Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy – sometimes dubbed The Dark Knight trilogy – is perhaps the defining big-screen portrayal of DC’s black-clad vigilante. Batman Begins established the character’s origin story with details we’d never seen in any previous movie adaptation.
The Dark Knight perfectly depicted Batman’s unique relationship with the Joker, which has permeated throughout decades of comics. And The Dark Knight Rises brought the story to a close, forcing Bruce Wayne to confront his innermost demons and figure out what kind of man he actually wanted to be. Nolan nailed all three of these movies. Here are 10 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About The Dark Knight Trilogy.
Christian Bale’s hatred of the Batman costume helped his performance
When Christian Bale first took on the role of Batman, he decided his take on the character would be a furious rage monster. He worried that Christopher Nolan would not like this interpretation, but the director actually loved it. So, Bale got to work playing an angry Batman.
The Batman suit turned out to be so heavy and uncomfortable that Bale was constantly in a bad mood when he was wearing it, so it helped his performance. Despite hating the Batman costume, Bale did a lot of his own stunts in it, although the crew wouldn’t let him anywhere near the expensive Batmobile.
The delayed hospital explosion in The Dark Knight was unscripted
This is a pretty widely known piece of trivia. When the crew came to shoot the scene in which the Joker blows up a hospital in The Dark Knight, they only had one shot to get it right. Since they were actually blowing up a hospital, they couldn’t just call cut and go again if something screwed up.
When Heath Ledger first pressed the detonator, it didn’t go off, which is why he keeps hitting it until eventually the explosives start going off. This unscripted faux pas ended up in the final cut, because it adds to the Joker’s unpredictable nature.
Christopher Nolan explained The Dark Knight Rises’ ending to people verbally
It’s difficult to stress just how highly anticipated The Dark Knight Rises was back in the summer of 2012. Fans couldn’t wait to see the epic conclusion to Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, arriving a full four years after the previous installment. According to Gary Oldman, Nolan described the ending of The Dark Knight Rises to the cast and crew verbally, as opposed to delivering the details in written form.
Nolan did this as an extreme measure to ensure that the ending wouldn’t be leaked to the public. With online platforms making leaks easier than ever, you can’t be too careful.
Heath Ledger was considered for the role of Bruce Wayne
In the earliest stages of developing Batman Begins, a gritty reboot of the Bat’s big-screen adventures, the producers looked at a number of promising young actors for the part of Bruce Wayne. One of the actors they considered before settling on Christian Bale was Heath Ledger, who would obviously go on to play the Joker in The Dark Knight to some critical acclaim.
Ledger’s casting was initially criticized by fans who couldn’t picture an actor who was typically a romantic lead playing the Clown Prince of Crime. Clearly, Christopher Nolan had seen something special in Ledger, and he turned out to be astoundingly right.
The Dark Knight was the first narrative film to use IMAX cameras
While Christopher Nolan has vehemently defended film stock over digital filmmaking technologies, he does believe that IMAX cameras are a fantastic innovation in the world of cinema, and has used them for a number of his films. The Dark Knight was the first ever narrative film to use IMAX cameras.
Nolan used the IMAX cameras to shoot six of the movie’s major action set pieces, including the breathtaking opening bank heist sequence and a number of aerial shots. The director would later go on to reuse IMAX cameras to shoot a full hour of material for The Dark Knight Rises.
As a Batman fan, Tom Hardy didn’t like beating up the Caped Crusader
Tom Hardy had a monumental challenge when he was cast as the villain in The Dark Knight Rises, because he had to rival the late Heath Ledger’s Oscar-winning performance as the Joker in the previous movie. Hardy’s portrayal of Bane is arguably just as iconic as Ledger’s Joker, even if the character doesn’t have as much depth.
Hardy has said that the fight scenes were the most challenging scenes in The Dark Knight Rises – not because of the physicality, but because he’s a lifelong Batman fan who hated beating up the Caped Crusader. According to Hardy, “It felt like I was beating up my childhood hero.”
A drunk driver hit the Batmobile on Batman Begins’ Chicago location
When Batman Begins was in the middle of production in Chicago, a drunk driver accidentally crashed into the Batmobile (or “the Tumbler,” as it is known in the world of The Dark Knight trilogy). Apparently, the driver was highly intoxicated, and when he saw the Batmobile, he thought that it was an invading alien craft and rammed into it in a state of panic.
Whether he lost control of the car in this panicked condition or was actively trying to fight the aliens is unclear. The Chicagoan shooting locations gave the Gotham City in Christopher Nolan’s trilogy its unique feel.
Some actors in The Dark Knight were genuinely terrified by Heath Ledger’s performance
When he was preparing to play the Joker in The Dark Knight, Heath Ledger locked himself in a motel room for six weeks to figure out the character’s psychology, bringing in elements of Alex DeLarge and Sid Vicious. Christopher Nolan was taken aback by Ledger’s mesmerizing portrayal of the Joker.
Michael Caine was reportedly so frightened by Ledger’s performance in the scene in Bruce Wayne’s penthouse that he forgot his lines. In the same scene, Maggie Gyllenhaal was so scared by Ledger’s acting that she couldn’t look directly into his eyes. He really nailed the psychopathic nature of that character.
Jessica Biel and Kate Mara screen-tested to play Catwoman
Although she’s never named “Catwoman” in the movie (instead being referred to in newspaper headlines as “the Cat”), a Nolan-ized adaptation of Catwoman appears in The Dark Knight Rises. The role of Selina Kyle was one of the most highly sought-after in Hollywood when the movie was being cast. Anne Hathaway ended up getting the part, and said that it was her most physically demanding role to date, but she had some tough competition.
The actors considered for the role included Jessica Biel, Kate Mara, Keira Knightley, Natalie Portman, Gemma Arterton, Blake Lively, and even Lady Gaga. When the shortlist was narrowed down to three names, Biel and Mara both did screen-tests alongside Hathaway.
The Joker was supposed to appear in The Dark Knight Rises
Before Heath Ledger’s tragic and untimely passing, the Joker was supposed to reappear in The Dark Knight Rises. The trilogy-capping finale was intended to continue the Joker’s story on the side while Bane rose to power. It’s easy to see how the Joker would’ve fit into the French Revolution-inspired plot of the film.
With Bane inspiring a revolution in Gotham, allowing the 99% to rise up against the 1%, the Joker would’ve slipped seamlessly into a city governed by anarchy. If he was locked up at the end of The Dark Knight, he would’ve been broken out by Bane’s goons. Unfortunately, Ledger’s passing made the Joker’s return impossible.