It's a long story so here goes....

After the success of the comic book Superhero Superman, artist Bob Kane tried to come up with his own hero "The Bat-Man", the character Kane created wore a red suit with a domino mask, blonde hair and a pair of bat wings. Kane then asked for writer Bill Finger's assistance on the project. Finger rejected several of Kane's initial ideas about the character and suggested several changes in design and characterization. His changes included changing his hair colour, a black colour scheme for the costume, adding a cape and cowl, the idea that he shouldn't have any superpowers, his civilian identity of Bruce Wayne (which Finger named after Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland and general Anthony "Mad Anthony" Wayne), the origin story about his parents being shot in an alley and the idea that he should also be a detective.

Kane marketed the "Batman" character to National Comics, and Batman's first story was published in "Detective Comics" #27 (May 1939). The script was written by an uncredited Finger, making him the first of many ghost writers to work on comics officially credited to Bob Kane. When Kane negotiated a contract about selling the rights to the "Batman" character, he claimed he was the sole creator and demanded a sole mandatory byline acknowledging him as such on all comics and adaptations. Out of fairness, Kane agreed to pay Finger his share with money out of his earnings. Unfortunately, the agreement was never put into writing, and Finger never saw a cent.

Finger would go on to ghost write Batman stories up into the mid 1960's, either with Kane or for DC Comics directly. During his writing tenure, Finger was responsible for the unaccredited creation of many key players and pieces in the Batman universe.

These included the Batmobile, the Batcave, Gotham City, and Batman's nickname "The Dark Knight". He also came up with several secondary Batman characters including, his sidekick Robin, his arch-nemesis The Joker, and his occasional love interest Catwoman, as well as Commissioner Gordon, The Riddler and The Scarecrow. Despite all of this, the only writing credit that Finger received for Batman in his lifetime were two episodes of Batman (1966), The Clock King's Crazy Crimes (1966) and The Clock King Gets Crowned (1966) which he co-wrote with friend Charles Sinclair.

Eventually, the truth did come out. Finger attended the first official New York Comic Con in 1965 and sat on a panel with other comic book creators where he revealed the role he played in Batman's creation. Finger's story gained exposure in a two-page article titled "If the truth be known, or a Finger in every plot!," written and distributed by pop culturist Jerry Bails. Kane caught wind of Finger's appearance not long after and replied in the form of a printed letter to Batman fan magazine, "Batmania," where he labeled his old friend a fraud. Finger, who by this time was deeply in debt, continued to write for various projects in and outside of comic books until his death in 1974, when he was found alone in his apartment by friend Charles Sinclair. Finger died penniless and his contributions to the character was never acknowledged in his lifetime.

However, after the popularity of Tim Burton's Batman (1989), Kane acknowledged Finger as "a contributing force" in the character's creation, and wrote in his 1989 autobiography "Batman and Me" that "Now that my long-time friend and collaborator is gone, I must admit that Bill never received the fame and recognition he deserved. He was an unsung hero ... I often tell my wife, if I could go back fifteen years, before he died, I would like to say. 'I'll put your name on it now. You deserve it.'"

Many failed attempts were made over the years by Finger's family to get him recognition for his work, including a request from his second wife Lyn Simmons to have his name listed in the credits of Tim Burton's Batman (1989).

Finger remained largely unknown, even to Batman fans, until writer Marc Tyler Nobleman began investigating the late author's life for a book being written about him called "Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman". Nobleman went in search of Finger's family to help fill in the gaps and give him credit. While Finger's autopsy report claimed no relatives were present, Nobleman discovered that Finger had a son, Fred.

Unfortunately, Fred, who was an outspoken proponent of his father, had died in 1992. Nobleman learned that Fred was also homosexual, leading him to believe that Fred had no children before his death. The trail was starting to go cold.

However, after receiving new information from Finger's nephew, Nobleman discovered Fred indeed had a daughter, Athena Finger, who was born two years after Finger's death. Nobleman met with Athena and convinced her to meet with DC about getting recognition for her grandfather. DC in turn welcomed Athena with open arms, cut her a check and invited her to the premiere of The Dark Knight (2008) with all expenses paid. It wasn't until around 2012 that DC offered her more money. This time, however, she had to sign away her rights to her grandfather's claim. With encouragement from Nobleman, Athena rejected the money and took DC to court.

It took years of litigation before a settlement was reached. A major turning point in the case was the unearthing of recorded interviews with Bob Kane during the writing of his autobiography. During one of the interviews, Tom Andrae, Kane's co-writer, asked Kane to what extent Finger contributed to Batman's creation. "Bill was responsible for 50 to 75 percent," Kane bluntly responded.

Finally, in September 2015, DC Entertainment issued a statement informing the public that Finger would be listed as co-creator on any piece of Batman media henceforth. Starting with the superhero film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and the second season of Gotham (2014), an updated acknowledgement for the character appeared as "Batman created by Bob Kane with Bill Finger".

Finger's story was later used as the subject of the Hulu original documentary, Batman & Bill (2017).

There is no way to know, but it's unlikely that the Joker would have been the main villain. After Christopher Nolan finished filming The Dark Knight (2008) he had absolutely no plans to make a sequel and it wasn't until after he had finished Inception (2010) that he decided to make The Dark Knight Rises (2012). By that point Ledger had been dead for 2 years. However given the structure of the Trilogy it is highly doubtful that the Joker would have been the main villain. The Dark Knight (2008) did not use any of the villains from Batman Begins (2005) as the main focus (The Scarecrow was only in one scene while Falcone and Ra's al Ghul did not appear), instead it stood on its own and focused on The Joker and Two-Face. Furthermore The Dark Knight Rises (2012) stood on its own as well as it focused on Bane and the villains from the previous films only appeared in cameo appearances or recycled footage from previous films. Having said that even though this is speculation it is possible that the Joker would have been mentioned had Ledger not died or even possibly appeared in a flashback or cameo but it's unlikely he would have been one of the main characters.

Alfred used Bruce Wayne's computer to do a background check on him. Bane would've been known in Gotham before due to him being behind a coup in West Africa that secured mining operations for John Daggett. Alfred was able to read further into the rumors surrounding him, his involvement with The League of Shadows; which would obviously come from reports since he was a wanted terrorist and The League of Shadows have been an existing cause for centuries.

Note: For this list only the creators of the characters first appearances are listed. As with all comic book characters, Batman and his supporting cast have had several reinventions and different contributions from different writers. Theses include different iterations in different mediums that all have added different concepts to the overall mythology of the characters.

Obviously there's Bruce Thomas Wayne/Batman called only Bruce Wayne or Batman on screen. He made his first appearance in the comic story "The Case of the Chemical Syndicate" from Detective Comics #27 (May, 1939) by writer Bill Finger and artist Bob Kane.

