The Dark Knight Scenes That Mean More Than You Think

Batman originated in the pages of comics with Detective Comics #27 in 1939 (via DC Comics). However, not long after that, the caped crusader would make his leap to the screen with two serials: "Batman" in 1943 and "Batman and Robin" in 1949. In fact, the '60s "Batman" TV series starring Adam West, which ran from 1966 to 1968, was a direct parody of those serials (via Den of Geek).

Now, the '60s "BAM" and "POW" version of Batman — despite possibly being similar to the comics of that particular era (via The Nerdist) — was not something many long-time fans wanted from the character. Luckily, the success of Frank Miller's influential 1986 graphic novel, "The Dark Knight Returns," led to a darker, grittier Batman film in 1989, directed by Tim Burton (via The Washington Post).

However, Batman films got campier under the direction of Joel Schumacher and a massive reboot came in 2005 with Christopher Nolan's hugely successful "Batman Begins" (via Box-Office Mojo). Of course, the critical and commercial success – as well as the teasing of the Joker at the end — led to a sequel not long after with 2008's "The Dark Knight," casting Heath Ledger as the aforementioned Clown Prince of Crime. And, like Nolan's other films, there are a lot of layers to it, even on a scene-to-scene basis. Whether it's re-interpreting old villains or relishing in philosophical debates, some scenes in "The Dark Knight" aren't what they initially seem on the surface.

Furthering the uncomfortable apologia for the early-'00s' War on Terror through popular media leads us to one of the most controversial plot points — especially in hindsight — which is Batman feeling like he's forced to use surveillance equipment around Gotham City to catch Joker before the villain kills a bunch of hostages. Batman had funded a secret program with the ability to spy on every single cellphone in the city to pinpoint Joker's exact location. Meanwhile, Batman's tech guy, Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), is reasonably upset and uncomfortable about the implications of the supposed hero's new gadget.

Luckily for Fox, Batman is a fictional character, and nobly blows up his high-tech and intrusive surveillance machine once Joker is finally apprehended. However, in reality, these gross violations against people's civil liberties have led to gross misuse, and have been aimed at progressive or marginalized populations, rather than thwarting terrorist plots (via civilrights.org).

Worse, this point can again arguably be seen as Nolan using the film's story to justify the War on Terror, as it demonstrably depicts this gross invasion of people's civil liberties as necessary and just, when in fact it's been shown that the Patriot Act and other far-reaching surveillance measures have had a negligible — if not outright negative — impact on counter-terrorism operations, due to focusing on the wrong communities and threats (via Center for Strategic and International Studies), among other issues.

While "The Trolley Problem" is probably most likely known to most modern readers as a funny oft-reiterated-on meme (via Know Your Meme), it is actually a well-known, and well-regarded, philosophical hypothetical focusing on ethics and individual morality. "The Trolley Problem" itself proposes that there is a runaway train going in one direction on a crash course towards a group of people, and a separate track with only one person on it. However, unfortunately, to stop the runaway train from running over the larger group and into one person instead — thus saving a larger number of people — you would have to actively pull the lever yourself, making you ultimately complicit.

So, with that knowledge, it's obvious to see that the Joker's final dastardly plan in the finale of "The Dark Knight" is a variation of this. However, instead of trains, it's two large ferries, and instead of two railroad routes, the Joker has given the hostages in each of the ferries a choice to either blow up the other ferry and save themselves, and if neither does, everyone dies.

This is all a culmination of the main battle that Joker and Batman have had throughout the whole film, as the hero and villain are essentially fighting for the soul of Gotham — Joker believing everyone is as nihilistic and malicious as he is, and Batman believing that the citizens of the city are mostly good and deserve to be saved and protected.

The '60s action-adventure "Batman" series, while popular, had a similar costuming aesthetic as the '40s serials it was initially parodying — skin-tight spandex and cheap materials. Sure, West's costume was sleeker, shinier, and, unlike the serials, in color, but it wouldn't exactly strike fear in the hearts of criminals. That all changed when Burton took over as director of the big-budget '89 film, this time hiring Bob Ringwood (who had previously worked David Lynch's 1984 "Dune") as the costume designer for the film (via IMDb).

However, despite Ringwood creating a striking and unique design for the caped crusader, one of the issues with the costume was the inability of the actor to turn their head in since the neck was unarticulated. Michael Keaton, who played Batman in Burton's films, has said in interviews that the immovable cowl was extremely uncomfortable and claustrophobic to wear — necessitating the '90s Batman's iconic shoulder turn (via The Hollywood Reporter).

Even Nolan's first foray, 2005's "Batman Begins," forced Bale into the same type of immobile mask. Luckily, a few years later in "The Dark Knight," they wrote a plot point that let Batman finally turn his head left-to-right, with Bale's Wayne quipping, "it'll make it easier to back up out of the drive-way" when proposing the change to Fox.

There's a pivotal scene in "The Dark Knight" where Alfred (Michael Caine) attempts to give Bruce insight into the philosophy and goals of the initially inscrutable new criminal mastermind in Gotham, the Joker. Bruce is still convinced that criminality is simplistic and black-and-white, stating bluntly, "Criminals aren't complicated, Alfred. Just have to figure out what he's after." Alfred, however, responds by telling a story about a thief who, while stationed in Burma at some unspecified date, stole priceless jewels for the fun of it. He ends the story by saying the famous line, "some men just want to watch the world burn." 

However, when Bruce asks if the thief was ever caught, Alfred nonchalantly replies, "We burned the forest down," which is pretty extreme to catch a non-violent thief. Worse, as Caine's backstory for Alfred since "Batman Begins" was always for him to be a former British SAS officer (via Comic Book Movie), it calls into question why Alfred and his team would be there in the first place. He doesn't even mention working in an official capacity, only stating, "They were trying to buy the loyalty of tribal leaders by bribing them," meaning he could've been a mercenary at that point. Not that it would matter, as his team's response of "burning the forest down" to catch the thief is still unacceptable — especially with how it could've easily endangered actual innocent villagers (and probably did).

One of the most pivotal moments in "The Dark Knight" — and, arguably, the biggest turning point in the entire narrative — is after Batman beats a confession out of the Joker (or, rather, once the Joker feels like giving up some information), where he tells the hero that he has two people close to him, Dent and his love interest Rachel, are both being held hostage in two different locations. Worse, they're both strapped to bombs, and Batman won't have enough time to save them both. So, Joker is making Batman choose who lives, and who dies.

What's interesting, though, is that Dent is located at the address 250 52nd Blvd., which sounds similar to "two-50/50-second" when spoken aloud. This alludes to the "50/50" chance that Two-Face's iconic coin gives his victims to live or die. Dent had even already used this coin trick on one of Joker's goons (played by David Dastmalchian, who would eventually play Polka Dot Man in 2021's James Gunn-directed "The Suicide Squad") earlier in the film (pre-transformation), before it'll eventually become his big supervillain gimmick by the end.