The Dark Knight Rises Timeline of Nolan's trilogy.

[shauner111]

I dont think it matters. If you think TDK takes place 1 year after the events of Begins, then that's fine. If you follow the manual and TDK is 3-5 years after Begins...that's fine too. It's not a crime if you choose to believe Batman operated for a lot longer and fought other mobsters and hitmen like Penguin, Black Mask or Deadshot in that timeframe.

They're not really specific enough in the movies so you can fill in some blanks if you please. But treating the 3 films like that's the entire story of Batmans journeys? Ya why not.

 

[DJ Kornphlake]

The Joker doesn't strike me as the kind of person that would keep a low profile for 3 years. Actually, that's like, the complete opposite of his character.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

So I popped in my TDK blu-ray for the heck of it, and watched the Gotham Tonight special episodes. This also doesn't add up to 3 years between the 2 movies. Between attributing Scarecrow to the attack in the narrows "9 months ago" and headlines scrolling like "Fear Toxin, Narrows Attack Blamed For $134 million budget shortfall this year" it doesn't add up. The last episode takes place the day the Joker robs the bank (the prologue).

 

[Hicksatpd]

I think of it as Begins ending in 2005, TDK being sometime later in 2005 or sometime in 2006, and TDKR being either sometime in 2013 or 2014.

 

[Lord]

So I popped in my TDK blu-ray for the heck of it, and watched the Gotham Tonight special episodes. This also doesn't add up to 3 years between the 2 movies. Between attributing Scarecrow to the attack in the narrows "9 months ago" and headlines scrolling like "Fear Toxin, Narrows Attack Blamed For $134 million budget shortfall this year" it doesn't add up. The last episode takes place the day the Joker robs the bank (the prologue).

Forgot about that, should have used it as an example. Then that can officially put the time of TDK as 9 months after Batman Begins, for me seems like a reasonable time, the only thing about this i never liked was that Batman wasn't around for more than a year before retiring.

 

[Alex Logan]

So I popped in my TDK blu-ray for the heck of it, and watched the Gotham Tonight special episodes. This also doesn't add up to 3 years between the 2 movies. Between attributing Scarecrow to the attack in the narrows "9 months ago" and headlines scrolling like "Fear Toxin, Narrows Attack Blamed For $134 million budget shortfall this year" it doesn't add up. The last episode takes place the day the Joker robs the bank (the prologue).

Are those parts of the virals?

 

[Mandalore464]

Edit : Deleted

 

[Alex Logan]

Alex, you are right when you say that the Joker's line "A year ago..." from TDK doesn't mean the events of Batman Begins happened one year before. It could have taken a while for the cops and lawyers to actually warm up to the idea that Batman meant business and that they shouldn't be afraid to go after the big crime bosses.

This was my point exactly.

Basically, if I were going to go along with some of the people here, I would be lead to believe that all of the following events took place in 6 months to a year...

Bruce/Batman

1. The Bat Bunker is built, complete with all his gear and an elevator that doubles for a storage container, in totally secrecy.

2. His pentouse is fitted with a secret "panic room", which is really another place to store his gear just in case he needs it.

3. Hundreds of cameras are installed over the city, also in totally secrecy.

4. All this, with only Fox and maybe Alfred to help him, and he still manages to take out 90% of the drug dealers, put the "fear" of Batman into every criminal in Gotham and scare the entire mob into having their meetings during the day.

The Joker

1. Managaes to build up a "legend" among the criminals in Gotham so fierce that no one will cross him and anyone is willing to join is gang.

Rachel

1. A woman who's know Bruce his whole life, thought about him the entire seven years he was gone, and somehow she's able to move on when Harvery comes to town.

2. She's not only in a romantic relationship with Dent, but she's ready to marry him.

As you said...

Cops and lawyers

1. Warm up to the idea that Batman means business and that they shouldn't be afraid to go after the big crime bosses.

The Mob

1. All the other mob bosses pop up out of no where.

2. Maroni steps in for Falcone and everyone else gets in line.

I mean wow... That's really something. In my opinion, it just doesn't make sense. There's way too much going there to be such a short time frame.

However, why do you keep ignoring the facts disproving your argument, that were posted by many posters already, like The Joker and Lord?