Alfred, the butler, whose full name in the comics is Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth. In his first comic appearances he was called Alfred Beagle and first appeared in the comic story "Here Comes Alfred" from Batman #16 (April-May 1943) by writer Don Cameron and artist Bob Kane. The characters were later reintroduced as Alfred Pennyworth (complete with a different appearance) in comics continuity by writer Bill Finger and artist Jerry Robinson.

Gotham City Police Commissioner, James Worthington Gordon, Sr., called Commissioner Gordon or Jim on screen. Just like Batman, he made his first appearance in the comic story "The Case of the Chemical Syndicate" from Detective Comics #27 (May 1939) by writer Bill Finger and artist Bob Kane.

Lucius Fox, who made his first appearance in the comic story "Dark Messenger of Mercy" from Batman #307 (January 1979) and was created by writer Len Wein and artist John Calnan.

Bane, who made his first appearance in the comic story Batman: Vengeance of Bane #1 (January 1993) by writers Chuck Dixon & Doug Moench and artist Graham Nolan, from a concept by Denny O'Neil.

Selina Kyle/Catwoman, called Selina or Miss Kyle on screen. In her first comic appearance, she was called "The Cat" and appeared in a story of the same name in Batman #1 (Spring 1940) by writer Bill Finger and artist Bob Kane.

Talia al Ghul, who is Ra's al Ghul's daughter. In this film she goes by the alias Miranda Tate. She made her first appearance in the comic story "Into the Den of the Death-Dealers!" from Detective Comics #411 (May 1971) by writer Denny O'Neil and artist Bob Brown from a concept by then DC comics "Batman" editor Dick Giordano.

Ra's al Ghul, who appears in flashbacks. He made his first appearance in "Daughter of the Demon" from Batman #232 (June 1971) by writer Denny O'Neil, and artist Neal Adams from a concept by then DC Comics "Batman" editor Julius Schwartz who also came up with the name.

and Dr Jonathan Crane/The Scarecrow, who made his first appearance in the comic story "Riddle of the Human Scarecrow" from World's Finest Comics #3 (Fall 1941) by writer Bill Finger and artist Bob Kane.

All other characters were created just for the film by the film's writers.

Most likely not, as there has been no word from either Nolan or Levitt about such a project.

Eight years after Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) became reclusive after Batman agreed to take the rap for the death of Harvey Dent, Bruce/Batman is forced out of hiding to take on Bane (Tom Hardy), a former member of the League of Shadows who is bent on fulfilling the mission of Ra's Al Ghul (Liam Neeson) to destroy Gotham City. Fortunately, Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) has maintained all of Bruce's Batgear and with Wayne Enterprises board member Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard) promoted to CEO of the business, Batman teams up with elusive jewel thief Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway) to stop Bane. But whose side is Selina really on?

The Dark Knight Rises is the third and final film in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, preceded by Batman Begins (2005) (2005) and The Dark Knight (2008) (2008). It was filmed from a screenplay co-written by Nolan and his brother Jonathan and a story by Nolan and American screenwriter David S. Goyer. The screenplay, though, had at least one book as an influence-Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. Other influences include the Batman graphic novels- The Dark Knight Returns, Knightfall and No Man's Land.

The character of Bane was taken from the comic book series. In the DC Comics literary universe, Bane made his debut in Batman: Vengeance of Bane #1 (January 1993). The scene where Bane breaks Batman's back first appeared in Batman #497 (July 1993). Similar to the novel Batman: Legacy, Bane in this film succeeds Ra's al Ghul in their plan to destroy Gotham City.

This film is inspired heavily by the novel, featuring an uprising as a major part of their narrative, with other similarities including use of character names such as Stryver and Barsad. Gordon's passage that he reads for Bruce's funeral is quoted from the book, and Bruce's journey to some degree mirrors that of Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton. The main antagonists, Bane and Talia al Ghul and their relationship mirrors that of Monsieur and Madame Defarge. There are other hints to Dickens' novel, such as Talia al Ghul being obsessed with revenge and having a close relationship to the hero, and Bane's catchphrase "the fire rises" as an ode to one of the book's chapters.

The Dark Knight Rises is different enough though to stand on its own; as it should be understood that Dickens' novel deals with one of the most important events in history, the French Revolution. Bane's revolution is fake, being only supported by a small proportion of Gotham's populace and the freed prisoners of Blackgate; the rest appear to go into hiding, including the deputy police commissioner, Foley.

Someone who watches The Dark Knight Rises first should be able to follow the overall story. However, there are many story references to the first two films. Important story elements like why Batman is in seclusion, who Harvey Dent was and what he did, and who Ra's Al Ghul and the League of Shadows are, will not be understood by someone who has not seen the two movies before this one.

He retired because he wasn't needed anymore after taking the fall for Harvey Dent. He told Gordon in the hospital dialogue, "The Batman wasn't needed anymore. We won." This is because the goal of Batman was to be a symbol that inspired people to fight Gotham's criminal and corrupt, as stated in Batman Begins. Since most of the cops were corrupt, Batman had to do this by vigilante means. Batman did this by waging war on organized crime—the root of the criminal and corrupt.

By the time of the events of The Dark Knight, he inspired both the copycat vigilantes and Harvey Dent to fight the criminal and corrupt. Bruce preferred the latter over the former as he told Alfred, "[the vigilantes] weren't what I had in mind when I wanted to inspire people". Bruce believes that Harvey was "the first legitimate ray of light in decades" and "the symbol of hope [Batman] could never be"; since Harvey was using legal means to fight the criminal and corrupt; and his prosecution managed to "lock up half of the cities criminals [without wearing a mask]", as Bruce prefaced it.

Since already 549 of the 1,000 criminals were now locked up—allowing what Dent called "18 months of clean streets" for the 549 criminals that comprised the whole mob (Lau, the mob's last money launder, when talking to the mobs, said, "everyone's money would be at stake", for the mob laundered all their money to him, but he surrendered all his clients to Dent)—Batman was soon not needed as the police could easily handle the remaining street criminals.

Also, The Dark Knight further explains the temporary nature of Batman: Natasha in the dinner scene mentions to Harvey Dent, "Gotham needs heroes like you—elected officials—not a man who thinks he is above the law." Bruce then agrees by saying, "Exactly. Who appointed the Batman?" But then Harvey, believing in vigilantism, answers, "We did—all of us who stood by and led scum take control of our city." But Natasha says, "But this is a democracy, Harvey." Harvey then says,

When their enemies were at the gates, the Romans would suspend democracy and appoint one man to protect the city. It was not considered an honor, it was considered a public service.

