zombie84 said:

But in the mid-1980s---30 years ago, I might remind you--Frank Miller re-wrote the mythology. He recast it in an R-rated noir, where an aging Batman comes out of retirement to give his life to save Gotham from one last threat, eventually deciding to fake his death and let a young replacement, who briefly fought along side him, take over as Batman, with Wayne retiring. Because Batman is a symbol, and Bruce Wayne's body no longer worked, he realized he could retire so long as there was someone worthy to take on the symbol as their identity.

Wait a minute... rereading this part of your comment, I'm thinking you have never even read The Dark Knight Returns yourself... The vast majority of everything you say in the above quote never even happens in The Dark Knight Returns. Carrie isn't intended to replace him as Batman (Batwoman?) and he doesn't decide Batman is just a symbol and so he can therefore let go and pass it on. The only reason he fakes his death is so that he can go into hiding rather than be killed and continue the desperate fight by training others. In the sequel, he comes back, as Batman. Older still, and still fighting. As Batman. No retirement ever depicted.

I think The Dark Knight Returns and the rest of Miller's Batman works serve much more as a defense for Warbler's side of this discussion than anything else. In other words, Miller got the character, why couldn't Nolan?