I'm not ignoring those facts. I would be a fool to ignore anything that would add to my timeline. If anything, the facts I was posting were being ignoring until others were kind enough to post high resolution images.

You are using movie props as your ONLY factual back-up. So let's say BB does happen in 2005 (newspaper date), and TDK in 2008 (Joker picture).

We KNOW for a fact 8 years went by between TDK and TDKR. Therefore, the props in TDKR should read 2008 + 8 years = 2016. However, they all read 2013 / 2014. Your whole argument is contradicted by the movies themselves.

In my opinion, the films and props used in the films are the best source for information. As you know TDKR blu ray is not out yet, so there is no way for me to pull information from it. Which props are you talking about? The Zoo poster? My whole argument is not contradicted by the movies because the props from BB and TDK support what I've been saying.

The fact that you spent countless hours researching the subject doesn't make you right. It makes you dedicated.

- - - - - - -

Yes, you're right about that.

As far as I'm concerned, the only posts making sense in that thread are the ones that say that there is no valid timeline for those films. Many different elements from the films seem to contradict each other, and prevent any form of cohesive timeline being established.

Yes, that's problem, there are many things that contradict each other. However, if you're going to make a timeline, the best thing to do is to go with the vast majority of information that lines up.

 

[Mandalore464]

Edit : Deleted

 

[Alex Logan]

But surely you know that for a theory to be validated then there has to be no known element whatsoever disproving it.

If the props from TDKR indicate 2013 / 2014 (yes I was referring to the zoo poster, and also the car stickers), then it completely discredits the props from the whole trilogy as meaningful evidence, since they contradict each other.

I mean, like I said I'm completely fine with anyone having their opinion as to what exactly the timeframe for these films is, however I'm just saying that none actually makes sense, because for all these theories, contradicting elements can be found / deduced.

So it's fine to say "in my opinion, BB is set in 2005, TDK in 2008 and TDKR in 2016". But it's not OK to claim that this is a fact. Especially if you're handpicking certain elements that validate your claims and choose to ignore the ones that don't.

I think, clearly, the movies were never meant to be "dated", and all those dates were added in as extra details, not as meaningful evidence meant to be noticed by the fans. They are just immersing details for the cast and crew to make them feel the fake universe they are creating is that much closer to a real world.

Like the sets of Blade Runner, who were covered in stickers and other wonderful props that were never even shot for the film, just because even what you don't shoot contributes to the overall tone and mood of the universe.

And the fact that the date on the Joker picture happens to coincide with the movie's release date tells me this is nothing more than a funny easter egg.

On a related note, I can't wait to see higher res captures of the Bat computer screens from TDKR, as there seems to be an awful lot of detail on them, and the captures we've had so far are pretty low-res and don't allow us to read them.

Just to be clear I never said my opinion was a fact. And I shouldn't have to say "In my opinion", that statement should be a given here.

Everyone has the right to have their own opinion, but when people start browbeating others that's when things become problematic.

In any case, you're a very level headed poster. Glad to have you here.

 

[shauner111]

Many dates contradict each other. I think there's no set time frame to be honest. It's almost like LOST, most questions were answered by the finale but there's still a few more that they never answered and kept vague. You could draw up your own conclusions. It's kind of the same vibe here.

The timeline stuff, where Bruce/Selinas lives go from here, what Blake becomes, where Gotham is headed...some things are left open and that's that.

For every fan who thinks there was 6 months to a year between BB/TDK, there's another who will think Batman was active for a few years. The dates are all over the place as far as im concerned, so it doesn't really matter.

 

[SneakyPenguin]

“The Dark Knight” took place in the summer of 2008. The security camera showing the Joker have a timestamp saying they were taken on July 17, 2008 and the court documents in the RICO conspiracy case confirm that this trial is also held in July 2008. I would say that the events of “The Dark Knight” likely stretch at least into August.
Now, when the Joker is talking to the mob (I propose we kill the Batman), he instructs them to recall a year ago, before Batman, which sets a maximum time-elapsed between the two films of approximately one year. Most people estimate 6-9 months, which would be consistent with the fact that Bruce’s birthday is in February and his birthday party is seen in “Batman Begins.” This means Batman Begins either took place in the second half of 2007 or early 2008.

 

[Baramos]

I've read on numerous things that The Dark Knight takes place 6 months after the ending of Batman Begins.

