The co-writing duo of the Nolan Brothers, Jonathan and Christopher, don’t always agree (like every other sibling duo ever). In a new interview, Jonathan Nolan suggested that he toyed with the idea of The Riddler over Bane as the villain for The Dark Knight Rises.
A new development has just hit the internet regarding The Dark Knight Nolan films, and this time, it’s regarding Jonathan Nolan, the co-writer of the sequels to Batman Begins. On the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Nolan dives into idea brainstorming with the host, Josh Horowitz and reveals that he initially disagreed with the idea of Bane as the big bad for the third film in the trilogy. Ironically enough, he claimed to have wanted The Riddler instead, and that villain would become the main villain in The Batman, the latest Caped Crusader film released in 2022, that starred Paul Dano as The Riddler.
Starting at the 35:37 mark on the Happy Sad Confused episode, Nolan launches into his thoughts on The Dark Knight Rises. Jonathan Nolan says, “Bane came out of a conversation with David and Chris. I was unsure about that at the story stage, but I [didn’t want it to be] backseat driving. Chris understood that, what we had done and what Heath [Ledger] had done with that character [The Joker] — you didn’t want to go anywhere near [something like] it.” He then said, “I started to play with the idea of the Riddler and what could be done with that character.”
Jonathan Nolan ultimately concluded that the direction the writers had to go in to choose The Riddler would have been far too close to Heath Ledger’s portrayal of The Joker in The Dark Knight, and their main want for the third film was to change direction. They ultimately settled on a post-apocalyptic type film, where Nolan asks, “Why can’t we destroy Gotham and see what happens afterwards?”
History shows Nolan and Co. ultimately decided on Tom Hardy as Bane for the trilogy’s finale. Fans can swing over to the Happy Sad Confused YouTube channel to watch the entire interview. Fans can also check out Nolan’s latest work as a Director in the new Prime Video series, Fallout where he served as Director for three episodes.
