BATMAN
I lost someone once. Since then I break into their homes when they’re sleeping and implant a tracking device on the back of their neck.
Blake laughs. Then feels the back of his neck. Batman tosses Blake a mini-mine.
BATMAN
On three – one, two, three –
They throw the mini-mines at the rubble of the entrance – the blasts barely move any rubble.
BLAKE
No offense, but you got anything bigger in that belt?
BATMAN
That’s to warn the men on the other side.
Batman disappears into the shadows.
BLAKE
But how do we –?
Kaabooom! The Bat’s cannons light up the night.
BLAKE
Okay.
Cops climb out into the cold night – skinny, ragged, but glad to be alive and carrying guns …
BLAKE
What now?
BATMAN
All-out assault on Bane … but you need to get the people you care about across the bridge.
BLAKE
Why?
BATMAN
In case we fail. Lead an exodus across the bridge. Save as many lives as you can.
BLAKE
Don’t you need me here?
BATMAN
You’ve given me an army. Now go.
Blake nods. Turns to leave. Stops.
BLAKE
Thank you.
BATMAN
Don’t thank me yet.
BLAKE
I may not get a chance later.
Batman nods. Blake disappears into the night.
EXT. GOTHAM STREET – CONTINUOUS 256
Gordon checks the metal box. Puts it under his coat. Nods at his men, hiding in doorways. Checks his GPS …
EXT. ALLEY – NIGHT 257
Batman leads Catwoman to a rusty old container. He opens it, revealing the Bat-Pod. Catwoman’s eyes light up.
CATWOMAN
Oh, you shouldn’t have …
She hops on, feeling the controls.
BATMAN
The mid-town tunnel’s blocked by debris, but the cannons give you enough firepower to make a path for people.
Catwoman marvels at the controls …
BATMAN
To start it, you –
Varrooom!
CATWOMAN
I got it.
BATMAN
We’ve got forty-five minutes to save this city –
CATWOMAN
No, I’ve got forty-five minutes to get clear of the blast radius, because you don’t stand a chance against these guys.
BATMAN
With your help I might.
She shakes her head.
CATWOMAN
I’ll open that tunnel, then I’m gone.
He looks at her.
BATMAN
There’s more to you than that.
She stares back at him. Facade slipping a touch.
CATWOMAN
Sorry to keep letting you down.
He says nothing. She looks at him, imploring.
Come with me. Save yourself. You don’t owe these people any more – you’ve given them everything …
BATMAN
Not everything. Not yet.
Batman turns. Catwoman watches him go. Then fires up the bike and takes off.
EXT. STREETS LEADING TO SOUTH TUNNEL – NIGHT 258
Catwoman tears along on the Bat-Pod. She pulls up at the tunnel entrance blocked by stacked vehicles.
EXT. DOWNTOWN STREETS – DAWN 259
The army of Cops stands at the low end of the street. At the top is Bane’s stronghold – City Hall. Men pour out of the building, forming up into an opposing line.
A Cop wearing full dress blues steps forward. It is Foley. The silence is eerie … The numbers look evenly matched – until two Tumblers arrive.
VOICE
(over loudspeaker)
DISPERSE. DISPERSE OR BE FIRED UPON.
The Cops look shaky, pale, but determined.
FOLEY
There’s only one police in this city.
He steps forward. The line follows.
EXT. CITY HALL – CONTINUOUS 260
Bane stands in the colonnade. Watching.
BANE
Open fire.
EXT. STREET, DOWNTOWN GOTHAM – CONTINUOUS 261
The Tumblers fire into the line of Cops, throwing men into the air, screaming. The line of Cops is about to scatter – whoooshhh. The Bat drops down in front of the Cops and blasts both Tumblers, flipping them sideways. The Bat rises and the Cops run towards the
Mercenaries, firing – until they are close enough to fight hand-to-hand. The street is filled with thousands of men in pitched battle.
EXT. STREETS LEADING TO SOUTH TUNNEL – CONTINUOUS 262
Catwoman, hearing the distant battle, blasts the tunnel blockage … The dust settles. Her path is clear.
EXT. GOTHAM STREET – CONTINUOUS 263
Gordon hears the fighting. Checks the box. Nervous.
GORDON
Come on, come on …
EXT. DOWNTOWN STREET – CONTINUOUS 264
Bane strides through the battle, taking out Cops left and right. A space clears – he is face to face with the Batman …
BANE
You came back. To die with your city.
BATMAN
No. I came back to stop you.
Bane leaps at Batman, smashing powerful blows into his head. Batman ducks, weaves and smashes his fists into Bane’s side.
Someone is watching from the window of City Hall – Miranda.
EXT. GOTHAM STREET – CONTINUOUS 265
The black truck rounds the corner. Gordon signals his man in a Greyhound bus – who pulls across the street. The truck smashes into the bus and stops. Gordon and his men swarm in, blasting at the Guards. Gordon opens the back – empty. No bomb. Wrong truck.
GORDON
That’s impossible … Come on! Cut over to Fifth!
