Christopher Nolan Originally Planned to Bring Back Heath Ledger’s Joker in ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ Using CGI

Christopher Nolan Originally Planned to Bring Back Heath Ledger's Joker in 'The Dark Knight Rises' Using CGI
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After 1997’s Batman & Robin nearly tanked the Batman IP on the big screen, almost 8 years later, director Christopher Nolan handled the task to revive the iconic character on the big screen. And WB’s decision to let a young Nolan reinvent the Batman mythos on the big screen not only would succeed at the box office but would also give birth to one of the most beloved trilogies of all time.

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However, after perfecting the first two entries in the movie, the Tenet director wasn’t fully able to implement all of his plans for the final entry due to the unfortunate demise of beloved actor Heath Ledger. Initially, the director even considered taking the help of technology to implement his plans.

Also read: “I was desperate to play a lead for him”: Cillian Murphy Didn’t Give Up on Christopher Nolan Despite Director Using Him for Minor Roles Before Oppenheimer

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Christopher Nolan
Christopher Nolan

Christopher Nolan considered using CGI to bring back Heath Ledger’s Joker

Despite being known for crafting some of the biggest Sci-fi stories of the modern era, Christopher Nolan firmly believes in the traditional method of filmmaking and isn’t fond of the excessive use of CGI. However, before the tragic death of Heath Ledger, Nolan had initial plans to use Ledger’s Joker in The Dark Knight Rises and further dive into the dynamic between him and Batman. But following the unfortunate circumstances, Nolan considered using the help of CGI and previously deleted scenes of Joker from TDK to bring the iconic character back in the last entry of the franchise.

But unlike most of his ideas, this one was short-lived, as Christopher Nolan felt that it would have been disrespectful to the late Heath Ledger. And though the director had to scrap his initial plans for Joker’s involvement in The Dark Knight Rises, it didn’t stop him from doing justice to another villain from Batman’s Rogues’ Gallery. However, not all aspects of the character were instantly loved by fans and some did raise their problems with Bane’s voice, which Tom Hardy later came forward to explain his reasoning behind it.

Also read: “I’ve said no to some wrong people”: Christopher Nolan Exacted Revenge on Josh Harnett for Refusing Batman Role by Casting Ex-Girlfriend Scarlett Johansson in $109M Movie

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Heath Ledger as Joker
Heath Ledger as Joker

Tom Hardy explained the reasoning behind his Bane voice

Unlike most aspects of Bane, the voice of Tom Hardy’s character garnered a few criticisms and Tom Hardy had to come forward to answer the reasoning behind the voice. Although the mask is one of the reasons behind the effect in his voice, the actor revealed that the inspiration behind his voice for the character was the late actor, Richard Burton. Hardy stated,

“Bane is somebody who’s in tremendous pain all the time. So he had an older voice. Which is sort of Richard Burton, I suppose, you know. Slightly florid, camp English villain … in many ways, but just off-center,”

Also read: “He wasn’t right for that part”: Christopher Nolan Rejected Cillian Murphy as Batman to Cast Christian Bale Despite His Incredible Audition 

Tom Hardy as Bane
Tom Hardy as Bane

But despite a few setbacks and troubles along the way, Christopher Nolan didn’t fail on delivering another great Batman movie and ended the iconic trilogy in the best way possible.

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The Dark Knight Rises is available to stream on HBO Max.

Source: IMDb

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Written by Santanu Roy

Articles Published: 1435

Santanu Roy is a film enthusiast with a deep love for the medium of animation while also being obsessed with The Everly Brothers, Billy Joel, and The Platters. Having expertise in everything related to Batman, Santanu spends most of his time watching and learning films, with Martin Scorsese and Park Chan-wook being his personal favorites. Apart from pursuing a degree in animation, he also possesses a deep fondness for narrative-driven games and is currently a writer at Fandomwire with over 1000 articles.