The Dark Knight Rises is 8 years after The Dark Knight. I think both of these time gaps are Word of God from Nolan, but it's possible they were just written by people involved in the productions and Nolan himself could care less about assigning specific time frames to the movies.

The times are probably quite malleable so 6 months to a year between TDK and Begins and maybe more or less than 8 between TDK and TDKR.

In-film things matter somewhat but as far as I know most people write off the ages of Gordon's children in Begins as a continuity error. And assigning dates in the real world to these movies doesn't make sense to me either--Batman is always supposed to take place in the near future, to me. Batman Begins takes place several years from now, into perpetuity.

 

[BlueLightning]

I don't really thing that assigning real dates to the films is appropriate. However, time spans is more easy to do. I tried to make a timeline before, based on the information provided on the films. I made Bruce's birthday on Batman Begins as a point of reference.

BB stands for Bruce's Birthday on Batman Begins.

• 30 years before BB: Bruce Wayne is Born to Martha and Thomas Wayne.
• 22 years before BB: Bruce Wayne parents are killed by Joe Chill. Chill is captured the same night of the incident. Bruce is 8 years old.
• Joe Chill serves 14 years in prison.
• Eight years before BB: Bruce Wayne initiates his journey around the world. Bruce is 22 years old.
• Bruce Wayne spends 7 years in training and finding purpose, the latter part of that time span is spent with the League of Shadows.
• One year before BB: Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham City to fight crime as Batman, with the intent of inspiring good in people. During that year he does the following: Spends some time setting up his plan, gathering his equipment, investigating the mob, and making Sgt. James Gordon an ally. Then as Batman he takes out Falcone and the Scarecrow, while uncovering the League of Shadows' plan to destroy Gotham. Bruce is 29 years old.
• BB: Wayne Manor is burned down by the League of Shadows on Bruce Wayne 30th birthday. Batman stops Ra's Al Ghul from destroying Gotham with the fear toxin by destroying the monorail. Bruce is 30 years old.
• After short unspecified amount of time after BB: Batman Begins Ending: Sgt James Gordon is promoted to Lieutenant, reveal of the Bat-signal and advent of The Joker.

Now you can say that roughly all of the main events in Batman Begins take less than a year, by taking into account Bruce's age.

The consensus is that between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight it passes from about 6 or 9 months to a year. I'm counting the viral campaign for the Dark Knight, namely the Gotham Tonight segments, as the closest source of information outside of the films since the major actors of the films participate on this.

The six Gotham Tonight segments are paced in intervals of two weeks except the last one, which airs just one week after the one that came before, making a total of 9 weeks.

Now, on the Gotham Tonight segments, is stated that between the fear toxin terrorist attack on the Narrows and the third Gotham Tonight 9 months pass. According to the airings of the episodes, 5 weeks pass between the third segment and the last (which happens at the same time of the bank robbery at the opening of The Dark Knight). So going by this, 10 months and one week pass between the attack on the Narrows and the beginning of The Dark Knight.

• 10 months and one week after BB: The Joker and his henchmen rob Gotham National Bank, setting in motion the events of The Dark Knight.
  

Now, the time span of The Dark Knight events could take about two or three months. The security camera showing the Joker has a time stamp saying that they were taken on July 17, 2008. It is also said that the court documents of the RICO conspiracy case confirm that this trial is also held on July of the same year, but I cannot confirm that right now. In my opinion, the events of the film could stretch at least into August.

But as I said before, I'm trying to not take into account the year, but the time span.

• Roughly a year after BB: The Dark Knight's ending: Joker is incarcerated in Arkham Asylum, Two-Face dies in a confrontation with Batman, and Batman takes the blame for Two-Face murders to ensure Gotham well being. At some point after this events, Bruce turns 31.
  

Now, it is said that The Dark Knight Rises is 8 years after the ending of the previous film, the last reported sighting of the Batman.

• Eight years and six months after BB: The Beginning of The Dark Knight Rises: Bane kidnaps Dr. Pavel on a CIA plane.
  
• Nine years after BB: Harvey Dent's Day celebration. Bruce is 39 years old.

Now, this is pure conjecture on my part, but before Bane defeats Batman and sends him to the pit, you could say it passes a month, more or less.

• Nine years and a month after BB: Bane sends Batman to the Pit.

