The Dark Knight Rises won’t hit theatres until July and fans all over the globe are wondering… is this the end of Batman? Christopher Nolan has gone to great lengths to emphasize that this film will be the final one in his trilogy. Every single trailer we’ve seen touts this as the end of a legend, which should only really mean one thing… the end of Batman, but is that actually the case?

Of course, there’s no way to really answer that question until we’ve seen the film, and once we have, it won’t be such a mind-bending mystery anymore. But until then… I’ve devised three of the most likely endings for TDKR

Batman Dies

This is definitely one of the most popular theories out there, and considering Nolan’s love for ‘finality’, I don’t think it’s such a wild idea. After all, The Dark Knight Rises is being widely marketed as the end of a legend, which certainly sounds like they’re planning the death of Batsy. But when you look at it again, the actual phrase they use is: “The Legend Ends”.

Throughout the entire Nolan trilogy, the Caped Crusader has been treated as a method of inspiring Gotham’s good hearted public while simultaneously instilling fear in its criminals. Batman, as is so often stated, is really just a symbol and not a ‘man’. So, when considering this possible ending, will Bruce Wayne die? Or is Batman, as a symbol, destroyed?

I think that maybe neither is too accurate, and instead Batman just fades away. That’s what the snippets from the conclusion suggests, at least, when Gotham rises up to confront Bane’s army.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt becomes Batman

Let’s just accept that some how, some way, Bruce Wayne is no longer Batman. His time as the Caped Crusader is over, whether by choice or death, and for some reason or another there’s still room in Gotham’s heart for a Bat-themed vigilante. It makes more than enough sense for Joseph Gordon-Levitt‘s character to inherit the Cowl. We’ve been hearing rumors for the longest time about his character, John Blake, and how he’ll serve as the film’s Robin-esque sidekick.

While this definitely doesn’t seem like the most certain ending out of the lot, it’s definitely plausible. With Nolan overseeing WB’s Superman reboot with Man of Steel, I get the stark impression that he’ll start to venture into other superhero territories, with the ultimate goal of bringing a Justice League to film. After all, Warner Bros. has stated that bringing the JL to silver screens is one of their primary goals, and after that whole Green Lantern disaster, I doubt they’d trust anyone besides Nolan with the task.

To add even more credit to this theory, the WB has claimed that they’ll reboot Batman after The Dark Knight Rises. What better way to reboot than by starting with an established character from the last trilogy, which was so wildly popular? Then Nolan wouldn’t be confined to his previously established mythos, where Bruce Wayne was supposed to be the world’s only superhero, but he also won’t completely destroy all of the good will he built with fans by starting from scratch.

Bruce Wayne Lives On As Batman

As far fetched as the other possible endings seem, I have to admit, I think this is the least likely one. The whole direction of the past two films doesn’t really support the idea of the classic, long career that Batman has in the comics. Bruce Wayne has a clear goal in the Nolan Trilogy, and that’s to save Gotham from its own impending doom. He almost achieved that much in the last film, with the rise of Harvey Dent, but the Joker quickly put an end to that. TDKR looks to solve this problem, by either saving Gotham or finally destroying it. Either way, there’s really no reason for Bruce Wayne to continue as the Caped Crusader.

And on that note, allow me to say… This whole ethos that Nolan’s created is one of the biggest downfalls for the films. On one side, they’ve elevated Batman’s story into something far more epic than the typical detective noir that we receive in the comics, but it’s also cheapened DC’s decades of complex character development. Either way, I doubt that this will be the ending of choice in the film.

So what do you guys think? Agree? Think I’m full of it? Sound off below.