The Dark Knight Rises co-writer Jonathan Nolan initially disagreed with his brother and fellow co-writer Christopher Nolan about Bane being the film's primary villain, saying he instead "started to play with the idea of The Riddler".
Jonathan said on the Happy Sad Confused podcast that he was "unsure" about Bane being Batman's foe in the film after the villain was brought up in a conversation between Christopher (who directed) and third co-writer David S. Goyer.
"We had these conversations," Jonathan said. "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 [Joker] — you didn't want to go anywhere near it.
"I started to play with the idea of the Riddler and what could be done with that character," he continued. "But it did feel like close enough to the space of what we had done with Heath, and you really needed to [change direction].
"There's another genre shift there. One of the things I was excited about for The Dark Knight Rises was that if you do a kind of urban crime genre for [the second film], the third one was a post-apocalyptic film. You sort of go: Batman always saves the day, and the city survives. Why can't we destroy Gotham and see what happens afterwards?"
Jonathan was not alone in wanting the Riddler in the Dark Knight trilogy-capper, as Goyer has long been vocal about the fact Warner Bros. thought the riddling rogue would be a good fit for the film and had eyed Leonardo DiCaprio for the role. Goyer and the Nolan brothers pushed back, of course, and closed the trilogy with Bane.
Christopher has reflected on that choice in recent years, calling Tom Hardy's performance "truly amazing" and "extraordinary" despite complaints that it was too difficult to hear him behind the mask. The director said in 2020 he thinks Hardy's portrayal of the masked mercenary has yet to be "fully appreciated".
The Dark Knight Rises received positive reviews from critics, including IGN, who called it "a fitting emotional and narrative conclusion" to the trilogy — a trilogy that may never have happened as Christopher was hesitant about making superhero movies and has since rejected the idea of returning to the genre.
Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on X/Twitter @AdeleAnkers.