Then the five months of Bane holding out the city passes and then, after Batman "dies" with the bomb on the ocean.

• Nine years and six months after BB: Batman saves Gotham by taking the bomb to the ocean.

Then an unspecified amount of time passes in the last flashback until the very end. You could say that Bruce is 40 years old.

This was a little difficult to do. I'm sorry, I know that taking Bruce's birthday is kind of arbitrary, but it the only important point I thought to make the timeline. I know I made some conjectures too, but feel free to discuss and complete this "timeline". If we clear this out, maybe we can incorporate other important milestones.

 

[Fudgie]

^^^ Epic analysis. Spot on.

 

[Brain Damage]

You're not respecting my opinion, you can't even see past your own. Your friend Joker over there has done nothing but dismiss my claims and make fun of everything I've said. I'm just done man, I don't care anymore. I didn't do all this work to get stepped on.

I was reading through this thread and this literally made me laugh so hard coffee came out of my nose. Thanks.

 

[Alex Logan]

I was reading through this thread and this literally made me laugh so hard coffee came out of my nose. Thanks.

I'm happy for you. Way to keep the nonsense going, you are full of win.

 

[ZackBop]

This should help:

http://forums.superherohype.com/showthread.php?t=392719

This guy is right.

 

[ZackBop]

Can someone post Alex's timeline again. It's not working for me.

 

[ZackBop]

Can anybody help me out here?

 

[Pontillo]

I believe that when Nolan made TDK he did not have TDKR in mind so at the time TDK probably takes place a year or two after BB. But since he went ahead and put an 8 year gap between TDK and TDKR I think in his head and in theory as a service to the character he gave Batman a longer career and a bigger gap between BB and TDK (4-5 years or so)

There is a ton of evidence to support the idea that TDK takes place 4-5 years after BB (Gordon's kids, no mention of the Narrows, etc) When asked "why 8 years?" Goyer said something to the effect of "We wanted enough time to pass so that Batman's legend could be starting to fade. If he was only Batman for 8-12 month I don't know how much a legend he would be. Batman 4-5 years yes that's legendary IMO.

But at end of the day each movie is made to stand on its own and only geeks like us need to dissect things like the chronology and so forth.

 

[Just_Human]

I believe that when Nolan made TDK he did not have TDKR in mind so at the time TDK probably takes place a year or two after BB. But since he went ahead and put an 8 year gap between TDK and TDKR I think in his head and in theory as a service to the character he gave Batman a longer career and a bigger gap between BB and TDK (4-5 years or so)

There is a ton of evidence to support the idea that TDK takes place 4-5 years after BB (Gordon's kids, no mention of the Narrows, etc) When asked "why 8 years?" Goyer said something to the effect of "We wanted enough time to pass so that Batman's legend could be starting to fade. If he was only Batman for 8-12 month I don't know how much a legend he would be. Batman 4-5 years yes that's legendary IMO.

But at end of the day each movie is made to stand on its own and only geeks like us need to dissect things like the chronology and so forth.

very interesting

 

[Spoonman]

The timeline that works best in my mind is the following:

1-BB: 2005
2-TDK: 2006
3-TDKR: 2014

That is how it makes the most sense to me and how I like to imagine the events happening.

 

[saborlord123]

Sigh...

Batman Begins takes place in 2005:

The Dark Knight takes place in 2008:

Kinda funny that the opening event of the film happened on the date that the movie opened.
EDIT:It seems like the above poster beat me to it, LOL. Wtf!

I'm like 99% sure the date on the Batman Begins newspaper says Tuesday, July 21, 2005. But that date was in fact a Thursday, not a Tuesday. Also, Carmine Falcone tells Flass in the film to be there on Thursday... so... does anybody have an explanation for this? Maybe Gotham Post misprinted the date? Wouldn't be the first time a newspaper would make a mistake like that...

 

[Schlosser85]

The Dark Knight takes place in July 2008. The security camera of The Joker's bank robbery is timestamped July 17, 2008.

One of the viral marketing Gotham Tonight episodes mentions that the attack on The Narrows was about nine months ago, and in his speech to the mobsters, The Joker says "let's wind the clocks back a year".

So it's been nine months to a year since Batman Begins, putting Batman Begins in 2007.

The Dark Knight Rises is eight years after The Dark Knight, meaning it takes place in 2016.