So, when an enemy, like organized crime or a terrorist, is attacking Gotham, there must be a suspension of democracy since only a vigilante like Batman can effectively beat it. But, Rachel rebuts, "Harvey, the last man to be appointed to protect the republic was named Caesar, and he never gave up his power." So, after Batman defeats organized crime, he must give up his power or else he will be corrupt. Harvey then agrees with this and says, "Okay, fine. You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." And since Batman indirectly defeated organized crime by having Harvey's prosecution lock up the whole mob, Bruce then honors what Harvey said by telling Rachel in the Penthouse party that he was going to retire soon.

But then the mob leaders used bail to get out of jail and hire Joker, who then caused Harvey to go on a killing spree. According to Gordon, because of Dent's murdering spree, "Harvey's prosecutions, everything he fought for...undone." The mayor warned Harvey that in 18 months of jail, the mob would try to use any dirt on Harvey to undo his prosecution during the appeal process. Thus, if the "criminals can get anything on [Harvey], they would be back on the streets." Batman reiterated the same thing to Dent after he caught him interrogating the insane man in the dark alley. Plus, according to Joker, if the people of Gotham find out about his murdering spree, they would "[lose] their minds". That would probably create freaks like the Joker. So, Batman had to sacrifice his reputation to keep the prosecution and to keep Gotham's sanity. Since no one knew of Harvey's crimes, the mob would fail at appeal and not leave jail. With the whole mob in jail, half the mob's money burned, mob bosses dead—leaving the mobsters vulnerable and eliminating financial incentives for police corruption—and the Joker captured, the remaining criminals on the streets would have trouble rebuilding the organized crime machine and would be arrested if they tried so. And with the Dent Act eliminating parole, the mob is locked up for good along with any additional criminals later arrested, thus deterring organized crime from bouncing back.

In conclusion, by inspiring Dent, the whole mob was jailed under his prosecution, then jailed for good—eliminating organized crime—under the Dent Act. Thus, Batman was no longer needed and Bruce could retire. Some viewers might note that The Dark Knight suggested Batman couldn't retire since Joker told Batman in their last encounter, "I think you and I are destined to [fight each other] forever." However, Batman rebutted him by saying "You'll be locked up in a padded cell forever." Joker then said, "Maybe we could share one." Thus, this suggests Joker would be locked up forever since he admitted to it. Also, some viewers might think Gordon saying "we will hunt him because he can take it" means Batman can't retire. Yet, in the The Dark Knight Rises hospital scene, Gordon seemed confused that Batman retired since he said, "We were in this together... then you were gone". He apparently misunderstood or forgot what Batman told him years ago, "You'll hunt me [...] because that's what needs to happen". Batman meant for Gordon to pursue him that night and thereafter so that the Batman could and would be viewed as a criminal not a crime fighter. Otherwise, Batman helping capture any remaining criminals would bring suspicion to the public and cops that Gordon framed Batman, would cause chase scenes on him allowing criminals to escape (like what happened with the stock heist chase), and would undermine Dent's martyring that inspired the public and cops to change for the better to fix the city.

Bruce was active as a philanthropist and investor for five years, and became a recluse for three years. Bruce Wayne tried to move on by becoming a billionaire philanthropist, using the Wayne Foundation to fund Dent Day and charities like Saint Swithen's orphanage along with, according to Lucius in the office scene, funneling the entire Wayne Enterprises R and D budget for five years into a fusion energy project. The project resulted in the creation of a brand new, unique fusion reactor which was labeled as the first real hope for humanity to have a sustainable source of energy.

But Bruce mothballed the reactor three years before *The Dark Knight Rises*; according to Miranda in the reactor scene,* "Three years ago a Russian scientist published a paper on weaponized fusion reactions." *Upon learning this, Bruce feared that someone could turn the reactor into a bomb and effectively destroy Gotham with it. So, Miranda said, "One week later (Bruce claimed that the) reactor started developing problems.." Miranda told Bruce at the charity ball that he spent half his fortune on a plan to save the world with the fusion reactor "and isn't so wounded when it fails that he goes into hiding.."

Thus, after Bruce gave up on the project, Bruce felt that he had nothing else left in the world and locked himself away in Wayne Manor, becoming a recluse, waiting for things to go bad in Gotham in the hopes of once again becoming Batman and having a purpose in life, or as Alfred suggests, a reason to die.

The CIA agent and his team didn't check because they didn't know Barsad, the driver who turned the hooded men in, was working for Bane. Barsad is shown to be Bane's right hand man throughout the movie. The fact that Barsad speaks with an Uzbekistani accent in this scene and an English one throughout the rest of the movie indicates that he was using a false identity to deceive the CIA agent and his team.

It appears that Bane had Barsad work with the CIA, since Barsad told the CIA man when he asked why he brought the kidnapped men; Barsad said, "Don't worry, no charge for (the kidnapped men)" and "(Bane's men) were trying to claim your prize". So, the CIA already trusted Barsad-assuming the CIA must trust someone before hiring them.

The climax of Batman Begins occurs on the eve of Bruce Wayne's 30th birthday. The Dark Knight takes place approximately six to nine months later, and The Dark Knight Rises takes place eight years after The Dark Knight. Five months pass within The Dark Knight Rises (eleven if you count the prologue taking place six months before the remainder of the film). Therefore Bruce is 38 and likely turns 39 at some point. Bruce was Batman for one year before The Dark Knight, since the Joker in that film said, "Let's wind the clocks back a year", to the mobsters when he was referring to how, a year ago, Batman wasn't there and Gotham City's legal system was still entirely in the mobs' hands.

Being Batman is a physically demanding job, Bruce Wayne had been shot, stabbed, beaten, set on fire, gassed by weaponized hallucinogens, fallen from extreme heights, bitten by dogs, survived explosions, crashes, etc. While the Batsuit would offer him some protection, the physical trauma he had sustained would certainly take its toll on his body. As we see at the beginning of The Dark Knight, Bruce had several scars over his body and he had only been Batman for a year. In this film, eight years have passed and Bruce has been in seclusion for three years before the events of The Dark Knight Rises. If he didn't stay in top shape, the previous injuries to his body would likely start taking their toll. i.e. not exercising joints can worsen arthritis; since he damaged much of his cartilage in his left knee from falling at the end of The Dark Knight and wasn't physically active for the last three years, the pain grew and forced him to use a cane.

In the very first moments of the film, there is a scene where Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) reads a eulogy about Harvey Dent. The setting is identical to a scene featured in The Dark Knight but in a different camera view and with different lines. It is not known if the setting was recreated for the new movie in order to seem identical or if it is unused footage from the previous movie. In the original script, though, there is an extended version where this scene is directly connected to the previous movie. That may indicate that they had shot an extended version of this scene in The Dark Knight and that, in the final cut of the film, this shot was left out with the additional "deleted" footage, featured in The Dark Knight Rises.

Aaron Eckhart expressed interest in reprising the role of Harvey "Two-Face" Dent, but Christopher Nolan had stated that the character is dead.

