It's been 11 years since Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight made its way to the big screen. With high rankings across various media review platforms, the movie has become a mainstay of pop culture that people still talk about.

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Many fans consider it the best of the titular trilogy. But what exactly stands out about the movie in comparison to its counterparts across the DC Extended Universe? Here are 10 storylines from The Dark Knight that were way ahead of their time, and that makes this film a timeless favorite among DC fans.

Batman Copycats

While vigilantism is the foundation of all superheroes, no other movies in the genre had grappled with the possibility of others playing hero. This is a precursor to the consequences Batman has to face as he decides to continue being a hero.

Is he ultimately responsible for the deaths of innocent people killed by madmen he provoked? If so, where is his justice? Tony Stark faces a similar dilemma of responsibility, but not until the aftermath of Avengers: Age of Ultron. Batman is the first superhero to be confronted with the repercussions of his actions.

Villains Keeping the Status Quo

Having grown tired of Batman's interference in their crime, the villains cling to The Joker as the solution to their problem. The only problem is: he's an uncontrollable maniac.

When people with power are opposed by forces that make them face consequences for their actions, they'll do anything to keep the status quo. Even if it means putting a lunatic at the head of the table. They can't control him, but at least he'll get rid of their opposition.

Use of Mental Illness As A Scapegoat

When Rachel gets taken by The Joker's henchmen, Harvey Dent goes after one of his thugs, threatening to kill him if he doesn't talk. Batman reveals him as Thomas Schiff, a man who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, the kind of people attracted to The Joker's madness. This is just one scene in which someone "crazy" is written off and treated like nothing more than a criminal.

It's also reminiscent of how today's media often describes violent individuals as troubled and disturbed, making it seem like only the mentally ill become murderous criminals.

Madness For the Sake of Madness

Michael Caine as Alfred

One of the most famous quotes from the film comes from the beloved character Alfred: "Some men just want to watch the world burn." It speaks to the chaos humans are capable of simply for the sake of chaos. In every other superhero movie, the villain always has a motive. Loki wants power and to hold dominion over Earth. Obadiah Stane wants Tony dead to take over Stark Industries.

Crazy as those motives may be, they are reasons that an audience can at least understand. In The Dark Knight, The Joker just wants to cause mayhem.

Police Brutality and Corruption

Batman interrogates Joker at the police station to find out where he took Harvey Dent and Rachel in The Dark Knight

Though dirty and power-hungry cops is nothing new, today's media is often riddled with stories of abuse of authority. As the Gotham Police Department allows Batman to brutalize The Joker in prison, it reveals the ugly side of law enforcement that citizens are no longer turning a blind eye to.

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Though Batman is a vigilante, not a police officer, he's still considered one of the good guys, which is what cops are supposed to be. Where is the line drawn between hero and villain when brutal violence is used as an intimidation tool?

Planners and Schemers

The Joker states that when things go according to plan, no one panics, even if the plans in motion are morally awful, like sending soldiers into war. But the moment someone acts outside of those plans, the whole world loses their minds.

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Extreme reactions to loss of control aren't seen in the superhero genre again until Captain America: Civil War. Tony tries to invoke the Sekovia Accords alongside the government to keep supers in check. Steve Rogers believes the Accords will impede their ability to help in times of crisis. When it affects his mission to bring in Bucky, everything spins out of Tony's control and leads to heroes fighting heroes.

Technology Invading Privacy

Batman in front of surveillance images in The Dark Knight

When Bruce Wayne sets Mr. Fox's SONAR technology as a way to listen in on Gotham's citizens' mobile devices, it crosses a line the billionaire's friend and employee can't condone.

Far from being helpful vigilantes, the use of AI technologies like Alexa and Siri allows corporations to invade everyone's privacy and gather their data for capitalistic gains. The idea of using tech intended to be helpful, but at the expense of loss of privacy is a debate that continues to this day. What's worth more: freedom or convenience?

From Hero to Villain

Harvey Dent predicted his future when he said, "You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain." In the age of the internet, where once-beloved artists and celebrities were lauded for their progressive views, they're now condemned for their missteps.

So often now, some celebrity sticks around too long to say something controversial which causes them to be "canceled". Perhaps stepping out of the spotlight would be best for many of these people.

Good People Still Exist

In a movie filled with darkness as the villain tries to show the hero that people are only as good as they can afford to be, there's a moment of light. When two ferries, one with civilians and one with prisoners, are pit against each other to detonate a bomb on the other's boat, neither group takes the bait.

As turning on the news on a daily basis is an exercise in patience, it is worth remembering that there are always people willing to do good and humanity is worth it.

A Hero With a Face

As the film comes to a close, Batman takes the blame for Dent's death and lets his image among the people maintain its heroic standing. He understands that the citizens of Gotham don't need a masked vigilante.

They need a hero in the spotlight who will fight for them. Many of Marvel's superheroes unmask themselves and continue to fight the bad guys out in the streets. But as Batman recognizes, this kind of heroism fails to fight a system that enables those bad guys to exist.

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