Batman: 6 characters Christopher Nolan’s movies got right

2. Commissioner Gordon

This is something that should go without saying, but often gets overlooked: Batman, in any iteration of the character, is only as good as the Commissioner Gordon who stands before him. Two shining rays of light and goodness who have different means of serving justice.

The Dark Knight trilogy highlights the fact in a bigger scope. In the trilogy, there is no Batman without Commissioner Gordon. Their entire relationship and history together can be summarized by Batman’s final words to Gordon in the third film: “A hero can be anyone. Even a man doing something as simple and reassuring as putting a coat around a young boy’s shoulders to let him know that the world hadn’t ended.”

Gordon is the moral high ground of the franchise in many of the same ways – if not more – as Batman is positioned as a beacon of hope to Gotham. He lacks the same tech savvy or menacing cowl of The Bat, but he instills just as much hope as a kindhearted lawman who wants to ensure the safety of the city and its citizens.

Essentially, Gordon is Batman without the cowl and in the movies, he instills enough good into a young Bruce Wayne that he inspired that boy to become the Batman.