Major spoilers for The Dark Knight Rises throughout

You’ve got to give it to Christopher Nolan. When I saw The Dark Knight Rises, I was pretty confident I knew what happened at the end of the movie. Bruce Wayne fakes his death, fulfills Alfred’s dream of seeing him in Italy, and he passes the mantle of Batman – a symbol – to John Blake. Say what you want about the rest of the movie (and we have) but I still think that ending is fantastic. By far the best thing about the movie.

But like I said, you’ve got to give it to Christopher Nolan. Years later and people are still debating what happened in those final few scenes. Case in point, Christian Bale was doing an interview for Exodus: Gods and Kings and was asked his thoughts on the ending. Listen to The Dark Knight Rises ending explained by Christian Bale below.

Thanks to Entertainment Weekly for the Dark Knight Rises ending explained audio. Listen, or read below.

Dark Knight Rises ending explained by Christian Bale

Here’s the pertinent quote:

[Alfred] was content with me being alive and left because that was the life he always wanted for him. I find it very interesting and with most films, I tend to say ‘It’s what the audience thinks it is.’ My personal opinion? No, it was not a dream. That was for real and he was just delighted that finally he had freed himself from the privilege, but ultimately the burden of being Bruce Wayne.

Great answer by Bale. He basically says that it was not a dream, but leaves the door open for whatever anyone wants to believe. Which, of course, is the great thing about that scene. My argument against the interpretation is that Nolan’s whole thing in the entire Dark Knight Trilogy was realism. Why, in the final moments, put a dream sequence? It just doesn’t fit.

What do you think about Christian Bale’s interpretation of the end of The Dark Knight Rises?