The Dark Knight delves deeper into the "Dark Knight Returns" lore.

 

Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns" was the first Batman comic I ever read.

Enchanted by the grime, horror infested streets of Miller's Gotham, it is fair to say the comic changed my view of Batman. No longer was he merely the brooding vigilante seen in Tim Burton's Batman films, he was much more.

The Dark Knight Returns was made so great, in my opinion, by Miller portraying Batman as a man who is no longer loved by his city, once a saviour now a menace. There were hints of this in Batman Begins, however it seems that characters who complained about Batman were more confused than hateful, however the latest piece of viral marketing suggests that this hatred has grown into something much worse, and thus has stimulated an underground group to form. The "Nycticeius Underground" (Nycticeius being a type of bat) seems to be the name of a forum that /Film was contacted about unfortunately it's password protected.

I think it is obvious from the trailers that we'll be seeing a thread in the movie which sees Batman doubting whether he is needed and if he is crossing the moral line of being a vigilante who no longer has the support of Gotham. The evidence appears everywhere, from the introduction of Harvey Dent, to Christian Bale looking rather despondent in trailer. However the greatest piece  of evidence is the appearance of this forum, a seemingly pro-batman group which is underground is rather reminiscent of the "Sons of Batman" in The Dark Knight Returns.

I'm not a big fan of viral campaigns, however I must say that this one has certainly kept me interested and built hype for this film. The fact Christopher Nolan seems to be able to insert all of these aspects that would keep a your hardcore Batman fan happy, whilst subtly inserting them so that the film is not bogged down by it is amazing.