Dent does appear in a flashback to the ending of The Dark Knight. A holiday was declared in his honor, "Harvey Dent Day", which has been celebrated for up to eight years. The cover-up of Dent's crimes also plays a part in Bane's scheme to take over Gotham. In addition, the Gotham government also implements the "Dent Act" ad memoriam to the District Attorney's legacy, which denied all prisoners incarcerated in Blackgate Penitentiary access to parole. Bane completely destroys Harvey Dent's legacy by revealing the truth of Dent's crimes to the city. During Bane's speech, he tears up a picture of Harvey Dent and reads a written statement regarding Dent and the GCPD by Commissioner Gordon.

The Dent Act is a law honoring the late Harvey Dent for his commitment to rid Gotham of organized crime. The act is implied to have many anti-organized crime measures, since the mayor said it gave police the "teeth" it needed against the mob. But, John Blake tells us it's most important aspect: there is absolutely no possibility of parole: "These men, locked up in Blackgate for eight years, denied parole under the Dent Act. . ." Gordon tells Blake that rules like parole "aren't weapons anymore, they're shackles, letting the bad get ahead".

Without parole, the criminals are forced to serve their full sentence (i.e. 20 years under a RICO case) instead of taking advantage of parole and going on a crime spree again. This part of the act probably came from the fact that the mob leaders in the previous film used the similar method of bail to get out of jail and use the Joker to cause chaos in Gotham. The act eliminated organized crime and corruption by denying parole so criminals are locked up for good-discouraging any further organized crime; this was made easier, since Dent's prosecution already cleaned the streets. Blake reminds the audience of this by saying to Gordon, "When you and Dent cleaned the streets you cleaned 'em good."

The mob laundered all their money to Lau since he said Dent "put all of (his) competitors out of business" and that the police "identified the mob's banks. . and were planning to cease (the mob's) funds"; so, he said "everyone's money is at stake" if the police leverages one of them. Lau was leveraged and gave Gordon all his clients-the mobsters-and Dent used RICO to prosecute all 549 of them; Dent got away with locking up 549 of the 1,000 criminals in Gotham since the mayor said, "the public likes you. . . that's the only reason this might fly".

Locking up all of Gotham's mobsters caused irreparable damage to the organized crime machine so the police can easily handle the remaining street criminals; thus why Dent told the mayor he will have "18 months of clean streets". And the reason why he said 18 months is since after that time, the mayor said the mob would "kick (his) ass with appeals" and will try to win them by "get(ting) anything on (Dent)" so "(these) criminals would be back on the streets".

Since Batman hid Harvey's crimes, the mob failed at appeal and are stuck in jail and got denied parole. With half of the mob's money burned, the mob left leaderless from Joker's arrest and the three mob leaders dead - destroying links between corrupt law enforcement and Maroni -and the mobsters already locked up, the remaining street criminals would have difficulty trying to rebuild and commit organized crime and be arrested if they try so. Since Gordon stated, "there are a thousand inmates in Blackgate Prison. . . violent criminals, essential cogs in the organized crime machine", that means the remaining 500 criminals tried to reinvigorate organized crime but got arrested, jailed, and denied parole.

"Pavane pour une infante défunte" (Pavane for a Dead Princess) by Maurice Ravel.

Bane is a well-known international terrorist and mercenary. The CIA had wanted him for his terrorist actions and Bane is infamous as the terrorist that has "never been seen or photographed without a mask." According to Alfred, who checked the name Bane for Bruce, "(Bane was) behind a coup in West Africa that secured mining operations for our friend John Daggett". So, a Gothamite taking economic advantage of a nation that was attacked by an infamous terrorist would be controversial to Gothamites like Gordon who always is looking out for bad things among Gotham even in what a congressman in the Dent Day ceremony called "peacetime"; Blake, when he was with Gordon on police headquarter's rooftop, said Gordon's mentality is like "we're still at war" even after he cleaned the streets 8 years ago. So Gordon would already be familiar with Bane.

It is speculated to be the Dell XPS Duo 12.

We don't see Bane enter the building, but when he approaches the metal detector, he is still wearing his motorcycle helmet and a jacket of a delivery company. We can assume that Bane was posing as a delivery man and usually delivery orders come through the back entrance of a building. Thus, the motorcycles were from the back entrance of the building. Then, after Bane took the exchange hostage, his men could have easily taken the bikes in before the police arrived.

Even if that didn't happen, considering his men worked as the maintenance and operators of the exchange, they could have previously sneaked the bikes in when the building was closed.

The day to night shift seems to be a continuity error. If the audience watches closely though; we see the outside lights are lit outside the stock exchange as the police arrive, and the sky in each scene gets darker as it cuts to each other, before they enter the tunnels-thus we can assume the motorcycle chase was longer than shown and a lot of time would've transpired during the distance traveled.

Also this may be an homage to the ski chase during On Her Majesty's Secret Service (which Nolan is a fan of) where it constantly shifted from day to night.

The rifle was presumably an EMP blaster that he aimed at the motorcycle to prevent it from getting away. EMP weapons can send out a large burst of electrical energy, overwhelming targeted electronic devices; generally, simpler circuits like lights will be temporarily disabled, while more complicated circuits will be fried and completely disabled. The EMP blaster is shown to have completely disabled two motorcycles. Batman also used some EMP device in his belt to temporarily disable the lights in the tunnel and later in Bane's lair. Bruce Wayne uses EMP also when he completely disabled the paparazzi cameras when he arrived at the ball, and when he gave Gordon the Bat's EMP cannon mount to block and completely disable the trigger's connection device to the bomb later in the film.

Batman & Robin portrayed Bane very differently than other versions of Batman. In it, he was reduced to being a mindless henchman. In the comics, Bane is of Caribbean descent and uses a drug called "venom" to create his massive hulking size. The mask he wears feeds the venom directly into his brain. Bane is a highly intelligent, mostly self-educated, cunning strategist and a skilled fighter. In The Dark Knight Rises, Bane is very similar to his comic book counterpart. One key difference is that he does not use venom. His mask holds an anesthetic to keep chronic pain at bay, which was caused by severe spinal and facial trauma. Also, Bane, while still very muscular and formidable, is a much more realistic size: His height is only about 6'2" (1.88 m) and he weighs approximately 240 pounds (110 kilograms). Most notably different is Bane's accent; Tom Hardy, who plays Bane, says, The choice of the accent is actually a man called Bartley Gorman, who was a bare knuckle fighter, a Romani gypsy, which I wanted to underpin the Latin-but a Romani Latin opposed to Latino. His particular accent is very specific, which was a gypsy accent. So that's why it was difficult to understand. But once you tune into it, you get it, I hope.

