This article contains the biggest spoilers of all time. Do not read it if you have not watched The Dark Knight Rises yet.
It will ruin the end of the film for you so heed the warning.
Okay, last chance. Here we go.
Fans have started to speculate whether or not Bruce Wayne is really alive at the end of the film, with multiple theories popping up all over the place.
The main one though, and the only one that seems feasible is that Bruce Wayne is an hallucination. Alfred wanted Bruce to leave Gotham and have a life so much that when he visits that cafe in Italy again, he just wants Bruce to be there, rather than him actually being there.
Some believe this is an hallucination because they happen a couple of times throughout the film, both having quite a big impact. The first is when Bruce imagines Ra’s Al Ghul in his prison cell. This is a great throw back Batman Begins, mirroring it perfectly (he’s even wearing the same clothes).
The second hallucination, or what some would argue is, is when the bats surround Bruce before he makes the jump. This is believed to be a hallucination because it is him getting back in touch with his fear, through the thing he fears most – bats.
The third thing, and only something that the most eagle eyed of you would have noticed, is that Selina Kyle is dressed in blue. Throughout the whole film she has been dressed in black. Where has this blue come from?
That does lead to an interesting theory and if we know Nolan, he could well have done that. He left Inception incredibly open ended so it does seem logical that he would want to confuse fans at the end of his Batman trilogy.
However, this is all overshadowed by three key elements. First, the Bat had the auto-pilot fixed. We know know this because Lucius is told it was fixed by Bruce Wayne himself.
Secondly, it was Bruce that was hallucinating all through the film, and not Alfred, so why would he have hallucinated all of a sudden at the end? And for Alfred to include Selina seems odd.
The third point is the memory stick he gave to Selina. It had the power to wipe any records, allowing the two of them to travel the world unhindered by the past. Also, the color change could easily represent her change from ‘bad’ to a reformed member of society.
What do you at home believe? Could Bruce be an hallucination? Is he clearly alive? Nolan has left things like this before, would he really do such a thing?
while rahz al gul was a hallucination, i dont think the bats before the jump were. i believe the auto pilot was fixed and that bruce wayne survived. the end bit where bruce and silena are having lunch, seen by alfred. i think that’s real. and i think there’s an opening for a robin movie.
I don’t believe the hallucination theory at all. As you say the change in colour is to represent her change as a person, symbolising a fresh start. But the biggest hole seems to be the fact that Alfred sees Bruce with Salina and why would he? He is out of the picture for most of the film, he only meets Salina once for a brief moment and then sees one picture of her and knows nothing else of what happens between her and Bruce. Surly Alfred would have seen him with someone random. Also, if Bruce wanted to kill himself then surely he would of done it as his years as a recluse. And now, with the fact that in order to escape from the prison he has to get back in touch with his fear of death, giving him more reason to want to live, why would he go to the trouble of fixing the auto pilot and not use it when he needed it? Surly the biggest hole in the movie is the fact that the last minute on the bomb clock seems to last for about fifteen!
I too do not believe the hallucination theory (for all the reasons previously stated). But regarding Selina’s blue dress at the end of the movie, I think Nolan was trying to make a significant symbolic point in that color choice. Not in the sense that it was a fresh start for her (having always worn black) but in closure for the story arc. The trilogy begins with Bruce being told that if he finds a rare blue flower and carries it up the mountain, he may find what he is looking for (“only you can know that” was the answer to Bruce’s followup question). I bet that Selina’s dress is just about the same color as that flower. I believe this was Nolan’s way of stating that Bruce had finally found what he was looking for – and offering additional proof that he was still alive.