Christopher Nolan pushes the traditional iconography of the superhero genre to the limits with his film The Dark Knight (2008). According to the traditional iconography of the superhero genre, the superhero must be ethical in all his actions; however, Nolan challenges this idea by inputting torture into the equation. In the film, Batman, who follows a strict moral code, is pushed to the limit psychologically while facing his new villain, the Joker, who continuously tries to torture Batman indirectly through terrorism. Throughout the film, we, as viewers, are presented social commentary on human nature and ethicality through various scenarios and dialogue. In his film, Nolan presents two arguments. First, we have Joker’s ideology that people will move aside and give in to chaos when faced with enough outside pressure (torture in this case), and secondly, we have Batman’s ideology arguing that for the majority of the time, people will stay true to themselves even when facing that great pressure.

For the majority of the film, Joker’s ideology holds to be true based on several cases. Going from least to most important, we first have the Joker taking over the underground mobs through various methods of force; typically, by getting in close to the leader, making them feel like they have the upper hand, then quickly turning the tables and forcing them into an uncomfortable position. In general, Joker’s methods of control consist of imminent violence, danger, and terrorism. Then, we have the case where the Joker indirectly forces Agent Ramirez to kidnap Rachel Dawes through the mob. Agent Ramirez, who is seen to be Commissioner Gordon’s most trusted cop and right hand woman, is put into a situation where her family would be killed by the mob if she did not carry out the order to kidnap Rachel. In this case, Joker shows that even a loyal cop can succumb to torture when faced with enough of it. Lastly, and most importantly, we have the transformation of Gotham’s white knight, Harvey Dent. Throughout the film, Dent is idolized as a figure who stands for everything that is good and just. In the beginning, we get the feeling that Dent can handle the constant pressure of terrorism put on by the Joker; however, he eventually breaks and becomes an advocate of chaos after his girlfriend, Rachel, was killed and the Joker convinces him that the mob was behind the killing. In each case, there is a point where people’s morality and ethicality change as a result of torture conducted by the Joker.

Nonetheless, Joker’s ideology is taken to extreme circumstances, where eventually Batman’s ideology is proven to be true by the end of the film. In one scene, he questions what happens when an immovable object is presented by an unstoppable force. To stay consistent with the rest of the film, the unstoppable force would be the Joker’s constant terrorism and torture, but the immovable object would be Batman, who has a strict moral code that he follows, and the general population represented by two cruise ships full of people. Throughout the film, Batman has to endure the Joker’s constant torture directed towards him. Specifically, this torture consists of the Joker killing innocent people including Rachel, who he loved, in attempt to get Batman to reveal himself. Although Batman struggles to uphold his moral code, we see that his ethicality and morality stand firmly in his final confrontation with the Joker. In the final confrontation, the Joker sets up a scenario where two cruise boats full of people are forced to choose between blowing up the other boat and living or the Joker blowing up both boats. As Batman confronts the Joker, he expects one of the boats to explode, but the people never give into his game. As he is about to push his detonator, Batman pushes him off the building while also preserving the Joker’s life. Thus, Batman upholds his moral code and proves his ideology to be true simultaneously.
As a whole, Nolan preserves the iconography that superheroes will always be ethical and argues that people in general tend to maintain their ethicality, even when put under torture and extreme pressure. With the release of this film, Nolan influences the iconography of the superhero genre and future superhero films by upholding the concept that heroes must follow a moral code, even when they are pushed to their limits emotionally and psychologically.