CHAPTER 8:
NOLAN, THE GREAT & POWERFUL
Ever since they cancelled Joel Shumacher's next Batman movie, WB tried as hard as they can to find the perfect way to reboot Batman. They tried Batman Beyond and a street version of Batman with Darren Arronofsky's Year One. They cancelled both projects to make Batman Vs. Superman. Then THAT got cancelled. So WB kept looking for a new Batman project. After rejecting a Batman origin pitch from Joss Whedon, WB put the Batman franchise in the hands of Momento director, Christopher Nolan.
Now, Christopher Nolan wanted to make the movie about Batman's origin because, as he said, "has never been done before".
Yeah, that's never...
been done...
BEFORE!!!
But, to be fair, I'm sure Nolan meant a full, in-depth origin story. Which hadn't been done on-screen.
Nolan and writer David Goyer's goals with this movie was to make the audience care for Bruce Wayne, as the previous films focused more on the villains and side characters. Also, their two main inspirations for the movie were Batman: Year One and The Man Who Falls, which is a story where Bruce Wayne travels the world. Goyer also said he was influenced by The Long Halloween, because of the inclusion of villain and crime boss, Carmine Falcone.
Originally, Harvey Dent was going to be in the movie. But Nolan thought there wasn't a way to get him right yet. So they replaced him with a new character, Rachel Dawes. Wait, so if Rachel was a love interst and she replaced Harvey...
Okay, look. I looked all over the internet for a stupid picture of gay Harvey/Batman just for this stupid joke. And yet, in this land of horrid slash fan art, I can't find this stupid picture for this stupid joke. So if you're mad that I didn't finish this joke...
Now for casting. Christian Bale was considered to play Batman in both Arronofsky's Year One and Batman Vs. Superman before landing the part here after doing his audition in Val Kilmer's Batsuit. Because Kilmer can't fit in it anymore. Before Bale got the part, Heath Ledger, Ashton Kutcher, Steven Pasquale, and Keanu Reeves were considered. Laurence Fishburne was considered for Lucius Fox, but Morgan Freeman was cast. Christopher Eccleston, Ewan McGregor, Jeremy Davies, and even Marilyn Manson were considered for the Scarecrow, but Cillian Murphy got the part. Claire Danes, Reese Witherspoon, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Rachel McAdams were considered for Rachel Dawes, despite the role being written specifically for Katie Homles. Kurt Russell, Chris Cooper, and Dennis Quaid were considered for Gordon, but Gary Oldman got the part, with people deeming him as "the perfect choice". And, since people will kill me if I don't bring it up, young Joffrey is in the movie.
When the movie was released, it got tons of praise for the story, the acting, the writing, the twists, the characters, the action, the suspense, the more real-world feel, everything!!! Except Bale's Batman voice. As for the box office, it did great here in the US, but not as well everywhere else.
Before Batman Begins was released, Goyer already got to work on a draft for a sequel including Joker (who was teased at the end of Begins) and Harvey Dent. Goyer even had plans for a third film where Joker is put on trial and scars Dent, leading to his creation as Two-Face. A year after the release of Batman Begins, a sequel was announced with the name "The Dark Knight". Nolan was unsure if he wanted to return, but he did want to do his own version of Joker.
Christopher Nolan and his brother, John, rewrote Goyer's draft. They cited the first two appearences of the Joker in 1940 as an ispiration. At no point did Nolan even consider a Joker backstory. As he felt a Joker movie should be more about his rise to power rather than his origin. As for origins, he gave that to Harvey Dent. He said Dent was "the backbone of the movie". He wanted to make sure he was sympathetic and fully developed. Nolan also wanted to make sure Batman was portrayed as a detective, even if it ment some stupid bullet crap.
Now for casting. Ryan Phillipe and Hugh Jackman were wanted for Harvey Dent, but the role went to Aaron Eckhart. Katie Holmes left this movie to be in Mad Money, so Maggie Gyllenhaal took over the part. WB wanted Sean Penn for Joker. While Adrien Brody, Paul Bettany, Lachy Hulme, and Steve Carrell all expressed interest. Robin Williams campaigned for the role. But none of these guys knew that Nolan wanted Heath Ledger.
Now, when Ledger was cast as the Joker, everyone freaked out. The guy from Brokeback Mountain, 10 Things I Hate About You, and A Knight's Tale was going to be the Joker. However, Ledger was 100% committed to the part. He improvised many scenes. He directed the handheld Joker messages. He secluded himself in order to study the psychology of the Joker. He came up with the idea of facepaint on Joker instead of acid. Unfortunatley, Ledger passed away a few months before the movie was released at the age of 28.
Now I'm depressed. Let me cheer myself up with more facts. The character of Reese is obviously an allusion to the Riddler with his obsession of finding out Batman's secret idenity. Along with the fact that "Mr. Reese" sounds like Mystery, similar to how "E. Nygma" sounds like enigma. The film was going to include a reference to Robin by mentioning that Rachel was a distant cousin of the Graysons. This is the first Batman film where Batman is able to move his neck. A video game adaptation was cancelled, but was later picked up by British video game company, Rocksteady, who turned into Batman: Arkham Asylum.
When the movie was released, it broke the record for highest opening weekend with $158 million, which it held for three years until the release of the final Harry Potter film. The film became the second highest grossing film domestically after Titanic. Then a year later, Avatar came out and bumped it down to third. As for reception, the film received praise for the same things as Batman Begins, except it was said to be done even better. As for Heath Ledger...
Yeah, I'm surprised there are still crows left on Earth, there were so many eaten after The Dark Knight.
Ledger became the second actor to recieve an acting Oscar posthumously. And he deserves it. Dude went from teen star to gay cowboy to the Joker and he was great at all of those. After the huge success and praise of the Dark Knight, people wanted more.
The president of WB told fans that they were hoping to get a third Nolan Batman film done by 2011-2012. Nolan didn't just want the audience to be emotionally invested in the film. He wanted HIMSELF to be emotionally invested in the idea of a third film. He didn't think a third film was possible because, as he said, "How many good third movies in a franchise can people name"?
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Six.
Seven.
Eight.
Nine. (to me)
But I digress. Anyway, Nolan was iffy about returning until his Brother convinced him to end the series on a satisfactory note. The studio wanted the Riddler to be in the movie with Oscar-winner Leonardo DiCaprio (it feels so strange saying that) in the role, as they wanted a villain similar to the Joker. However, Nolan wanted to explore new territoryso he decided to use Bane. For the story of the film, he took inspiration from No Man's Land, The Dark Knight Returns, and Knightfall, which is the story that introduced Bane.
Now for casting. Cillian Murphy is the only villain to appear in all three films as John Crane / Scarecrow. Ryan Gosling was considered for John Blake, but Joesph Gordon-Levitt got the role. He was rumoured to play Robin (who he kinda played, I guess) or Alberto Falcone. Eva Green, Naomi Watts, Kate Winslet, and Rachel Weisz were all considered for Talia "Miranda Tate" al Guhl. The role went to Marrion Cotillard, who turned down Catwoman.
When the movie came out. It did good. Not as good as Dark Knight, but good. It opened a bit higher the The Dark Knight, but ended up making less. As for critics, it once again got the same praises. However, it got some critisims included a few plot holes and lack of Batman. As for me, I really like it. So...
Ten.
Hopefully, in a few weeks, we will have eleven. #CivilWar #TeamCap
Anyway, Nolan made so much money and earned so much praise for WB that they made him producer on their Superman reboot, which at first seemed like a good idea. UNTIL THEY ANNOUNCED THE DIRECTOR!!!
TO BE CONTINUED...