In Batman Begins, Bruce Wayne trains with Ra’s al Ghul and the League of Shadows to become Batman, but how long did Bruce’s training take? The first film of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy tells Batman’s origin story. In the opening scenes of the film, a young Bruce Wayne falls down a well and is swarmed by bats, leading him to develop a fear of bats – but that’s only a small part of Bruce’s childhood trauma. Bruce witnesses the murder of his parents and blames himself for their deaths, which shapes much of his personality and future. After failing to cope with the loss of his parents, a floundering Bruce runs away from home and ends up in the Himalayas.
Adult Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) is introduced in Batman Begins as a prisoner in Bhutan where he is approached by a man who introduces himself as Ducard (Liam Neeson). Ducard offers Bruce Wayne “a path,” telling him to find a rare blue flower then climb to the top of a mountain. When Bruce arrives at the fortress of Ra’s al Ghul, he’s so weak that he says he can barely stand. Ducard asks Bruce what he wants and Bruce replies, “To fight injustice. To turn fear against those who prey on the fearful.” Ducard attacks Bruce, telling him “To manipulate the fears in others, you must first master your own.” This marks the beginning of the training that enables Bruce Wayne to return to Gotham as Batman.
While it’s unclear how much time had passed from the time that Bruce left home to the time he began training, Bruce had disappeared from Gotham for a total of seven years. The majority of that time was likely spent training with Ducard, who is revealed later in Batman Begins to be the real Ra’s al Ghul. Ra’s al Ghul’s followers call themselves the League of Shadows (which Nolan renamed from the League of Assassins, though the two entities are now distinct) and they teach Bruce several different styles of martial arts. Bruce also learns theatricality and deception – two things that Ra’s al Ghul says are crucial to becoming invisible. By training Bruce in multiple disciplines and having lots of intense conversations, Ra’s al Ghul teaches Bruce to master his fear.
Fear is a central theme in Batman Begins and every villain in the film speaks of fear: Falcone, Scarecrow, and Ra’s al Ghul. Scarecrow’s plan to destroy Gotham hinges on the power of fear – a power that Ra’s al Ghul also manipulates by creating the toxin that Scarecrow uses. To complete Bruce’s training, Ducard uses this toxin to put Bruce in a state of heightened fear and subjects him to a final test. He tells Bruce, “What you really fear is inside yourself. You fear your own power. You fear your anger – the drive to do great and terrible things.” Bruce’s training is only complete when he’s “purged” his fear.
After Bruce completes his training, he summons Alfred to pick him up in a private jet and Alfred confirms that Bruce has been gone for seven years – and been declared dead. Bruce Wayne’s return to Gotham is huge news for the city and Bruce Wayne settles comfortably into the public persona that Gotham expects. In Batman Begins, Bruce Wayne is a billionaire playboy who dates supermodels and is generally uninterested in helping other people. But the man who trained for years with Ra’s al Ghul emerges at night, exacting justice and striking fear into the dark underbelly of Gotham as the Batman.