They sprint for the next parallel avenue …
INT. REACTOR PLANT – CONTINUOUS 266
Fox hurries into the reactor – starts throwing switches …
EXT. ST. SWITHIN’S HOME FOR BOYS – CONTINUOUS 267
Blake leads the boys out of the home – points down the street.
BLAKE
Knock on doors, spread the word – the bomb’s going to blow! Get out by the South Street tunnel, or over the bridge! Do two blocks, then get back to the bus!
The boys race down the street. Father Reilly climbs into the bus.
EXT. DOWNTOWN STREETS – CONTINUOUS 268
Batman and Bane fight, Batman pushing Bane back – a Tumbler roars between them, separating them. Batman chases after.
INT. LOBBY, CITY HALL – CONTINUOUS 269
Bane smashes backwards through the door, Batman on him. Batman pounds Bane against the marble floor. Mercenaries guarding Miranda move towards them –
BANE
Stay back. He is mine –
Bane smashes Batman’s head – moves in for the kill, but Batman smashes Bane to the ground, rips sideways across the tubes of Bane’s mask with the blades of his forearm. Bane bellows, thrashing in agony. Batman holds him down with a hand on his throat – searches him with his free hand.
BATMAN
Give me the trigger! You’d never give it to an ordinary citizen –
Bane’s thrashing calms as he stares at Batman through pain-soaked eyes … gasping through his broken mask for relief.
BANE
I broke you. How have you come back?
BATMAN
You thought you were the only one who could learn the strength to escape?
Bane looks at Batman, curiosity behind his pain.
BANE
I never escaped – Rā’s al Ghūl rescued me. That is why I must fulfill his plan. That is why I must avenge his murder.
BATMAN
(confused)
The child of Rā’s al Ghūl made the climb –
MIRANDA
(o.s.)
But he is not the child of Rā’s al Ghūl …
Batman flinches, frozen, as Miranda leans in to his ear …
MIRANDA
I am.
Miranda has a knife through Batman’s suit, into his ribs …
And though I am not ‘ordinary’, I am a citizen …
She pulls out the trigger …
EXT. FIFTH STREET – CONTINUOUS 270
Gordon spots the second black truck moving down the street. His men pull in front, slowing it. Gordon jumps onto the back. The truck accelerates – Gordon drops, hanging on to the bumper. struggling with the box, trying to turn it on …
INT. LOBBY, CITY HALL – CONTINUOUS 271
Batman cannot move to defend himself. He has Bane by the throat, but Miranda has her knife in his side –
MIRANDA / TALIA
My mother named me Talia before she was killed. The way I would have been killed if not for my protector … Bane.
Insert cut: the child, Talia, makes eye-contact with the Protector, then leaps. Down below, Prisoners swarm over the Protector, ripping the muslin from his face. Bane looks up at Talia, says one quiet word –
BANE
Goodbye.
Then is overrun.
TALIA
I climbed out of the pit …
Insert cut: Young Talia stands by the hole looking out at the landscape …
I found my father and brought him back to exact terrible vengeance – but by that time … the prisoners and the doctor had done their work to my friend … my protector …
Talia reaches up to touch Bane’s mask.
Insert cut: the League of Shadows descend into the prison – at their head, Rā’s al Ghūl. They slaughter Prisoners. Then stop. Rā’s al Ghūl has found Bane, bandaged.
TALIA
The League took us in. Trained us …
INT. TEMPLE, LEAGUE OF SHADOWS – DAY 272
Bane, in a prototype mask, stands on logs, blocking blows from men with sticks.
TALIA
(voice-over)
But my father could not accept Bane.
Rā’s al Ghūl watches Bane training. Turns away.
INT. LOBBY, CITY HALL – CONTINUOUS 273
Talia looks into Bane’s eyes as she holds the knife in Batman’s side.
TALIA
He saw only a monster who could never be tamed. Whose very existence was a reminder of the hell he’d left his wife to die in.
He excommunicated Bane from the League of Shadows. His only crime was that he loved me. I could not truly forgive my father …
Talia looks at Batman. Cold.
Until you murdered him.
BATMAN
He was trying to kill millions of innocent people –
TALIA
‘Innocent’ is a strong word to throw around Gotham, Bruce. I honor my father by finishing his work. Vengeance against the man who killed him is simply a reward for my patience …
Talia twists the knife in Batman’s side …
You see, it’s the slow knife … the knife that takes its time, the knife that waits years without forgetting, then slips quietly between the bones … that’s the knife –
Talia arms the trigger …
– that cuts deepest.
She hits the button – nothing.
EXT. FIFTH STREET – CONTINUOUS 274
A light on the metal box is blinking. Gordon hangs on –
INT. LOBBY, CITY HALL – CONTINUOUS 275
Talia turns, furious.
BATMAN
Your knife may have been too slow …
A Mercenary steps forward –
MERCENARY
The truck’s under attack –
Talia looks around, mind racing.
Gordon. (To Batman.) You gave him a way to block my signal. No matter – (Looks at watch.) He’s bought Gotham eleven minutes. (Shouts at Mercenary.) Prepare a convoy. We must secure the bomb until it detonates.
Talia jumps to her feet. Bane grabs a shotgun from a Mercenary – points it at Batman.
