Robin John Blake

Robin John Blake
In-Universe Information
Real Name	Robin John Blake
Aliases	John Blake
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Date of Birth	{{{dateofbirth}}}
Date of Death	{{{dateofdeath}}}
Affiliation	Gotham City Police Department
Status	Alive
Behind the Scenes
Portrayed by	Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Appearances	The Dark Knight Rises

"Not a lot of people know what it feels like, do they? To be angry... in your bones. I mean, they understand. Your foster parents. Everybody understands. For a while. And then they want the angry, little kid to do something he knows he can't do. Move on. So, after a while, they stop understanding. They send the angry kid to a boys' home. I figured it out too late. You got to learn to hide the anger. And practice smiling in a mirror. It's like putting on a mask."

―John Blake to Bruce Wayne

Robin John Blake, better known as simply John Blake, is a young former police officer whose instincts led him to believe that there was trouble on the horizon and was promoted to detective by James Gordon when the elder cop saw something of himself within the younger.

Biography

Early Life

Robin John Blake was orphaned after both his parents were killed. He was admitted to an orphanage funded by the Wayne Foundation called Saint Swithin's.

Police Career

Eight years after the death of Harvey Dent, Blake had been a cop for a year and logged six arrests due to how well Dent and Commissioner James Gordon cleaned up the streets.

No Man's Land

"I can't change your mind about quitting the force?"
"What you said about structures becoming shackles... you were right. I just can't take it. I mean, nobody will ever know who it was that saved an entire city."
"They know. It was the Batman."

―James Gordon and John Blake

To be added

Personality

"Right when I saw you, I knew who you really were. I'd seen that look on your face before. It's the same one I taught myself. I don't know why you took the fall for Dent's murder... but I'm still a believer in the Batman... even if you're not."

―John Blake to Bruce Wayne

Blake represents the idealism that Gordon and Bruce Wayne once held, but soon lost in their battle against crime in the city.

Abilities

"Detective now. And, uh, as detective, we're not allowed to believe in coincidence."

―John Blake

• Expert Detective: Blake deduced Bruce Wayne's secret identity. Despite being a rookie, Commissioner Gordon promoted him to detective. Gordon said he knows about patterns, and he found out that Bane's henchmen were pouring concrete laced with polyisobutylene and motor oil.
• Expert Marksman: Blake is proficient with firearms, particularly pistols and shotguns. He shot one of Bane's mercenaries by ricocheting a bullet behind him.
• Expert Combatant: Blake is a skilled hand-to-hand combatant, able to contend with Bane's mercenaries.
• Skilled Thief: Months after Bane's army invaded Gotham, Blake was able to siphon parked cars.
• Stealth: Blake took down two of Bane's mercenaries from the shadows.

Equipment

• Glock 17: Blake carried a pistol as his sidearm when he was a police officer.
• Remington 870: Blake carried a Remington 870 Police Magnum Riot shotgun when searching for Commissioner Gordon at the Gotham General Hospital.

Relationships

Family

• Father †
• Mother †
• Foster Father
• Foster Mother

Allies

• Gotham City Police Department - Former Employers
  • James Gordon
  • Tyler Ross † - Former Partner
• Bruce Wayne/Batman - Ally and Predecessor
• Selina Kyle/Catwoman - Ally

Enemies

• Bane †

Trivia

To be added

Behind the scenes

The Dark Knight

• In one draft of the script, a reference to Robin being related to Rachel Dawes was considered. The character of Dick Grayson was not explicitly mentioned, however, Rachel Dawes is revealed as being a relative of the Grayson family. Christopher Nolan had it removed because he didn't want to build hopes up about Robin appearing in a future movie.

