] [[JustForPun freeze]], Creator/ChristopherNolan and David S. Goyer [[ContinuityReboot rebooted]] the franchise with the first entry of a series called ''The Dark Knight Trilogy''.

->'''Henri Ducard''': A vigilante is just a man lost in the scramble for his own gratification; he can be destroyed, or locked up. But if you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal, and if they can't stop you, then you become something else entirely...\\

* SnobbyHobbies: Deliberately invoked by Arthur when he advises Bruce Wayne to cultivate such hobbies so that nobody asks questions about what he does with his time and money. Arthur suggests polo. Bruce refuses; but develops a reputation for wild partying, driving expensive cars, and apparently burning down his own house while drunk.

* SequelHook: Joker's calling card at the end of ''Batman Begins'', Batman riding off into the night [[spoiler:as a wanted criminal]] at the end of ''The Dark Knight'', and while [[spoiler:Bruce and Selina live the rest of their lives together, with the rest of Gotham believing that Bruce Wayne died during Bane's occupation]], the last shot of the trilogy has [[spoiler:John Blake, or rather, Robin John Blake discovering the Batcave, and, like Bruce before him, bats begin to circle him as he prepares himself to become the newest Batman]].
** Alas, DC have announced that they plan to reboot the Batman franchise to allow it to fit into the greater multiverse, with a particular eye towards the ''Justice League'' movie.

[[caption-width-right:350:''[[SuperHeroOrigin Begins.]] [[DarkestHour Falls.]] [[GrandFinale Rises.]]'']]

* AdaptationalMundanity: The films generally try to depict Batman as close to how he would be in RealLife, stripping out or substituting in more mundane explanations for the more supernatural elements of the ''Batman'' mythos. As an example from each film: Ra's Al Ghul is figuratively rather than literally immortal, The Joker is merely a terrorist who wears face-paint rather than a killer comedian whose skin and hair were bleached by falling into chemicals and Bane's strength comes from CharlesAtlasSuperpower rather than SuperSteroids. This change is reflected in the series' Gotham City, as rather than the gothic nightmare of the [[Film/Batman1989 Burton]] [[Film/BatmanReturns films]] or the grimy, cursed hellhole of the [[Film/TheBatman2022 Reeves]] films, Nolan's Gotham is, less so in ''Begins'', a fairly ordinary contemporary New York/Chicago alike.

* TheCameo: A letter to ''The Gotham Times'' written by Edward Nashton (the civilian identity of [[Characters/BatmanTheRiddler the Riddler]]) appeared in the promotional ARG for ''The Dark Knight''.

A direct-to-DVD {{animesque}} anthology, ''[[WesternAnimation/BatmanGothamKnight Batman: Gotham Knight]]'', helped to bridge the gap between ''Batman Begins'' and ''The Dark Knight'', though Christopher Nolan had no involvement in its production. A promotional AlternateRealityGame, ''Why So Serious?'', similarly served as a bridge between the two films and can be found [[https://www.whysoseriousredux.com/ here]].

A direct-to-DVD {{animesque}} anthology, ''[[WesternAnimation/BatmanGothamKnight Batman: Gotham Knight]]'', helped to bridge the gap between ''Batman Begins'' and ''The Dark Knight'', though Christopher Nolan had no involvement in its production.

* TheCameo: A letter to ''The Gotham
Times'' written by Edward Nashton (the civilian identity of [[Characters/BatmanTheRiddler the Riddler]]) appeared in the promotional ARG for ''The Dark Knight''.

*** Similarly, instead of Joker Venom leaving his victims with deformed smiles and other Joker-like features, he instead carves {{Glasgow Grin}}s and then paints their faces himself.

** The unselfish Bruce Wayne of this universe. Somehow, this doesn't stop him from maintaining the mean front of being a RichIdiotWithNoDayJob at the same time.

* ObfuscatingStupidity: Just like in the comics, Bruce Wayne downplays his intellect and behaves like a [[RichIdiotWithNoDayJob stereotypical eccentric billionaire]] so that no one would suspect he is really Batman.

* RichIdiotWithNoDayJob: Bruce Wayne actively cultivates this image, to cover his activities as Batman.