By: Scott Johnson on July 13, 2012
The big Dark Knight Rises controversy of the day is that many news sites are asking if David Letterman spoiled the ending of The Dark Knight Rises. If you read our coverage last night of Anne Hathaway’s appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman, then you know that David Letterman loved The Dark Knight Rises. He also dropped what could be a major spoiler for the film, but it really wasn’t as big a deal as the firestorm that has now erupted over it. In the end, Letterman really left us with just as many questions as answers, but be warned what could be considered a spoiler follows.
After raving over how good The Dark Knight Rises is, David Letterman explained to Hathaway that even people who hadn’t seen the previous movies would enjoy the film. Letterman said, “It’s not essential to see all previous installations of Batman, and I think this is it, and in the end Batman is dead.” Anne Hathaway’s immediate reaction was a stunned look, but she followed up by laughing it off. Letterman then laughed and said, “He’s not dead. He ain’t dead, just relax, will you?”
Hathaway then disavowed Letterman’s comments. Hathaway looked at the camera and said, “I just want you to know the wrath that you have just invited onto yourself. Chris, I had no part in it, I’m sorry.”
Of course, there has been rampant internet speculation that Batman will die at the end The Dark Knight Rises. But what did Letterman give away? At first, Letterman said Batman dies, but then he reversed himself and said the opposite. Did Letterman spoil that Batman dies or did he spoil that Batman doesn’t die? In the end, Letterman really just created more confusion, and either way it comes out, one of Letterman’s spoilers will have been right, so he gets to say ‘I told you so.”
Here’s another thing to think about. The Late Show with David Letterman is not aired live. It is taped earlier in the day. So if David Letterman had said something that Warner Bros. really didn’t want revealed, it could have been edited out. Our guess is Warner Bros. was ok with it, because as Letterman pointed out, “Well, we’ll just see if this hurts ticket sales or not.”