TALIA
Not yet … I want him to feel the heat. (To Batman.) Feel the fire of twelve million souls you failed.
Talia reaches up to Bane’s mask, reconnects his tubes, tenderly.
Goodbye, my friend.
Bane nods at her, slowly. Talia moves out with the Mercenaries.
EXT. CITY HALL – CONTINUOUS 276
Talia gets into a Tumbler with a Mercenary. Three Tumblers pull out in convoy, blowing anything out of the way – cars, cops.
Foley stands in the road, firing his sidearm. Talia’s Tumbler smashes him out of the way.
INT. LOBBY, CITY HALL – CONTINUOUS 277
Bane grabs Batman, throws him onto the floor – checks the rounds in the barrels.
BANE
You’ll have to imagine the fire –
He shuts the gun – jams it in Batman’s face.
We both know I need to kill you now.
He squeezes the trigger. BLAMMM! Bane is blasted across the lobby by cannon fire.
Catwoman is there, on the Bat-Pod.
CATWOMAN
That whole no-guns thing? I don’t feel as strongly about it as you do.
EXT. GOTHAM BRIDGE – CONTINUOUS 278
Blake pulls up to the barricade, leads the kids off, marching them up the bridge, Father Reilly at the rear. A Uniform shouts through the loudhailer –
UNIFORM
Stay there! What are you doing?!
BLAKE
(pulls badge)
Blake, MCU – I’m getting these boys to safety –
UNIFORM
Safety?! You’re gonna get us all killed. Anyone crosses this bridge they blow the city –
BLAKE
It’s gonna blow anyway. We need this bridge open right now.
UNIFORM
No one leaves the island. Orders –
BLAKE
Whose orders? Bane’s?
UNIFORM
Police Department’s.
BLAKE
Haven’t you heard the shooting? The Batman’s battling it out with Bane –
UNIFORM
The Batman’s dead. Look, Officer –
BLAKE
It’s Detective –
UNIFORM
Well, Detective, you take one more step, we have to shoot you. Two more steps, we have to blow the bridge.
BLAKE
(to the boys)
Wait for me back at the bus.
The Boys walk back down the bridge …
EXT. DOWNTOWN STREETS – CONTINUOUS 279
Talia’s convoy surrounds the black truck, Tumblers off each flank, protecting the bomb as it counts down …
INT. LOBBY, CITY HALL – CONTINUOUS 280
Batman looks at Catwoman.
BATMAN
I need you on the ground, me in the air, we have to force that convoy east, to the entrance to the reactor –
EXT. CITY HALL – MOMENTS LATER 281
Catwoman roars down the steps on the Bat-Pod.
INT. BLACK TRUCK – CONTINUOUS 282
Gordon climbs into the back of the truck – the bomb is there, heating up. He looks at the countdown: nine minutes …
EXT. GOTHAM BRIDGE – CONTINUOUS 283
Blake turns back to the Uniform.
BLAKE
Your orders are out of date! The situation’s changed! Listen, I’m a cop like you. And I’m walking out there. Please don’t shoot me.
Blake walks. Shots ring out at his feet. He keeps walking …
EXT. GOTHAM STREETS – CONTINUOUS 284
The Bat descends on the convoy, Catwoman approaches on the ground. A rolling battle ensues. Catwoman targets the rear of the Tumblers, Batman swings the Bat in low at the junctions, trying to force the convoy east …
The Tumbler’s gun turrets swing around onto Catwoman. She swerves to avo
id heavy fire …
EXT. GOTHAM BRIDGE – CONTINUOUS 285
Blake continues to walk, ignoring the warning shots.
UNIFORM
Son-of-a-bitch! (To his partner.) Blow it! Before he reaches the line –
His partner arms the detonator. Uniform shouts at Blake –
UNIFORM
Get down! We’re blowing the bridge!
As Blake looks, disbelieving, the bridge in front of him blasts upwards in a massive fireball. Blake dives backwards.
EXT. GOTHAM STREETS – CONTINUOUS 286
The Bat blasts away in front of the convoy, making a huge crater in front of a Tumbler and trapping it, rear in the air. Catwoman dodges around it, uses the Bat-Pod cannons to take out another Tumbler … The countdown ticks away … seven minutes.
INT. REACTOR PLANT – CONTINUOUS 287
As Fox fires up the reactor something catches his eye – something wrong …
EXT. GOTHAM BRIDGE – CONTINUOUS 288
The smoke clears, Blake sees the impossible gap.
BLAKE
You idiots! You sons of bitches! You’re killing us!!
INT. BLACK TRUCK – CONTINUOUS 289
Gordon climbs out the back of the truck but is immediately strafed by gunfire from the Tumblers. He dives back inside, moves to the
front of the trailer – looks at the bulkhead, gauging the driver’s position. Starts firing blind through the bulkhead –
INT. CAB, BLACK TRUCK – CONTINUOUS 290
Bullets fly through the cab. The driver takes one, falls forward, dead. Talia takes the wheel – bullets keep coming.
THE DARK KNIGHT TRILOGY: The Complete Screenplays with Storyboards Page 37