It was not explained in the film, but there are a few possibilities:

1. He may have some sort of mechanism that allows him to suck in liquefied nutrients through his mask.

2. He simply removes the mask while eating, and endures the pain.

3. He may also inject himself with painkillers before taking off the mask. There may also be a nose piece on the mask or a separate one that he can detach and connect to the mask so he can still breathe in the anesthetic through his nose while leaving his mouth free to eat and drink.

4. Bane might also have developed a technique or had been instructed in one that would allow him to temporarily wean himself off the pain medication before removing the mask, say, by lowering the dosage in the minutes before he would remove it, so he could take care of daily habits like shaving or eating.

5. There might also be control settings on the mask that allowed him to do this as well. Some viewers believe that Bane felt a sudden shock of pain after Batman damages his mask, while others interpreted Bane's reaction more akin to panic of trying to fix the mask before the pain set in and would incapacitate him, at least temporarily, thus losing his edge in the fight. A few seconds after Batman damages the mask, Bane is able to throw Batman against a column and deliver a few more blows. Two of them don't connect and he punches the column, perhaps reinforcing the idea that the pain hadn't set in yet and begun to cripple him.

The flashbacks set in the Pit are roughly 20 years before the events of Batman Begins, and it is assumed that Bane was in his late teens to early twenties. This would put Bane somewhere roughly between 40 and 50 (counting the approximate nine months between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, as well as the eight years in between The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises) during the events of this film, although this is speculation because we are never told the ages of other parties involved.

Technically neither. In the film, the prisoner who looks after Bruce tells how the blind prisoner in the next cell was once the prison's doctor, but also a morphine addict. Bane was attacked and severely wounded. (And because of his spinal scar and back brace that we see in the scene where Gordon is brought to Bane, we know Bane's spine was severely injured and he had cervical fusion surgery) The doctor did what he could to save Bane, but with his addiction he botched the surgery, leaving Bane in constant chronic pain. The mask Bane wears "keeps the pain at bay," as Bruce's prison caretaker says, so it holds an anesthetic (probably morphine) likely stored on his back brace or in his flak vest. The mask may also hold small compartments in the back of the mask in case he needs to remove the vest. There is no mention of "venom" in the film, though the anesthetic could be nicknamed thus. Bane simply keeps himself in excellent shape. There is an interesting article where actual medical professionals are consulted and asked how Bane's mask may work in the real world: here.

It has never been stated directly in this trilogy, but all of the license plates say "Gotham" on them, so it would stand to reason that it is located in the state of Gotham, because license plates have the name of the state and not the city on them. However, in the first two movies, which were filmed in Chicago, the plates had Illinois-style designs just in case Illinois plates slipped through in the background.

Bane fakes Pavel's death so he can later secretly use him to turn the fusion reactor into a bomb. Dr. Pavel was in talks with both Bane's men and the CIA before the events of the movie, since Bane said on the plane, "Dr. Pavel refused our offer in favor of (the CIA's)". Thus, Bane had to find out what Dr. Pavel told the CIA interrogator. Bane had Barsad, shown to be Bane's right hand man throughout the movie, bring him and two others along with Dr. Pavel to the CIA.

The driver, Barsad, was working with the CIA since when the CIA interrogator asked why he brought the kidnapped men, Barsad said, "Don't worry, no charge for (the kidnapped men)" and that "(Bane's men) were trying to claim your prize". This prize is assumed to be Dr. Pavel, since the CIA is trying to save him from Bane. After killing the CIA on board, Bane transfused Dr. Pavel's blood into the lookalike corpse (that is pale, has minimal hair and without blood or teeth beforehand) to do this. That way, when the plane crashes the corpse would be heavily disfigured and have Dr. Pavel's blood. This worked as in a later scene, Miranda Tate told Bruce that the "Russian scientist died in a plane crash six months ago".

Bane let one of his men stay behind, since "(The CIA) expects one of us in the wreckage." That way, when the plane crashes, the CIA would assume something went awry with the men that the CIA brought the plane, giving Bane the chance to attack the plane from the outside which killed all the agents, one Bane's men, and Dr. Pavel. The CIA would not know Bane was on the plane, since he had the agents killed after revealing himself.

Selina is a professional cat burglar; it's likely that she buys the equipment she needs using the proceeds acquired from robbing the rich. It's also possible that she designed and constructed some of the items herself, or that she could have struck up business relations or friendships with the types of people who would sell or design the type of equipment she uses.

When Bruce Wayne is in the Batsuit, he takes on the persona of Batman, so the gravelly, intimidating voice he uses can best be described as part of the outfit. Always keeping his voice altered while in the suit makes it harder for him to slip up and talk in his normal voice to the wrong person.

It's worth noting that he speaks in his voice to people who know who he is twice in *The Dark Knight*; briefly to Rachel Dawes after he saves her as they're nearby bystanders and a cab driver so he couldn't let his real voice slip there, and when he speaks to Lucius Fox in the sonar room- which makes sense in order to not let anyone who's potentially watching hear who he is. In this film, he does this when he's talking to John Blake as they're freeing the police, so he couldn't let anyone else around them potentially hear him, and with Catwoman as she's preparing the bat-pod.

For the same reason he didn't let the Joker keep falling after he threw him off the building in the previous film; Bruce said in the first film to Ra's about whether to execute a farmer who stole-"I will not become an executioner". That is what Joker in the second film calls Batman's "one rule". People might accidentally die because of his actions (such as fake Ra's Al Ghul in the 1st film, Harvey Dent in the second film, or the driver of the bomb truck in this film), but he will never purposefully take their life. Batman's adherence to this rule is shown in the rooftop scene when he knocks a gun out of Catwoman's hands and says "No guns, no killing". It would've been hypocritical for him to later shoot down Bane and his men with the Bat.

In Frank Miller's graphic novel, The Dark Knight Returns, there's a similar theme when Batman confronts the leader of a notorious and vicious gang called The Mutants. Batman has a moment where he can simply fire a powerful cannon on the latest version of the Batmobile (which resembles a tank) and destroy his enemy with one shot. He chooses to fight the Mutant Leader hand-to-hand because of personal principles he'd adopted years before that prevent him from being an executioner.

It is stated by Bruce's caretaker that Bane's mask "holds the pain at bay" (most likely with morphine, as the prison doctor is stated to have been a morphine addict). This presumably resulted in Bane being at least partially, perhaps even fully, insensitive to Batman's attacks, for analgesics taken orally affect the central nervous systems and nerves around the body connected to it. Alternatively, as Bane says to Batman when they first face off, "Peace has cost you your strength. Victory has defeated you," meaning that Batman's 8-year absence from training and fighting left him in a weakened state, so his hits had little to no effect on a seasoned combatant like Bane.

There are two factors that come into play:

1. Bruce had just undergone serious physical trauma (getting his dislocated back reset without painkillers). Bruce had been strung up to straighten out his back; while the scene transition is instant, he had clearly been in that position for weeks. When Bruce's vertebra is put back into place, he had minor stubble on his face; when he looks up to see the apparition of Ra's al Ghul, he has long facial hair, almost the same as what he had at the beginning of the film.

