There were some legitimate Easter eggs in that second trailer for The Dark Knight Rises, and there were some purported Easter eggs that were nothing at all. First off, let’s get this out of the way: no, Robin is not in the movie. Some people have noticed that the R held up by the Gotham Rogues football fans in the screencap above matches Robin’s R from the comic books. Some of those people also noticed the football player in the trailer had the name “Ward” on his back and assumed it was a reference to Burt Ward, who played Robin to Adam West’s Batman. The problem is, there’s a better explanation for both of these coincidences.
The football player is Hines Ward of the Pittsburgh Steelers. He’s a celebrity cameo, so of course his last name is going to be on his jersey; his publicist would have shat bricks otherwise. As for the sign being held up by a fan? It was made by a cheeky extra:
The day this scene was shot, there were 10,000 extras there at Heinz Field. Most of them brought their own props and costumes, so clearly one guy has been smart and, when drawing the ‘R’ for the ‘Rogues’ signs (for the Rogues are Gotham’s team), he’s drawn it in the style of a Robin logo, off his own back. So this is no more a ‘clue’ that Robin will be in the film than the presence of the Batman logo on a door during Following was a ‘clue’ that Nolan would one day make a Batman movie. [Empire]
Nolan has commented in the past that, “This is a young Batman, so Robin’s a few films….not for a few pictures anyway. Dick Grayson’s still in a crib somewhere. I seriously doubt I will even be involved when Robin’s in the franchise.” Although TDKR takes place eight years after the last film, that still places Robin too young to have a creepy relationship with Bruce Wayne just yet. I mean, Batman is creepy, but he’s not that creepy. Kid’s gotta be in the double digits at least. Sheesh.
On the other hand, here’s an Easter egg from the trailer which could be a real and interesting plot point:
Must not make “pearl necklace” joke involving Anne Hathaway. Must not make “pearl necklace” joke involving Anne Hathaway. . . .
Check out Empire Magazine’s spoiler-filled TDKR trailer breakdown for a few more speculations.