The Hero's Journy in The Dark Knight Returns (Jay Oliva, 2013)

The End of a Knight’s Quest

Analysis of The Dark Knight Returns (2013)

          Adapting a seminal work of literature can a trepidatious proposition for any filmmaker and Jay Oliva the director of the animated feature The Dark Knight Returns (2013) and delivers a direct adaptation of Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns. While live action Batman adaptations tend to take elements from the source material and construct an original story Warner Brothers the parent company of D.C. Comics has been producing straightforward animated adaptations from some of its strongest and most beloved stories in recent years. One of the strongest elements of the source material is Batman’s internal monologue however I do agree with the director’s choice not to use it in a medium like film that is more about show rather then tell.

          The choice of adapting Frank Miller’s magnum opus for an animated feature does not take away from the work’s gravitas. In a world where CGI special effects dominate many feature films released by the major studios many of the stunts and set pieces we see in modern film making are animated. The choice of making the feature PG-13 allowed the filmmakers to stay true the source material.

          The Dark Knight Returns (2013) is a unique version of the hero’s journey because it starts with a hero who’s retired a decade earlier. The end of the hero’s cycle concludes with the hero returning with knowledge or skills to help the community. Clearly Batman in his many years waging a one man war on crime has used his knowledge and skills to help the community. But we know from the title The Caped Crusader is not done yet.

The underworld is a typical motif in the hero’s journey. Batman works in a cave below Wayne Manor. However, the Batcave is not a typical representation of the underworld. Carrie Kelly asks Alfred where Batman is going when he wanders into the depths of the Batcave. Alfred responds, “To find his strength”. When Batman is dug out of his grave by Carrie Kelly he again chooses a cave as the place he starts his new life.

          The story starts with a traditional narrative device commonly found in the hero’s journey: the refusal to the call. What’s interesting is the film’s refusal to the call and subsequent answer to the call is all internal conflict. The refusal is based up the protagonist’s (Bruce Wayne/Batman) promise which is strongly implied is due to the death of Jason Todd (Robin). Perhaps prophetically the source material was published several years before the in continuity demise of Jason Todd via a one nine hundred number.  The Batman persona can’t be quashed no matter how much Bruce tries to drown out the calling of the bat with booze. When he’s drunk Bruce Wayne is called to the place that birthed Batman, crime alley. It’s not the bat signal or crime that’s the call that Batman answers it’s his own conscience. He can’t refuse the call to be Batman because he is Batman.

          Batman deals with four antagonists in The Dark Knight Returns (2013). Two Face, the Mutant Leader, the Joker, and Superman. Batman has a large rogue’s gallery who test the Caped Crusader in a variety of ways. The choice of antagonists and the order in which they are confronted are not chosen at whim or happenstance they fulfill a specific role in the narrative structure of the hero’s journey. These four antagonists appear in different and distinct chapters in Batman’s hero’s journey. In this film there are three distinct versions of Bruce Wayne/Batman. In flash backs we see the figurative death of Bruce Wayne that gives birth to Batman. We see the symbol of Batman remerge in present day Gotham and how the idea of Batman transcends one man. Finally we see Batman challenge a demigod using Gotham City to power himself via the lamp post in crime alley where Bruce’s childhood ended and his quest as Batman began. When Batman challenges a demigod he shows his superiority and cunning showing Superman he could of killed him if he chose to. This leads to the Dark Knight resurrection and him finally able to shed Batman and Bruce Wayne to be a mentor, leader, and father figure.

          What role does the antagonist Two Face play in the hero’s quest? Harvey Dent was formerly Gotham City’s district attorney. His physical and mental scars are too great for him to overcome. His coin is still a twisted version of law & order; everyone’s odds are the same and fair. Bruce’s desire to help Harvey by funding his treatment is a coping mechanism for Batman’s own fear that he may cross the line into full psychosis. Also, dealing with Batman’s hope for redemption that even after all these years and all the chaos and carnage left in his wake he can find redemption and put the trauma of his parents’ death behind him. Later on in the film we see his disdain for the lapdog Superman has become and his hatred for the death and misery the Joker brings but we also see him truly pity for Harvey Dent.

          Batman sees part of his own psychosis in Dent and his treatment being unsuccessful strikes close to home. When Bruce Wayne the public financier of Harvey Dent’s treatment speaks at news conference about Harvey overcoming his demons we the viewer who know Bruce Wayne’s alter ego know how weighty this statement is. Decades have passed since a young Bruce Wayne made a vow to avenge his dead parents but he is still plagued by the trauma. Clearly of the four antagonists Batman faces in The Dark Knight Returns (2013) it makes sense the first one would be Two Face. In his apprehension of Two Face he confronts his own compulsions. When Harvey laments, “Nothing can fix what I am.” Batman’s response is, “You and me both.”   

