There’s been so much debate as to whom Joseph Gordon-Levitt would be playing in the final installment of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy that opens in less than a month. People were throwing names like Hugo Strange, The Riddler, and Dick Grayson around, despite reports of Nolan making it very clear that this would be a Robin-less Batman tale. Eventually it was revealed that JGL would be playing a Gotham City cop named John Blake. The talks from those hopeful for some incarnation of Robin died down, however, there are still those out there who are not convinced that Blake is who he appears to be.

Enter Forbes Magazine’s Mark Hughes. He tries to present the case that Gordon-Levitt’s character is indeed Nolan’s version of The Boy Wonder. First, he starts by pointing out that Dick’s full name is Richard John Grayson, and then he points out that Dick’s secret identity during the day is a cop, so as to get better acquainted with the city he protects and the crimes and criminals that inhabit it.

These two facts are very interesting, seeing as the little bit that we know about John Blake is that he’s a young cop who is looking to help Batman in his fight against Bane and who is involved somehow with an orphanage, but is that really enough evidence to go on?

Hughes finishes up his argument by sharing the chalk Bat-symbol that Blake has been seen drawing. While it definitely looks like Batman’s symbol, it also looks like another symbol: the one that belongs to Nightwing. See for yourself.

But then, in the biggest stretch in his entire argument, he says that when you turn the symbol upside down, you get a bird. Specifically a robin?! Whoa there! Now it’s got to be true! See?!

Joking and that last bit about turning the symbol upside down aside, Hughes does bring up an interesting idea. Christopher Nolan has put an interesting twist on every one of these well known characters from Batman’s universe. He’s made them dark, yet real. John Blake could be the way that Nolan slips Dick Grayson into his universe. After all, for all we know, “John Blake” could be an alias.

But what about Christian Bale’s infamous comments about Robin? Bale said, “If Robin crops up in one of the new Batman films, I’ll be chaining myself up somewhere and refusing to go to work.” Yes, he may have said that, but he did not mention Nightwing. Maybe Nolan is taking a page out of the ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’ playbook. They wanted to keep Bucky Barnes, Cap’s sidekick, in the film, but they made him a contemporary of Steve Rogers rather than a kid tagging along for the adventure. Is this what Nolan has in store for us?

Yeah, there are some pretty compelling shreds of evidence, and plenty of fans in favor of the character being included, and plenty who aren’t in favor, but also think about this: Christopher Nolan has used the true names of characters in his version of the story yes? Well, there was a John Blake in the comics, although I doubt that this is the same one Nolan wants to portray.

Either way we’re about a month away from finding out the true answer, but what are your thoughts, readers? Do you think that there is a chance that Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s John Blake from ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ could actually be Dick Grayson/Nightwing? Let’s hear your thoughts in the comments.