The Dark Knight Rises

• When Officer Blake talks about "giant alligators" being in the sewer line, this may be an intentional nod towards Batman villain Killer Croc, who Bane out-wrestled to become head of Gotham's gangland.
• Before appearing in this movie together, Christian Bale (Batman) and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (John Blake) had a lot in common with each other. They played Jim Hawkins: Bale in Treasure Island (1990), and Gordon-Levitt in Treasure Planet (2002). They did two Disney movies: Bale did Newsies (1992) and Pocahontas (1995), and Gordon-Levitt did Angels in the Outfield (1994) and Treasure Planet (2002). Their first Disney movies were live-action, and their seconds were animated. They appeared in Christopher Nolan movies prior to this one: Bale did Batman Begins (2005), The Prestige (2006), and The Dark Knight (2008); and Gordon-Levitt appeared in Inception (2010).
• The orphanage where Blake grew up and visits in this movie is named St. Swithin's. In England, St. Swithin's Day is July 15th, and tradition says the weather on this day, will repeat for the next forty days. The rhyme goes: "St. Swithin's Day, if thou dost rain, for forty days it will remain. St. Swithin's Day, if thou be fair, for forty days 'twill rain nae mair." Water and rain are common motifs in writer, producer, and director Christopher Nolan's movies.
• Blake gets asked by an police if he saw 'giant alligators' in the sewers. This was written as a nod to the Batman villain Killer Croc who was rumoured to be the villain in the movie. In the comics, Killer Croc aka Waylon Jones a deformed former crocodile wrestler who became a criminal in Gotham City and committed several murders and lived in the sewers beneath Gotham City.
• Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marion Cotillard appeared in Inception (2010) also directed by Christopher Nolan.
• Anne Hathaway and Joseph Gordon-Levitt previously starred together in Havoc (2005).
• Christian Bale has stated that he would not play Batman if Robin appeared anywhere in the trilogy. Christopher Nolan agreed not to include Robin, as it would undermine the dark tone of his series. At the end of this movie, Detective John Blake's (Joseph Gordon-Levitt's) legal name is revealed to be "Robin", and he quits the Police force, and is shown to enter the Batcave by following the instructions presumably left by Bruce Wayne in his will.
• At the end of the movie when "Robin" Blake is exploring the Batcave, his black jacket has a blue stripe that dips in the middle on the back of it. This is very reminiscent to the character Nightwing, the adult version of Robin.
• In the scene at the end where the lawyer's clerk (Jillian Armenante) reveals John Blake's real name, the word "Robin" was dubbed-in post-production to keep this a secret from all of the crew, including Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who were on-set at the time.
• The final shooting script features several deleted/extended scenes not found in this movie. Most are "character moments", though some also clarify details of the plot.
  • An extended conversation between Bruce and Blake in Blake's car, where Blake gives Bruce cash for cab fare.
  • A longer argument between Blake and the Army blockade on Gotham Bridge. Blake argues with the commanding officer, trying to convince him that Batman has returned, and battle has broken out in the city streets. In the script, after Batman harnesses the bomb to The Bat, he's never seen again, The Bat simply flies out to sea, and the bomb detonates. The scene of Fox and the technicians examining the autopilot of The Bat then follows, with Fox realizing that Batman had ejected before the bomb detonated, and that Bruce Wayne must have survived the explosion. Bruce is last seen with Selina Kyle by Alfred at the cafe.
• John Blake's real name, Robin, is an allusion to the character in Batman comic books, movies, and television shows. Robin was added to the Batman comic books in 1940, to attract younger readers, and the character eventually evolved into a solo superhero, Nightwing. Blake, though an original character, combines elements of the various Robins from the comics, an orphan (like Dick Grayson), a street kid (like Jason Todd), and a skilled detective who deduces Batman's true identity (like Tim Drake), all of whom trained as Batman's sidekick, with the implication that they one day would don the Batman costume.
• The character of John Blake is an amalgamation of previous Robins from the comics - Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, and Tim Drake.
• When Officer Blake mentions giant alligators in the sewers, this is a reference to Killer Croc (who made his big-screen debut in Suicide Squad (2016)). In the comics, Killer Croc has clashed with Bane, the main villain. Bane broke both of Croc's arms, before fighting Batman and breaking his back.
• Batman tells Blake to get as many Gothamites out of the city before the bomb goes off, that "Lead an exodus". This is a reference to the Bible, where Moses leads the enslaved Hebrews out of Egypt, and into the promised land. Christian Bale played Moses in Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014), based upon the Biblical book of Exodus.