Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy was revolutionary for its realistic depictions of Batman and his rogues' gallery, but one absent villainous entity represents a missed opportunity. The Dark Knight film universe is truly a cut above in of its execution. Rather than keeping with the usual comic book theme and including impossible, physics-defying abilities and technology, director Christopher Nolan instead made the decision to place Batman and his villains in a real-world setting. As a result, Nolan was rather picky when it came to the villains that he had the Caped Crusader fight against, making some antagonists much more appropriate than others.
Nolan demanded that every situation seen in the Joker, Two-Face, Bane, Scarecrow, and Ra's and Talia al Ghul were all great choices for portraying how comic book villains could work in real life. However, there was another choice that would have been ideal for Nolan's trilogy. Unfortunately, they didn't make their comic debut until after the movies were already written and filmed. That villain (or, more accurately, villains) is the Court of Owls.
The Court Of Owls Would Be Perfect For A Nolan Dark Knight Movie
The Court of Owls is an age-old secret society and criminal organization that is solely comprised of Gotham City's elite and aristocracy. Each and every member is either extremely wealthy or influential in the community. While keeping to the shadows, they use their resources to pull strings and manipulate society from behind the scenes as a means of taking over and ruling the city with an iron fist. If anyone who opposes them, Gotham Knights video game.
In of being applied to the Dark Knight universe, the Court of Owls is absolutely perfect for such an adaptation. For one thing, this group is not known to have or deal with anything related to superpowers and/or magic, which already ticks the biggest box on Christopher Nolan's list. Their methods revolving around murder and political conspiracy are simple to follow and fit the overall theme of Nolan's Gotham City as a whole, as it has been shown throughout the trilogy that corruption is practically everywhere thanks to organized crime. In addition, their existence would put everyone's favorite billionaire playboy in a very interesting (not to mention, uncomfortable) position.
The Court Of Owls Is A Better Trilogy Ending Than Bane & Talia
The central idea of the Court of Owls is that they are not just a threat to Batman, but they are also a threat to Bruce Wayne, considering that he is quite literally the richest man in Gotham City. Their presence calls into question whether or not the Wayne family, namely Bruce's parents Thomas and Martha, had any affiliation with the Court. As a result, there would most likely be a plot where Bruce delves further into his parents' deaths and his family history in order to uncover who they are, what they want, and, quite possibly, how to stop their schemes. Moreover, it would also be an opportunity to introduce other villains into the mix, particularly ones with upper-class backgrounds like Oswald Cobblepot, a.k.a. the Penguin, yet another one of Batman's nemeses that Christopher Nolan would have had no trouble portraying realistically.
A plot featuring the Court of Owls as the primary antagonists would have arguably been much stronger than the plot of The Dark Knight Rises. While Tom Hardy's role as the nefarious strongman Bane has become highly-recognizable many years after the film's release, despite the blatant changes that were made to his strength and abilities, his attributes made him a much more straightforward and two-dimensional villain than others in the Rogues' gallery. Furthermore, the reveal that Bruce's lover Miranda Tate was actually Talia al Ghul, the daughter of Liam Neeson's Ra's al Ghul from Batman Begins, risked retreading much of the ground covered in the first movie. As such, the main critique of The Dark Knight Rises' plot is its referral back to the al Ghul's assassins' guild, the League of Shadows.
Ra's al Ghul's scheming in Batman Begins was an amazing take on the character, as it tested Batman and his strict personal rule of not killing, which was then further tested by Heath Ledger's Joker in The Dark Knight. However, Talia's revenge for her father, while initially intriguing, ultimately fell flat as the League of Shadows was already featured in the first film of the trilogy. While the League still remains a very clear threat in the Dark Knight universe, it could be argued that they did not need a revisiting. It would therefore have been better for Christopher Nolan to instead include a different kind of organization like the Court of Owls, as such an inclusion would further diversify the trilogy's villains, their motives, and their crimes as a whole.
Why Another Dark Knight Movie Will (Probably) Never Happen
It is safe to say the Court of Owls' comic debut occurring just ahead of The Dark Knight Rises' release was definitely a missed opportunity, and an unfortunate one at that. However, now that their existence is more well-known, it could stand to reason that Nolan could very well make a fourth entry to his Batman film series. Sadly, this will never be the case, as it has been revealed by Batman actor Christian Bale in an interview with Batman is considered to be dead, thus freeing Bruce Wayne of his vigilante burden and enabling him to live his life as he sees fit, represents a satisfying conclusion for the character. With such a definitive ending to the Dark Knight trilogy and Nolan's views and intentions on the overall project, the Court of Owls will have to find a different way of getting themselves onto the silver screen. All fans can do now in that regard is look back at their forgone chance and dream about what could have been.