2. Bruce already had all the information that Ra's discusses with him. Learning about the fabled mercenary and knowing Ra's in person simply meant putting two and two together. By this time, Bruce had thought of the young child as the young Bane. In his dream, Ra's supports Bruce as he thinks Bane is the heir of Ra's al Ghul. If it was Ra's in reality, then he'd correct Bruce about his child. In the end, both Talia and Bane effectively confirm that Ra's was killed by Batman in the first film. Ra's in this film was just a hallucination, nothing more.

Alternate meaning: Ra's mentions how immortality comes in many forms. Being alive in Bruce's mind provides him a form of immortality, and syncing up with Batman Begins has made him a sort of legend, in Bruce's mind and his successors in The League of Shadows. Additionally, Ra's al Ghul can be seen as immortal through his legacy. In the comics Ra's al Ghul is literally immortal via use of the Lazarus Pit. He is also obsessed with his legacy-finding a suitable successor to his position of "Demon's Head" (the literal meaning of "Ra's al Ghul", the head or leader of the League of Shadows). So to translate that to film, Nolan made Ra's al Ghul immortal through his legacy-through his heir (whether that be Bane or Talia). Bane's (and eventually Bruce Wayne's) prison in the film (a pit) acts as a literal interpretation of the Lazarus Pit from the source material: Ra's al Ghul's legacy rises from the pit to take over his task, making the position of Ra's al Ghul and his mission immortal.

The bomb will detonate in five months without doing anything with it, since Bane mentioned to Dr. Pavel in the reactor chamber: "Five, by my calculations." This enables him to exploit this period to first torture Gotham as it, in turn, tortures Bruce. In the pit, Bane tells Bruce that he wants to torture "not of your body, but of your soul" instead of killing him since he doesn't fear death but welcomes it. He explains how he learned there is "no true despair without hope" because the Pit made the prisoners like "shipwrecked men turning to sea water from uncontrollable thirst," so trying to save themselves will instead kill them. Bane pointed to a TV and said, "You will watch as I torture an entire city, " feeding them a false sense of "hope to poison their souls" under the anarchy. That way, Gotham would reveal its evil nature to the world by "clamoring each other to stay in the sun".

Bane said Bruce would then "under(stand) the depth of (his) failure"-that his work as Batman was fruitless. To Bane, Talia, and The League of Shadows, Gotham is inherently evil and irredeemable, for the eight years of peace proved nothing about Gotham's sound, with Gotham's citizens still being greedy and destructive when allowed by Bane. This justifies Ra's hallucination, which Bruce later had: "The only victory (Bruce) could achieve was a lie. . . Gotham is beyond saving". Gotham succumbing to anarchy and civilians turning against each other and the justice system was predicted by the Joker in The Dark Knight: "Their morals, their code... It's a bad joke. Dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be. You'll see, I'll show you. When the chips are down, these civilized people, they'll eat each other."

Logistically, Bane and Talia al Ghul took precautions to ensure that Gotham City was under their control for as long as their revolution would run. The threat of the bomb ensured that Gothamites and police officers on the surface wouldn't try to rise to him and that the government would be held at bay. As Miranda Tate, Talia plugged herself into various resistance movements, which allowed Bane and his men to kill the special forces agents and then hang them as a warning not to try anything. Later, Barsad and his team capture Gordon along with his allies. Nobody outside of The League knew that Talia was the triggerman, which ensured their plans further. The only true way to stop the bomb was to reconnect it to the reactor, to which Talia would use the reactor's flood chambers to ensure it couldn't happen. After Batman revealed his signal to inspire the police and the public so that Blake can lead an exodus, Bane believes that they couldn't have been stopped. As the battle between the GCPD and Bane's forces begins, Bane orders one of the main tumblers to open fire on the police, which Batman prevents. There was virtually no way of thwarting Bane and Talia's bomb; hence, Batman needed to fly the bomb out.

The protector protected the child from the prisoners in the pit, because according to the caretaker prisoner, the protector wanted to "[show] the others that this [child's] innocence was their redemption." We later found out Bane was the protector—so since he too was born in the pit and lived there as a child, he felt sympathy towards the child. The prisoners helped Bruce, because the prisoners weren't bad people. Long gone are the days the warlord owned the pit. The caretaker prisoner said, "This is Bane's prison now. Bane would not want this story told." Thus, Bane owns this prison and uses it to lock up his enemies. Even if the audience missed this fact, they could assume that the prisoners would help each other out since once one man escapes, he can put the second rope—the supply rope—down into the pit so all can escape. And when Bruce escaped, he put that rope down back into the pit.

The prisoners chant "deshi basara", Moroccan Arabic for "He rises." It's also used in Hans Zimmer's score for the film.

The flood does not decommission the bomb: Lucius and Bruce said that "The bomb goes off in 12 hours unless we reconnect it to the reactor." So, only the reactor can decommission the bomb. The flood is to be used to destroy the reactor when the core is decommissioned and so nothing can turn the core on. For why Lucius didn't flood the chamber before the core was removed, Miranda told Batman she knows how to override reactor and how to override the flood: "Fox told me how to override the reactor-including the emergency flood." We can deduce she learned this from Lucius before Bane got to the reactor since there is nothing to override if the core is already out of the reactor. So if Lucius would somehow activate the flood, she would override the flood. And we know she had a trigger for controlling the flood mechanism since she remotely flooded it at the end of the film.

Assuming Lucius had a trigger too, he still couldn't flood it. All of Bane's men in the chamber were armed and three of these men and Bane were surrounding and watching Miranda, Lucius, and Pavel in that scene. So, he couldn't risk doing any suspicious movements for flooding the chamber. And up at the reactor controls, Bane was standing directly next to the controls and watching him put his hands on the screen so he couldn't do anything at the controls or Bane would stop him. Finally, from what Miranda said to Lucius: "You kill this man and yourself and barley slow them down", it signals to Lucius not only that Bane would get other board members to turn the reactor on, but also why she won't flood the chamber; he will also assume it'll be counterproductive, because Bane's men, being able-bodied, will not be slowed down and escape though the chamber's blast hole and still cause destruction with their men and tumblers, and he and the other board members will die pointlessly.

