Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale’s combo elevated the superhero franchise The Dark Knight to an epic cinematic experience. The trilogy has been widely celebrated and regarded as one of the best superhero franchises ever produced.
However, Bale was not the first choice for the role. Certainly, several actors wanted to work with Nolan as he was rising to prominence following the popularity of his earlier movies. Spider-Man star Jake Gyllenhaal was reportedly the primary choice for Nolan’s Batman.
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Jake Gyllenhaal Was Primary Choice For Batman
Christian Bale’s portrayal of DC’s Batman has received accolades from fans and critics alike. However, the race for the role was not easy, several actors were in the mix for the role of DC’s titular hero which included Spider-Man: Far From Home star, Jake Gyllenhaal. Speaking with Josh Horowitz on his Happy, Sad, Confused podcast, the screenwriter of The Dark Knight Trilogy, David S. Goyer, revealed casting details for Batman.
“We would chat about all sorts of things. There were a number of people who had screen-tested, and I had advocated for Gyllenhaal. mean, Gyllenhaal is amazing, Christian Bale is amazing, so who knows what.”
Goyer further revealed having Gyllenhaal’s screentest for the role. “I believe there is, yes,” he said. He would have also been a solid Batman but very different from Bale, and “it’s hard to know” as Bale’s image as Batman in the trilogy has been embedded in the perception of fans.
Christopher Nolan Took Advice From David S. Goyer While Casting Liam Neeson
Liam Neeson played Henri Ducard a.k.a. Ra’s al Ghul in Batman Begins. But there was also a line of actors for the role. Finally, there were two contenders including Neeson. “I remember having this conversation with Chris between some, these two of these candidates for Ra’s al Ghul,” Goyer told Josh Horowitz.
“He said, ‘What do you think?’ I said, ‘I vote for Liam Neeson.’ He said, ‘Why?’ and I said, ‘Because uh the other candidate wasn’t, um as old uh was a contemporary of Christian Bale’s in terms of age and Liam was a little older and I said the whole story that we’re telling is this paternal story you know uh about the shadow of his father and Ra’s al Ghul with all the Batman robes Gallery uh in the Dennis O’Neil stories had this sort of paternal function he was this shadow father and I just said for that reason I think we gained in that direction’”
However, Goyer said that it is unclear if Nolan actually considered his suggestion while casting Neeson for the role. “I have no idea if that I convinced Chris or not other people could have said the same thing but yeah we talked a lot about all of these various elements,” he added. Regardless, The movie or the entire trilogy came out as a cinematic marvel at the hands of Nolan with perfect casting choices.
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