Follow us on Google News
Get the latest updates directly in your Google News feed
Compared to other superhero franchises,The Dark Knighttrilogy features a disproportionate number of villains. A few of the standout antagonists inThe Dark Knight Risesare Tom Hardy as Bane, Cillian Murphy as Jonathan Crane, and Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent.
Jonathan Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplays forThe Dark KnightandThe Dark Knight Riseswith his brother Christopher Nolan, the director, recently claimed that another villain who was never seen in a movie was supposed to make an appearance.
During an interview withHappy Sad Confused,thePerson of Interest creator, 47, talked about the antagonists in the seventh-highest-grossing film before focusing on Bane (Tom Hardy). Nolan talked about exploring “ideas about the Riddler”.
The Dark Knight Rises: The Riddler’s Missed Opportunity in Christopher Nolan’s Trilogy
When it comes to theBatmanfilm franchise, there are a plethora of iconic villains to choose from. From the Joker to Two-Face, the Caped Crusader has faced off against some of the most notable baddies in comic book history. But did you know thatThe Dark Knight Rises’co-screenwriter, Jonathan Nolan, originally thought of a different villain for the movie?
‘The Dark Knight Rises’ Came Off as a ‘Mission Impossible’ Rip-Off Due To 1 Peak Tom Hardy Scene
Apparently,The Dark Knight Rises,the trilogy’s last flick, nearly included the Riddler (or Edward Nigma), as Nolan recently disclosed on theHappy, Sad, Confusedpodcast. They ultimately decided not to use Edward, however, because:
“I sort of started to play with ideas about The Riddler and what could be done with that character. But it did feel like it was close enough to the space of what we’d done with Heath [Ledger] that you really needed to…shift there.’”
Bill Finger and Dick Sprang created Riddler, who made his comic book debut inDetective Comics#140 in 1948.It was never going to be easy to surpass Heath Ledger’s Joker fromThe Dark Knight(2008), since he set such a high bar. Even so, it was a sensible choice forThe Dark Knight Risesto conclude the trilogy with Tom Hardy’s Bane, who posed a serious threat toChristian Bale’s Batman.
Despite complimenting Bane on his“menacing voice”and“body language-driven performance”,IGNcalled him “that bit less interesting to watch” than Ledger’s Joker.According toVariety, Chuck Dixon, who co-created the character Bane, stated that Bane is“far more akin to an Occupy Wall Street type if you are looking to cast him politically”.
“They’re very dreamlike experiences”: Christopher Nolan’s Major Revelation About The Dark Knight Rises Dashes All Hopes for Christian Bale’s Batman Return
As one of the few comic book characters who had truly physically broken Batman, Bane’s appearance in the final chapter of the Christopher Nolan trilogyinspired Bruce Wayneto push himself even further.
The Dark Knight Reimagined: A Look at the Could-Have-Been Villains
Co-screenwriter David S. Goyer ofThe Dark Knight RisestoldDigital Spythat he intended to use characters that had never been seen in live-action before.
Goyer explicitly said he did not want to use Catwoman and Penguin as villains right away because of their lengthy histories of appearances. On the other hand,The Dark Knightalmost immediately focused on the Joker, since it was obvious that the legendary Clown Prince of Crime would serve as themain antagonist in the film.
Anne Hathawaymade her debutas Catwoman inThe Dark Knight Rises.But the studio was not originally planning on including Bane. In an interview with Josh Horowitz for his podcastHappy Sad Confused,Goyer claimed that the production company had pressured Leonardo DiCaprio to star as Riddler inThe Dark Knight Rises:
“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 I was just, ‘Dude, that’s not the way we work’.”
From that point on, Batman’s next adversary would be determined by the plot’s structure, asGoyer informed Horowitz:
“[The thinking was] ‘Let’s do it in a very naturalistic way … let’s figure out what kind of story we want to tell and what we thematically want to explore with Bruce and then, let’s figure out a villain that fits that story’.”
“I wore these flat kind of Joker-y looking shoes”: Anne Hathaway Didn’t Think She Was Playing Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises
As per Goyer, the writer turned down Warner Bros.’ request for DiCaprio to play Riddler. Even if the former was not in favor of Edward Nigma playing a part, it is reasonable to suppose there was a lot of talk about it given that Jonathan Nolan said the Riddler was given serious consideration.
The Dark Knight Risesis streaming on Max.
Siddhika Prajapati
Senior Journalist & Content Head
Articles Published :3310
With over 3,300 articles carved into the digital walls of FandomWire, Siddhika Prajapati excels at creating, curating, and elevating engaging stories. She takes pride in giving these stories a home and, of course, she’s got a Google Knowledge Panel to prove it!Whether it’s reviewing the latest drop on Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Apple TV+, or analyzing the cultural echoes of a streaming hit on Paramount+ or Max, Siddhika is always writing three steps ahead of the discourse.
