http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/2012/05/09/the-dark-knight-rises-fandom-and-the-folk-hero/ Responses to Media and Culture Fri, 12 Feb 2016 19:35:04 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.7.5 http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/2012/05/09/the-dark-knight-rises-fandom-and-the-folk-hero/comment-page-1/#comment-196963 Tue, 15 May 2012 10:00:44 +0000 http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/?p=12970#comment-196963 It’s interesting how Nolan’s film and Morrison’s Batman comics appear to be playing off one another – the flying Batmobile; Catwoman-as-sidekick; Batman’s return to daytime crime-fighting; the war with she-whose-name-would-constitute-a-major-spoiler, all call to mind important moments in Morrison’s recent work. But there’s no guarantee that Nolan will reach the exact same conclusions as Morrison. Unlike Morrison, Nolan has always insisted on Batman ‘as a single, fixed figure,’ and never taken steps to introduce a ‘Bat-family’ (though maybe these are things he’s finally starting to regret). Nolan appears to be suggesting that Gothamites/the audience can support Batman; Morrison (in Batman Inc. #6) that they can become ‘Batman.’ They both make Batman a folk hero, but there’s a difference between Morrison’s ‘we can be heroes’ approach, and Nolan’s, which appears to be more along the lines of ‘we can feel empowered by electing an individual to be a hero on our behalf.’

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