Robert Pattinson as Batman, working during his second year of fighting crime in Gotham City. Batman encounters a challenging new villain in the masked killer known as the Riddler (Paul Dano), while also crossing paths with jewel thief Selina Kyle (Zoë Kravitz) who becomes his ally.
After the capture the Riddler, Selina decides to leave Gotham for Bludhaven with both Kyle and Batman riding off into the night on their motorcycles before parting ways. In the final moments of the film, Batman also takes one last look at Selina in his rearview mirror as she disappears from sight. In of the setting and specific vehicles involved, this ending is not that distant from the last minutes of Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight. However, The Batman adds a lot to it with the more up close and personal focus it places on Batman himself and how the ending is impacting him.
The Batman & The Dark Knight Both Have Emotional Endings
The Dark Knight's ending sees the tragic downfall of Aaron Eckhart's Harvey Dent after being fully pushed into madness by the Joker (Heath Ledger) and trying to punish Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) for failing to stop the death of Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal). Batman stops Harvey from killing Gordon's son, only for Harvey to fall to his death, and Batman decides to take the fall for Harvey's killings as Two-Face to preserve his honorable legacy as Gotham's District Attorney. The Dark Knight's final shot shows Batman heading off into the night on the Batpod, dubbed "a Dark Knight" by Gordon as he makes the heroic sacrifice to fall on the sword for the greater good of Gotham City.
Robert Pattinson's fairly young Bruce Wayne. Still, there is a similar DNA woven through both, while The Batman's ending scene, in its own way, is as tragic as The Dark Knight's.
The Batman's Ending Shot Is More Personal
The ending of The Dark Knight hits Bruce Wayne deeply with the tragic deaths of Harvey Dent and Rachel Dawes, leaving him in an 8-year depression before Selina Kyle's much more difficult life leaves her steadfast in her cynicism that saving Gotham is a lost cause.
Compared to Batman's macro-level sacrifice in The Dark Knight, the final moments of The Batman resonate more internally for Batman himself as he and Selina ride side-by-side only to go opposite ways. His idealism in his mission of protecting Gotham remains unshaken, but he still feels the loss of Selina being unpersuaded and striking off on her own. That Selina's departure also puts an end to the burgeoning romance between them also impacts Batman in the final scene of the film, Bruce understanding the barrier that will forever stand between them. With The Dark Knight's ending placing Christian Bale's version of Batman in the very shadowy aura Gordon describes as he carries the weight of Harvey's crimes, The Batman's presents a good glimpse at him on a personal level. Batman's stone-cold facial demeanor may stand firm, but he cannot conceal his heartbreak that Selina's departure is one he could have talked her out of.
How The Batman's Ending Scene Builds On The Foundation Of The Dark Knight's
Both The Dark Knight and The Batman conclude with endings that are simultaneously cliffhangers and issions of loss on the part of Batman himself. While each movie ends with a pyrrhic victory of sorts, the narrative core of each is their effect on Batman himself. The Dark Knight's ending leaves Batman in an 8-year retirement of mistrust by Gotham, even as some like Nolan's Robin surrogate John Blake (Joseph Gordon Levitt) belief in his innocence. The Batman ends with the opposite status quo of Batman more revered and trusted by Gotham than ever, but his defeat is the realization that no amount of hope he can provide is assured to win over everyone.
Selina personifies that loss to Batman in how much they fight side-by-side in the film, and the fact that he was able to stop her from killing Carmine Falcone (John Tuturro). In the final moments of The Batman, the Dark Knight realizes that his efforts to inspire the best in people on an individual level is, ultimately, a two-way street, with Selina literally going in the opposite direction. The Batman's ending scene shares The Dark Knight's theme of victory marred by a defeat within it, but makes it into Batman losing an ally, and possibly something more.
With Matt Reeves's The Batman being the most detective-driven Batman movie yet (Pattinson and Ben Affleck's Batmen co-existing easily because of that), it presents a completely different view of the character from Christopher Nolan's. Still, its similar ending scene to The Dark Knight's is a classic moment for both of the Batman figures heroically riding off into the shadows of the night tinged with a feeling of loss. The Batman personalizes this more by having Batman's face in full view, showing his last glimpse at Selina heading down her own path and his sorrow that he could not persuade her to stay.
