‘Dark Knight’ Trilogy Co-Creator Wanted Jake Gyllenhaal as Batman, Says Warner Bros. Asked for Leonardo DiCaprio’s Riddler: ‘That’s Not the Way We Work’

David S. Goyer is the co-architect of Christopher Nolan’s “Dark Knight” trilogy. The director recruited Goyer to help him flesh out the story and co-write 2005’s “Batman Begins,” before Nolan and his brother Jonathan penned the scripts for 2008’s “The Dark Knight” and 2012’s “The Dark Knight Rises” based on stories cracked by Goyer. What does Goyer think about a potential fourth Nolan-directed Batman movie? Don’t count on it.

“I don’t think thats ever going to happen,” Goyer said when asked on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast about Nolan making another film. “And I wouldn’t want to do another Batman project either.”

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YouTuber HugoDécrypte previously asked Nolan during the “Oppenheimer” press tour if he would make “another superhero movie.” Nolan bluntly answered, “No.” His Batman actor Christian Bale told ScreenRant last summer that he would only play Batman for a fourth time if Nolan was directing.

“I had a pact with Chris Nolan,” Bale said at the time. “We said, ‘Hey, look. Let’s make three films, if we’re lucky enough to get to do that. And then let’s walk away. Let’s not linger too long.’ In my mind, it would be something if Chris Nolan ever said to himself, ‘You know what, I’ve got another story to tell.’ And if he wished to tell that story with me, I’d be in.”

Elsewhere during his “Happy Sad Confused” interview, Goyer confirmed reports that he advocated for Jake Gyllenhaal to be cast as Batman over Christian Bale. Although he noted, “Bale is amazing.” He also remembered the head of Warner Bros. personally asking him to put the Riddler in “The Dark Knight Rises” and have Leonardo DiCaprio play him. Riddler was previously played by Jim Carrey in Joel Schumacher’s “Batman Forever” (1995).

“After ‘The Dark Knight,’ the head of Warner Bros. at the premiere said, ‘You got to do the Riddler. Leo as the Riddler. You got to tell Chris, Leo as the riddler.’ And that’s not the way we work.”

Goyer said that Nolan and him never picked villains first. Instead they would crack the story of Batman for each film and pick the corresponding villain to match that story. Bane (Tom Hardy) was selected for “The Dark Knight Rises” as the film wrestled with Batman’s age and physicality after the more intellectual warfare of Joker (Heath Ledger) in “The Dark Knight.”

As for their trilogy ending, Goyer said “yeah for sure” when asked if Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s police officer John Blake takes up the role of Batman after the events of “The Dark Knight Rises.” The film ended with John entering the Batcave, leaving the door open for his Batman tenure to begin.

Watch Goyer’s full appearance on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast in the video below.

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