The reason why he sent "every available cop" was he already had Foley send teams down into the sewer but couldn't find Bane and his men. In the hospital scene with Gordon, Foley, and Blake, Gordon asked about the tunnel searches and Foley said, "We've had teams down there, but it's a huge network." Blake then gave Foley all the tunnel maps and then Gordon said, "Get more men, work a grid. I want (Bane) found", so they sent even more teams down there. But since they still couldn't find him and Foley informed Gordon that Bane kidnapped the Wayne Enterprise board and brought them into the sewer, Gordon then said, "no more patrols, no more hide and seek"; so the cops had already patrolled the sewers multiple times but couldn't find Bane's men since they were cat-and-mousing the cops. Since Gordon wanted to increase the chances of finding and cornering them, he said, "send every available cop" to "smoke them out". There was a massive network to navigate with Gordon unsure where Bane and his men were nor how many there were, in addition to the fact they recently attacked the city's stock exchange and are holding Wayne Enterprises hostage in order to hijack the fusion reactor.

The audience must remember that Gordon only sent "every available cop", not necessarily every cop, in order to smoke out Bane's army. There still is a significant back bone of the force remaining on the street, making up the resistance. This is shown in the scene behind the meat store where the Special Forces ask Gordon, Foley and Blake how many cops are left. Gordon says there are "dozens of us but (he) preferred not to say." And we can see many of these surviving cops standing behind Gordon in the scene and later helping him out in the film. Unfortunately, these cops were heavily outnumbered by Bane's mercenaries. Plus, Foley called back many of his officers from the tunnel when Blake informed him that the cops were heading into the trap. Finally, the cops left on the surface are shown to be older than the ones sent running to the sewer. This means that the veteran cops were left behind to continue policing on the surface, since they aren't as able bodied to fight the army unlike the younger cops. An example is the older cop that chased Batman in the beginning of the film and told the younger cop, "you are in for a show tonight son." He is later seen standing next to Gordon in the meat shop and later scenes.

Bane told Bruce Wayne in the Pit that he wanted to feed the people of Gotham "hope to poison their souls". Bane said in his speech outside of Black Gate that the police would survive and at the same time a scene in the film is shown of the underground cops getting provisions drawn down to them by rope, which were sent via the bridge and then distributed to them. We see hygiene equipment like sheets, jugs, and pots in the scene, so we can assume other hygiene equipment like razors in order to keep illness from spreading was provided too.

Yes. The recession was probably caused by Wayne Enterprise and started 3 years before the film. That is because the company is in a slump; according to a conversation between Bruce and Lucius, Bruce lost most of the company's money in the fusion reactor investment and not using it to regain profits. As Lucius said, Bruce funneled the entire R and D budget for five years into a fusion project that he then mothballed, his company is unlikely to thrive. Since the orphanage's Father Reilly said the orphanage was "not for a couple years now" funded by the Wayne Foundation, which according to Alfred is funded by the profits of Wayne Enterprises, that means Wayne Enterprise is very low on profits with only the Dent Day event still being funded. For Wayne Enterprises, all this loss of financial capital causes less output, a lot of layoffs in the company, stockholders lose money, investments in and out of the company decrease, public works and non-profits like orphanages it used to fund stop, and any economic work-the kind Ra's mentioned that Thomas Wayne's W.E. did that saved Gotham in Batman Begins-is undone. Since Wayne Enterprise is the predominant economic force, conglomerate and thus employer in Gotham, this causes a domino effect similar to the real life 2008 housing industry bubble collapse in which a flailing major industry affects all other industries. So, since Wayne Enterprise and former employees can't do as much business with the other Gotham industries, there is even less output and layoffs there too, leading to decreased economic activity in Gotham. That is why when the outgrown orphan boys went to find jobs; Mark, the orphan that John Blake speaks to said there was "more work in the sewer than you can find up here (on the surface)."

The layoffs, lack of jobs and lower pay in the recession caused a wealth gap between the rich and the poor/middle class, since the latter suffer the most in the recession from having less savings and capital to recover with than the rich. This causes class tension between them, and a distrust of capitalism among the non-rich if small businesses fail and industries won't hire them. Selina mocked Bruce that the poor are soon going to be able to get revenge on the rich: "There's a storm coming. . .(for) you and your friends. . .when it hits you're all gonna wonder how you ever thought you could live so large and leave so little for the rest of us". Also, a reporter mocked Bruce when he lost all of his money by saying "how does it feel to be one of the people?" The gap and tension helped justify Gothamites to participate in Bane's wealth distribution revolution. Once Bane took over and threatened to blow up the city if citizens did not oblige to his revolution, Gothamites have nothing more to lose but to do what Bane said in the football stadium: "claim what is rightfully (theirs)" as Bane later in front of Blackgate that Gothamites were oppressed by the rich and "myth of opportunity". Plus, Gothamites didn't know the decaying fuel cells would cause the bomb to go off in 5 months since Bane only mentioned it in the reactor chamber, not the public. Thus, assuring the people to trust Bane's revolution further. (Only Bruce's allies would know, since Lucius and Miranda helped build the reactor and know its properties and would share the info with Gordon and Blake. And Bruce would already know this, since he helped build the reactor.)

It's implied that not everyone gave into Bane's cause, this can be compared similarly in real life to how not everyone in World War II Germany gave into Adolf Hitler's cause. Certain citizens stayed in hiding like the St. Swithin's orphanage, Foley's family. When the Special Forces agents are handing out rations outside a grocery store a line of people are seen waiting in line, presumably working class people. The special forces agents are then led by a grocery store clerk to Gordon and his allies who are in hiding. The building where the special forces meet with Lucius Fox and Miranda Tate before they're ambushed is shown to have a number of Wayne Enterprises employees living in poverty. During the final battle many middle class citizens are rallied by Blake and the orphans to try and leave the city during the final battle, and after the bomb's detonation, citizens are seen coming out of their homes including a couple embracing.

Bane's speech was to do the following.

1. Torture Gothamites who didn't give in to his and Talia al Ghul's revolution with the hope that Bane is lying about the truth of Harvey. Bane's plan for Gotham was to "feed its people hope to poison their souls." Telling them the truth with concrete evidence supporting the speech's authenticity doesn't feed Gothamites hope. The ambiguity of the speech's authenticity would torture and confuse Gothamites for months since they would be conflicted about whether or not the system lied to them for eight years and martyred a corrupt man for peace. This ambiguity would worsen since Many Gothamites would already know from Dent Day's attendees and press that Gordon looked uncomfortably and said "the time isn't right" before putting away his speech-so there was already suspicious about the truth of Dent. The public would already know Gordon was attacked in the sewer and ended up in the hospital, thus they'd figure that Bane originally came from the sewer since he rigged it up to trap the police, the public would uncomfortably theorize that Bane got the speech from him in the sewer.

2. Justify the 1,000 prisoners into loyalty to him in the revolution "so an army will be raised" for him. Freeing them without cause may not be enough since the 1,000 criminals probably outnumber Bane's men and Bane doesn't want them attacking his men, so he wants the former to be part of his army. And we know the prisoners are loyal to Bane since the prisoners run the kangaroo courts for Bane and not against the mercenaries. Plus, the unfairness of being locked up for good by being denied parole because of a lie martyring a violent criminal justifies to prisoners to attack and prosecute any remaining cops and authorities which is what Bane wants.

