Some "Dark Knight Rises" Speculation

So there's a new Batman movie coming out. Is anybody excited about it?

Well yes, it is a Batman movie so of course people are looking forward to it. But is anybody waiting with baited breath? I don't know, it just seems like the hype for The Dark Knight Rises isn't there. I think it has to do with The Avengers. Marvel has spent the last few years building up this huge universe-building movie and it's kind of left Christopher Nolan's swan song out in the cold.

At any rate, I'm sure the movie will be good if the previous two are any indication. And there's a new trailer out for The Dark Knight Rises and it has prompted some speculation on my part...

(This is just my hypothesis but it could still be a SPOILER, so it's after the jump)

I think they're going to kill Batman. They're totally to going to do it. Okay, I know I'm not the first person to come up with that idea, but it's still a valid hypothesis. And I think the trailer backs me up. Bruce with a beard and a limp, Alfred saying he's not going to bury him, Catwoman telling he doesn't have to give Gotham anything else. We know this movie takes place eight years after The Dark Knight, so my guess is that Bane is going to upset Gotham in such a way that Bruce has to come back. And Bane will just keep pounding on Bruce until eventually he breaks, which would synch up with his M.O. from Bane's original story Knightfall. There he broke Batman's back, but here he's going to kill him. And from Bane's line in the trailer (at about 1:04) that Bruce's punishment must be more severe gives more credence to my "hammer at Batman until we break him" idea.

Okay, here's how I see this going down. Eight years of relative peace in Gotham, Batman laying low because of what happened at the end of Dark Knight. Suddenly, Bane shows up out of nowhere gunning for Batman. Seeing all the destruction Bane causes, Bruce has no choice but to come back as Batman. But that's what Bane wants. He's making as much trouble as possible to wear Batman down until he's so worn out, Bane can come in and just break him no problem. Pretty much just like Knightfall but without the colorful supervillains. And this is probably how Bruce gets his limp. But eventually Bane's going to try and do something really bad and Batman will have no choice but use what little he's got left to stop Bane. You know, cause he's Batman and that's what he does. And it's at this last fight that Bane will kill Batman*

That's just what I'm getting from this trailer and the others anyway. I'm not even factoring in whatever's going on with Catwoman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt's cop character, Marion Cotillard, and the vague League of Shadows-Ra's al Ghul connection. But I've got to say, if they actually do it, it'd be pretty ballsy. I can't actually think of any other superhero movie where they kill the title character at the end. And to do it with someone as well-known as Batman. Like I said, Ballsy.

That's my hypothesis. Criticize it or share your own in the comments below.

*But only after Batman fights his way through wave after wave of henchmen using and losing all his gadgets in the process. Then he reaches Bane and Bane's like, "Batman, why do you still go on? Can't you see you've fully lost etc. etc." And Batman's like, "As long as Gotham needs me, I can't lose etc etc." And then they get into a fist fight.