In the universe of Batman, the League of Assassins had been a threat for decades. They are a group of skilled killers who are geared toward bringing change to the world in their own twisted ways. In Christopher Nolan‘s Dark Knight Trilogy, he dubbed League Of Assassins as the League of Shadows and played a significant role in the first film ‘Batman Begins.’
However, in ‘The Dark Knight Rises’, the League of Shadows played more of “back dancers”. Despite having Talia Al Ghul, these antagonists were not seen in the films as much.
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The League Of Shadows In ‘Batman Begins‘
In ‘Batman Begins’, the League of Shadows is led by Ra’s al Ghul who was also Batman’s mentor. Ra’s al Ghul believes that Gotham City is too far gone into corruption and needs to be destroyed. Additionally, he trained Bruce Wayne in hopes that he would join them on their quest to remove Githam from the map.
However, Bruce ultimately rejects Ra’s al Ghul’s teachings and vows to protect Gotham City from the League of Shadows. In the climax of the film, Batman defeats Ra’s al Ghul and destroys the League of Shadows’ headquarters. It seems like the League of Shadows has been defeated once and for all.
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The Absence Of The League Of Shadows In ‘The Dark Knight‘ And ‘The Dark Knight Rises‘
Despite being seemingly defeated in the first film, it was rather surprising that they were almost completely wiped out from the next film. In ‘The Dark Knight’, the main antagonist was the Joker who was not at all affiliated with the League of Shadows. Whereas, in ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ the main antagonist is Bane who was part of League Of Shadows but he was on a solo gig.
In the comics, Ra’s Al Ghul was shown immortal but he was killed off in the first movie. League Of Assassins have always managed to regroup and continue their mission. They have been led by a number of different individuals, including Talia al Ghul, Ra’s al Ghul’s daughter.
So, wiping making them a background act completely was definitely a missed opportunity. They could have been strong and convincing antagonists in all three movies and a real threat to Batman and Gotham. In addition, they could have also given a better contrast to just Bane doing the heavy lifting.
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