Page "The Dark Knight Returns" Paragraph 2

The Dark Knight Returns is set in a dystopian near-future version of Gotham City.

A year is never specified, though it has been a full decade since the last reported sighting of Batman, the current American President appears to be Ronald Reagan or someone using his image, and the Cold War is still ongoing.

The author also alludes to the deaths of Bruce Wayne's parents as being on the night of a movie theater showing of Tyrone Power in The Mark of Zorro, a movie with a release date of November 8th, 1940, a time when Bruce was a youth.

Virtually all superheroes, with the exception of Superman, have been forced into retirement or otherwise driven away by a populace that no longer trusts them.

Bruce Wayne, now 55, has voluntarily retired from crime fighting following the death ( under unspecified circumstances ) of Jason Todd, the second Robin.

In the absence of superheroes, criminals run amok, and a gang called the Mutants terrorizes Gotham City.