One of Christopher Nolan’s inspirations for The Dark Knight Rises , a 25-year-old Frank Miller Batman tome titled The Dark Knight Returns that changed the face of comics in its day, contains a scene with eerie parallels to the Aurora, Colorado “Dark Knight Massacre,” causing some media outlets to speculate whether there’s a connection between the actions of James Holmes and one of the stories that inspired the film.
Though long-running, comic books are usually separated into “story arcs” spanning over several issues. Think of these as episodes. Every once in a while, an industry writer collaborates with an artist to put together a “one-off,” or a story that operates outside of regular continuity. Usually these one-shots are purely speculative, exploring the potential futures or alternate pasts of comic book heroes. Christopher Nolan pulled from various Batman story-arcs and one-shots to craft his Dark Knight Trilogy . A graphic novel titled Batman: Year One did most of the heavy lifting for Batman Begins . A book called The Long Halloween and another called The Killing Joke provided material for The Dark Knight . For this summer’s The Dark Knight Rises ? The 90s Knigh tfall arc in which film-villain Bane famously broke Batman’s back and Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns which depicts Batman returning to Gotham after a long absence.
The Dark Knight Returns was published in 1986, and was considered a major game-changer for the Batman character and comic books in general at the time. The gritty, violent, mature story stunned contemporary comic fans, and is considered a classic of the medium today.
In the story, which focuses partially on Gotham City’s media and street-level citizens/criminals, contains a scene where a red-haired gunman casually strolls into a movie theater and opens fire on the patrons within. The scene cuts before the nervous gunman opens fire, and coldly transitions to a television newscast with a reporter saying, “Three slain in Batman-inspired porn theater shoot-out. Details to follow…”
“The illustrations in the graphic novel bear an uncanny resemblance to the ghastly events that played out during a midnight showing of The Dark Night Rises on Friday,” said Justine Costanza of the International Business Times . Though it’s unknown whether or not Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns inspired Holmes at this time, “he apparently knows something of comic book lore,” reports NY Daily . “James Holmes burst in through an emergency exit dressed as a comic book villain, police said.”
Here are pictures of the specific scene from Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns . Could the story have played a role in the shooting? Even if not, aren’t the similarities chilling?