The ending of "The Dark Knight Rises" undermines Bruce Wayne's struggle to become Batman and renders much of "Batman Begins" pointless. Bruce's choice to pass on the Batman mantle to John Blake implies that Blake is prepared to take on the role, but he lacks the necessary training and skills. Despite Blake's lack of training, he may still be able to succeed as Batman due to the changed state of Gotham and the possibility of developing skills with the aid of the now-functional police force.

Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy delved deeper into what makes Bruce Wayne tick than any previous DC movie, but the ending of The Dark Knight Rises undoes a lot of the struggle Bruce went through to develop his protector of Gotham. Each movie in the trilogy focuses on a specific stretch of Bruce's career as Batman, and Batman Begins spends a significant chunk of its...