          Following Two Face Batman takes on a gang of marauding teenagers who are running amok called the Mutants. Typically along the hero’s journey he will face an Ogre. The Ogre often causes the hero to use his cunning and guile to defeat the beast. The mutant leader represents such this aspect of the cycle. Batman can’t beat the mutant leader with brawn or viciousness. When Batman gets his rematch he uses his knowledge of anatomy to systematically immobilize and cripple the Mutant leader. He uses his cunning by having the fight take place in thigh high mud negating the Mutant leaders speed advantage. However the Mutant leader as an obstacle doesn’t lead to transcendence like the next two obstacles do.

          The next opponent Batman must overcome is The Joker. What is The Clown Prince of Crime’s role in Batman’s Knight’s quest?  When we first meet the Joker he’s in a near cationic state. Once he realizes Batman has returned to Gotham he starts his crime spree by killing everyone in attendance at the filming of a late night talk show. Has the Joker pushed Batman too far? When Robin asks Batman how will he fight someone as monstrous as the Joker? He responds, “Simpler than I've made it. There's nothing wrong with Joker that I can't fix, with my hands.” However, in the end, despite the Joker stabbing him repeatedly Batman does not murder the Joker he only paralyzes him. The Joker is able to finish the job continuing to break his already broken neck and kills himself causing the Gotham P.D. to pin the murder on Batman. This course of events takes Batman to the next phase of his journey he is now exiled. Batman has always been an outsider. But now with commissioner Gordon retired and Batman accused of homicide he has cut all ties with law enforcement or government agencies. Batman has become an enemy of the state. 

          What is Superman’s role in Batman’s hero’s quest? Batman challenges a demigod and rises from mortal symbol to mythic status. He challenged a demigod and showed that despite his mortal limitations due to his superior will, cunning, and intellect he is Superman’s better. Before the drug that stops Batman’s heart that allows him to fake his death takes effect he tells Superman, “I didn't have to go easy on you. A different binding agent, a stronger mix... I want you to remember that. I wanted to remind you to stay out of my way. In all the years to come, in your most private moments, I want you to remember the one man who beat you!”

          He confronts Superman in crime ally where Batman was born and where Batman will also meet his demise.  At first he used a mechanized bat suit to battle Superman.  Later on he draws power from Gotham City. The light post where Bruce Wayne’s parents were murdered now figuratively and literally powers Batman, and lastly he uses a kryptonite arrow he devised utilizing both his patience and resources the same traits a young Bruce Wayne used to mold himself into the Batman. Upon resurrection he is no longer a one man war on crime. He is now a father figure to Carrie Kelly the new Robin (and in my opinion the best Robin). He is a teacher to the former gang members who he will now not only teach his ways to but impart his code, and leader to both Oliver Queen (Green Arrow), Robin, and the former gang members. This chapter in the source material is entitled The Dark Knight Falls. Despite Superman despite being a demigod he kowtows to the federal government. He appears to be the only super hero left on Earth until Batman’s return from retirement. Batman acknowledges to Clark that he operates outside of the law but he also makes clear he will not be stopped from acting. Young Bruce Wayne made a promise and Adult Batman won’t let himself forget the promise he made over his parents’ corpses in crime alley. Even the combined might of a demigod and the United States government cannot break his will.

          It’s Batman’s resurrection and return to the Batcave that finally lets Bruce and Batman shed the oath he made to his dead parents and begin anew. Instead of a vigilante and outsider he is leader, mentor, teacher, and father. Alfred’s death and the burning of Wayne manor helps reinforce the idea that the last vestiges of Bruce Wayne and his decades old promise are put to rest. Once in the new cave his final remarks to Oliver Queen are, “I spent ten years trying to die, this will be a good life.” Batman has transcended life and death and is ready to be a steward to the next generation and embracing life for the first time since his parent’s murder.

                     In The Dark Knight Returns (2013) Batman rises from folklore to epic myth. Bruce Wayne was a man but Batman is a man, a symbol, and epic myth. Batman is not only part of Gotham City but draws his strength from the city itself. He exists to inspire and lead his city. He is happy to dwell beneath the city and teach the outsiders and disenfranchised of Gotham City a code and tools to allow them to give back to their community. The Dark Knight Returns (2013) takes a character that because of marketing and publishing must internally be living his second act and gives us his omega story in the epic mythic tradition.