David S. Goyer, the co-writer of Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy, reveals that he advocated for Jake Gyllenhaal to be cast as Batman over Christian Bale, and that Warner Bros. asked to have Leonardo DiCaprio play the Riddler in The Dark Knight Rises.
Recently, Goyer joined the Happy Sad Confused podcast to talk about his time working on Nolan's trilogy. During the interview, Goyer revealed that he advocated for Jake Gyllenhaal to be cast as Batman over Bale, who played the Caped Crusader in Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises. Despite some varying opinions about his voice, Bale's portrayal of Batman became an instant fan-favorite. "Bale is amazing," Goyer said of the actor's performance as a complex character with dueling personas.
Goyer also remembered the head of Warner Bros. personally asking him to write the Riddler as a villain in The Dark Knight Rises, and pitched that Leonardo DiCaprio play the character. "After The Dark Knight, the head of Warner Bros. at the premiere said, 'You got to do the Riddler. Leo as the Riddler. You got to tell Chris, Leo as the Riddler.' And that's not the way we work." Goyer revealed that he and Nolan never picked the villains of the story first. Instead, they would figure out the story of Batman for each film and pick the villains who match that story. Goyer and Nolan ended up choosing Bane (Tom Hardy) to be Batman's villain in The Dark Knight Rises, challenging Batman's age and deteriorating physicality.
Will Christopher Nolan Make Another Dark Knight Movie?
Many fans of The Dark Knight trilogy have been questioning whether Nolan would return to the DC comic book character. While Nolan is open to directing a Star Wars movie, the Oppenheimer director told YouTuber HugoDécrypte that he would not make another superhero movie. Bale said he would return to play the Caped Crusader if Nolan was directing. But it seems unlikely that this will happen anytime soon.
"I don't think that's ever going to happen," Goyer said when asked if Nolan would make another Batman film. "And I wouldn't want to do another Batman project either." Goyer and Nolan wrapped The Dark Knight trilogy up nicely, but they did leave room for the story to continue. When asked if Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Gotham City police office John Blake could take up the role of Batman after the events of The Dark Knight Rises, Goyer said, "Yeah, for sure."
Gordon-Levitt responded in 2021 to fans who wanted to see him team up with Ben Affleck's and Michael Keaton's Batmen in The Flash, saying, "That's a really, really funny question. I have no idea. I'm, to be perfectly honest, completely out of touch with everything you just said."
Source: Happy Sad Confused Podcast