Part II: The Protagonists

• In what sense can it be said, though, that The Dark Knight is a sort of allegory portraying the struggle between the great protagonist, Jesus Christ, and his ancient antagonist, the fallen angel, Lucifer-cum-Satan? Let’s begin by looking at the ways Bruce Wayne, the Batman (played by Christian Bale), can be called a Christ-figure. For starters, Batman’s followers message him with a powerful searchlight in the sky, a battlefield associated with Christ and Satan in the sense that, on the one hand, heaven is skyward, but, on the other hand, Satan tainted the sky as he fell earthward from heaven, thus earning himself the title “Prince of the Power of the Air” (Eph. 2:2).

• For another thing, Bruce Wayne reveals his identity as the Batman to only a few close followers, including three men and one woman, a gender mix as in Scripture. Batman's true identity as Bruce Wayne is known by Lt. Gordon, Lucius Fox, and Rachel Dawes; the resurrection of Jesus is known by Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of Jesus, who not only know but take the news of the resurrection to the men (Luke 24:10).

• Thirdly, Batman has a habit of vanishing from sight just when a confidante is warming to a topic (“He does that,” Lieutenant Gordon explains to Harvey Dent). This, too, Jesus did, as we learn in Luke 24:31 (“…and He vanished from their sight”).

• Another of their shared characteristics is that neither the Batman nor the Christ is limited by time or space. In the movie, the corrupt Chinese businessman, Lau (played by Chin Han), escapes to his homeland, causing the authorities to lament that the law of Gotham City does not run as far as Hong Kong. But this is no problem for the Batman, who, the Joker points out, has no limits to his jurisdiction. Just as Batman, the Christ-figure, is not limited to Gotham City, Jesus himself is not limited by time and space to first-century Palestine, a fact he makes clear to his followers just before his ascension into heaven (Matthew 28:16-20).

• Another similarity between the two is that both the Batman and the Christ have imitators. Jesus prophesied, “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many” (Matt. 24:4-5). Quite early on in the movie, we see that false Batmen run all about in Gotham City in imitative—but not-quite-so-cool—costumes. “What’s the difference between you and me?” asks one fake Batman, to which comes Batman’s droll reply, “I’m not wearing hockey pads.”

• Now, it is hard to say whether Jesus ever used sarcasm to get a point across, but this line is entirely appropriate to a Postmodern audience that thrives on verbal bile. Some have called the line a cheap joke, but it does make the point: the other guy is not the real deal. He is thrown together with whatever he had lying about, hockey pads, in this case, while—like Christ—Bruce Wayne, and only Bruce Wayne, is powerfully and authentically equipped.

• In addition, we see that the internal qualities of the movie’s hero parallel those of Christ. The first and foremost of these is respect for life. God said, “I have set before you life and death…. Therefore, choose life….” (Deut. 30:19). Similarly, Bruce Wayne chooses to respect life, vowing that his one rule is that he will not kill. Even near the end of the movie when the Joker stands in the middle of the street taunting the Batman to mow him down, Wayne swerves at the last second to avoid what most would deem a justifiable homicide if ever there was one.

• Next, each of the protagonists is betrayed by someone close to him. In The Dark Knight, Coleman Reese (played by Joshua Harto) asks for $10 million a year to keep quiet his knowledge of Batman’s identity. Though this gets him nowhere, he gets his fifteen minutes of fame by going on the local TV news to expose Batman’s identity to all of Gotham City. This, of course, parallels the story of Judas, the disciple who sold Jesus out to the Sanhedrin for thirty pieces of silver.

• But despite their greedy ambition, the schemes of Judas—and Coleman Reese—do not end well. Reese has to run for his life when the Joker vows to blow up a hospital if he (Reese) is not killed within the next sixty minutes; Judas hangs himself. One popular topic in Christian discussion circles has long been whether or not Judas could have received forgiveness had he not committed suicide. After all, Jesus did forgive Peter, who had denied knowing him. Apparently, Christopher Nolan and his brother Jonathan, who wrote The Dark Knight, would weigh in with a resounding yes, as they show that Bruce Wayne, without the protection of his Batman gear or vehicle, deliberately crashes his Lamborghini into oncoming traffic in order to save the life of the weasel Coleman Reese.

• Last, both the Batman and the Christ are omnipotent. In the Old Testament, God is often referred to as the Lord God Almighty, a cognomen that appears first in Genesis 17:1 where God introduces himself to Abram. The same title is applied to Christ in Revelation 11:17, which says, “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign” [emphasis mine]. Similarly, in a conversation between Bruce Wayne and Alfred (played by Michael Caine), Wayne reminds a worried Alfred not to fear because “Batman has no limits.” Interestingly, it is just before that line of dialogue that a shirtless Wayne appears with his back to the camera, showing the scars on his back, reminiscent of the “stripes” that Jesus received in his scourging before the crucifixion (Isaiah 53:5; Matt. 27:26). Jesus had no limits. The scourging couldn’t cow him; the grave couldn’t hold him.

• Closely related to the omnipotence of the Christ is his all-sufficiency. Paul explained to the Corinthians that he suffered from some earthly malady that he described simply as “a thorn in the flesh.” He said he had prayed to be relieved of this chronic ailment. “Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me,” Paul wrote. “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Cor. 12:8-9). This all-sufficiency of the Christ appears in The Dark Knight as well. Realizing Harvey Dent (played by Aaron Eckhart) will need funds for his campaign against the Joker, Bruce Wayne decides to throw a fund-raiser for him, promising, “One fundraiser with my pals—you’ll never need another one.” So there it is—the all-sufficiency of the Christ-figure.

• Continued in "Part III: The Antagonists"