The Dark Knight Rises trailer.

A link to one of several Batman: The Dark Knight Rises trailer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GokKUqLcvD8

As in my Prometheus trailer analysis, lots of trailers in the past couple of weeks have been released to say farewell to 2011 and get mouths watering for 2012.

The opening of the Dark Knight Rises trailer appears to mimic (or possibly mock?) the route that a lot of Marvel films go down: an American patriotism message. Where Marvel does it blatantly with such images as Spiderman flying through the air in front of an American flag in every film, Chirstopher Nolan has done it with the national anthem at the opening of a football game (which I believe does happen in real life). However, this is not to deliver a patriotic message, it is to draw attention to the fact that Bane (Tom Hardy) holds the players and audience hostage (as has been seen in leaked footage and the scene in the trailer with the pitch collapsing).

The fact that this is the final of Christopher Nolans films is emphasised so much in the trailer, with Albert's (Michael Caine) moving speech of how he failed to look after Bruce, the sinister music throughout, the chant of 'rise', and Catwoman's (Anne Hathaway) remark that they 'think this will last'.

Things to get the geeks (including myself) really going are the clip of the Batwing in the final few seconds of the trailer, and Batman being told by Bane that "When Gotham is ashes, you have my permission to die." The fact that he says this when Batman is lying on the floor suggests strongly that the rumours that this film follows the Knightfall comic story where Bane breaks Batmans back are true.

On the one hand, I am deeply saddened to see Christopher Nolans brilliant Dark Knight series come to an end. On the other, I believe that the end of this series and the forthcoming reboot leans strongly to an amalgamation of the DC Universe into a Justice League film (copying Marvel's upcoming Avengers).