Credit: ITMChristopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy was a colossal success both critically and financially for the Batman franchise. It cemented Nolan as a must-see filmmaker, immortalized the legacy of Heath Ledger with his Oscar-winning performance as the Joker, and legitimatized the comic book movie genre as serious cinematic art. The trilogy grossed $2.5 billion worldwide and became a permanent fixture in the cultural zeitgeist. Christian Bale would also join the selective league of actors to play the brooding superhero, but he was not the main choice.
David S. Goyer is a self-proclaimed comic book nerd who started his film industry career as a screenwriter. He would write the sequel to the cult-favorite comic book movie, The Crow: City of Angels (1996). Then, he broke out in the industry when he wrote and co-produced the trailblazing movie Blade (1998) starring Wesley Snipes. This triumph in adapting comic book material effectively put him in the writers’ room with many prestigious directors.
He would proceed to be the world-building architect for Guillermo Del Toro’s Blade II (2002) and James Cameron’s original rebooted Terminator trilogy. Additionally, Goyer would be hired to save or develop comic-based franchises like Constantine (2005), Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2011) and later the Superman prequel series, Krypton (2018). Yet, perhaps Goyer’s most impactful work was his contribution to Nolan’s celebrated Batman movies.
The Dark Knight trilogy was a collaborative storytelling achievement co-written by Christopher Nolan and co-designed by David S. Goyer. Nolan enlisted Goyer’s help in connecting the story to the dense and rich lore of Batman. Goyer would form a partnership with Nolan as he co-wrote Batman Begins (2005). This grounded, gritty take on the Caped Crusader resulted in critical and audience praise. This prompted Warner Bros. to greenlight a sequel.
Even though Christopher Nolan chose to co-write with his brother, Jonathan Nolan for the next two films, the scripts were still based on Goyer’s stories. Warner Bros. would become reliant on him to help construct the most profitable adaptation from the world of DC Comics. In a recent interview, the esteemed storyteller divulged more details about his experience with the making of the Dark Knight trilogy.
One of the biggest revelations was that he did not want Christian Bale as Batman. He advocated to the studio that it should be another A-lister, Jake Gyllenhaal. The studio would ultimately side with Nolan, who would eventually hire Bale. Goyer also stated that Warner Bros. executives wanted them to build a story around the Riddler for the Dark Knight Rises. They felt they could get Leonardo DiCaprio to portray the renowned character.
While this was a possibility since Nolan had cultivated a friendship with the Oscar winner after starring in Inception (2010), both Nolan and Goyer agreed, “That’s not the way we work.” Goyer continued that they never picked villains first. Rather they would focus on the Batman’s story for each film and picked what villain would best correspond to match that story. The Nolans and Goyer eventually settled on Bane (Tom Hardy) since he would the most formidable opponent, mentally and physically, to an aging Bruce Wayne.
Goyer was asked if there would ever be a chance at a fourth Dark Knight film with Joseph Gordon-Levitt after the ending of the third film. He only gave a brief response, “yeah for sure” with the possibility. However, due to the success of Matt Reeves’ The Batman and the development of Andy Muschietti’s Batman: The Brave and The Bold, there seems to be no foreseeable plan to resurrect Nolan and Goyer’s Batman universe any time soon.
Do you thin Jake Gyllenhaal would have been a better casting? Should the Dark Knight trilogy remain as it is or does it warrant a spinoff?