Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy changed how people saw Batman and other characters from its universe thanks to its realistic approach and its subtle foreshadowing moments, and Batman Begins and The Dark Knight subtly set up the next movie’s villains – here’s how. Batman’s history on the big screen has gone through many ups and downs, and after hitting a rough patch with Joel Schumacher’s Batman & Robin, he was given another chance with Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, starting in 2005 with Batman Begins.
Batman Begins introduced the audience to Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne and a darker and more realistic Gotham City than that in Tim Burton’s and Schumacher’s movies in the 1980s and 1990s. This first entry saw Batman go against Ra’s al Ghul (Liam Neeson) and Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy), this last one becoming the only villain to appear in all Dark Knight movies. Batman Begins was followed by The Dark Knight, which is widely regarded as one of the greatest superhero movies ever. This time, Batman came across none other than the Joker (Heath Ledger), and he also had to deal with Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), who became the iconic villain Two-Face. Last but not least, the closing chapter of the trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises, introduced Selina Kyle/Catwoman (Anne Hathaway), Bane (Tom Hardy), and Talia al Ghul (Marion Cotillard), and most of these villains were teased in the previous movie.
First, in Batman Begins, there’s a scene where Ra’s al Ghul arrives at a party Bruce is hosting, so he has to get rid of the guests. To do so, Bruce goes on a rant where he calls the attendees “two-faced friends”, which has been taken by some fans to be a subtle setup of Harvey Dent’s arrival in the next movie. Jumping to The Dark Knight, Bruce approaches Lucius Fox as he needs a new Batman suit, and when Fox shows him the new one, Bruce asks “how will it hold up against dogs”, with Fox replying it “should do fine against cats”. Though this was a joke, very on-brand with Lucius Fox’s personality, some have interpreted this as a hint of Selina Kyle’s appearance in The Dark Knight Rises.
As fun and interesting as these details are, many fans have put them into question. Although Christopher Nolan tends to add a lot of little details and foreshadowing moments in his movies, there are fans who see the “two-faced friends” and “against cats” lines in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight as nothing more than coincidences or just subtle references to these characters without actually setting them up. This is supported by how Nolan reportedly wasn’t planning on using Catwoman in his Batman trilogy but was eventually convinced to do so, but that happened after The Dark Knight was released.
Whether the “two-face” line was a subtle setup of Harvey Dent’s involvement in the sequel or Bruce just being rude, and the “cat” line a reference to Catwoman (without teasing her arrival) or a joke from Lucius Fox is up to viewers, as it seems unlikely that Christopher Nolan will provide a definitive answer to this at some point. What’s true, however, is that the Dark Knight trilogy is packed with Easter eggs and small details that make the viewing experience a lot more interesting and fun.