3. Diminish the morale of the remaining surface police to weaken their morale, make them vulnerable to capture, and torture Bruce in the pit.

Bane's plan was "to feed (Gotham's) people hope to poison their souls". There is no reason for him to say he beat and imprisoned Batman if he wanted people to have hope that he is still out there. Nevertheless, if he would have told them that Batman was defeated from the first place, it would be possible that people, knowing that they have nothing to lose, could rise against him and the League of Shadows.

Bane wouldn't reveal this because it would impede his plans as well as the overall mission of Talia al Ghul and The League of Shadows. Citizens wouldn't be able to hate the rich and powerful if the wealthiest man in Gotham, Bruce Wayne, was revealed to be the one who risked his life for them. This is crucial since Gordon's speech proves Batman's innocence in the deaths of the people Harvey Dent killed, Dent kidnapping Gordon's family and the latter's attempted murder of Gordon's son.

One of the Blackgate ex-cons tells Stryver (Daggett's assistant) that if he tries to "swim" across the ice, he will be dead in minutes. It's a very long way across, and crawling would cause the body parts exposed to the ice (even through clothes) to become extremely frostbitten and result in hypothermia and death. Stryver is also wearing only the suit he had on during his "trial," which offers him very little protection from the freezing temperatures. Walking is his best bet. Furthermore, the ex-cons and Bane's men were probably under orders to shoot anyone not walking on two feet. The point isn't to let exiles cross the ice safely; it's to give them the "hope" that they will survive (similar to what Bane talks about earlier) before the inevitable fall and death.

Selina mentioned in that scene, "You boys know you can't come into my neighborhood without asking politely." Thus, that scene's setting was her neighborhood. And Bruce had visited her neighborhood before in a previous scene in the film when John Blake drove him to her house. So he just checked each street in her neighborhood until he found her. Nevertheless, whether the audience missed out on this fact or not, Bruce Wayne is known to locate people easily. For example, in The Dark Knight, Batman located Maroni in a club and then located Harvey Dent who was secretly interrogating Thomas Schiff in a dark alley in the following scene.

Batman has always been more than just a man, an icon of fear among the Gotham underworld, a beacon of hope. The mere presence of his sign provided the hope to all Gothamites that their valiant knight had returned to their side. This is the very reason that inspires the massive number of cops waiting the next morning (Foley being an example of many unknown): The symbol of Batman gave them the spirit to stand up against a superior force. This also enables John Blake and the orphans to be able to rally a number of good citizens of Gotham to try and leave the city though prevented from doing so by police working under Bane's thumb.

Bruce either made the signal right before he talked to Selina when he got back, or made it years before in case a threat like that of Bane ever arose and that Batman only needed to position it and ignite it. This controversy of when Batman made the signal can be similarly compared to how, in The Dark Knight, Joker had time to rig the biggest hospital in Gotham and two ferries with bombs. Just like we can assume Joker did it earlier off-screen, we can assume Batman did his earlier off-screen too.

Yes. The cops were shown to be holding pistols and batons as they marched toward Bane's men.

Several factors come into play.

1. He fights more strategically in their second battle by going for what he now knows is Bane's weak spot, the mask, taking blows in order to expose Bane's vulnerability. Batman eventually damaged the mask with the blades on his gauntlets, which leaves Bane severely weakened and distracted as he needs an anesthetic pumped into his lungs continually to dull the pain from injuries he suffered in prison.

2. Batman's mental training and fear of Bane may have also driven his survival anger to a higher level, as is common for trained combatants in life-threatening situations.

3. Bruce worked out extensively in prison to get himself as close to the physical prime he had eight years earlier (Bruce is noticeably exhausted rather quickly in his first fight with Bane).

4. When Batman first faced off with Bane, he had seriously underestimated Bane as a threat. Alfred told him this while viewing the footage of Bane in the stock exchange, and that Bane was faster and more agile than Bruce's condition after eight years out of the job.

The primary reason why the League wants to destroy Gotham was because Talia wanted to avenge her father's murder by finishing his work of destroying Gotham: "I honor my father by finishing his work. Vengeance against the man who killed him is simply a reward for my patience." After Ra's excommunicated Bane, Talia said she couldn't "truly forgive (her) father-until (Bruce) murdered him". That is when Talia finally cherished her father's importance in her life. Ra's in Batman Begins' campfire scene taught Bruce about how "Vengeance" against the ones who hurt his "loved one" saved him and asks Bruce, "why you don't avenge your parent's murder?"

Avenging loved ones is something he would have taught Talia and he did for Talia had used the League to do what she called "exact terrible vengeance" on the prisoners of the pit since they killed her mother and hurt her protector Bane. So when Ra's died, Talia would honor him for what he did in her life-he had helped her avenge her mother's murder and what the prisoners did to Bane-and because "he took us in. Trained us". Ra's rescuing Bane and training him so he didn't have to live his whole life in pain forever in prison overrides her father excommunicating him from the League, since Ra's had done more good for Bane than bad.

Nevertheless, when Talia became Miranda and infiltrated Wayne Enterprises eight years ago, she didn't destroy Gotham for she would have learned Bruce rid Gotham from criminal control. So she wanted to financially fix Gotham and save the world with what she called "free clean energy for the entire city" and the "world's best chance for a sustainable future": the fusion reactor. But since Bruce enraged her by mothballing it five years in and ruined her project from seeing the daylight because of the reactor-to-bomb paper, she never forgot what Bruce did to her father because of "the knife that waits years without forgetting" and finally wanted to destroy Gotham by using the core as a bomb to rub it in his face.

When Miranda gave Bruce another chance by taking control of the reactor, Bruce still wouldn't let her use it since when she asked what she did with it, he said, "Nothing, until we can find a way to guarantee its safety." Bruce also said they will "Decommission it (and) flood it.", if she doesn't do it. Nevertheless, after Bane found Gordon's letter, the League then regained its original reason to destroy Gotham for Bruce's work was built on a lie that allowed the whole mob to be locked up for good despite Dent being a murderer; Dent's prosecution of locking the whole mob up should have been undone in appeal and the Dent Act had no right to deny parole. Thus, Bruce and all law enforcement are just as corrupt and unjust as the criminals.

Gotham is even more corrupt than eight years ago for now both the good and bad guys are corrupt. Thus, whether the reactor would be used for its original purpose of saving Gotham didn't matter anymore. In the words of decoy Ra's Al Ghul explaining the League's goal in the first film: "Gotham's time has come. Like Constantinople or Rome before it the city has become a breeding ground for suffering and injustice. It is beyond saving and must be allowed to die. This is the most important function of the League of Shadows. It is one we've performed for centuries. Gotham... must be destroyed."