Leonardo DiCaprio Almost Played The Riddler Opposite Christian Bale’s Batman In The Dark Knight Trilogy
While Christopher Nolan is appreciated for The Dark Knight Trilogy till now, at some point Leonardo DiCaprio was about to join him in the saga. Read on!
Leonardo DiCaprio Was Considered For The Riddler In Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy(Pic Credit: Movie Still)
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The world of Batman is about his nightly expedition to keep Gotham safe and also the villains that haunt the city. Unlike the rest of the comics, the antagonist in the Dark Knight’s world is at par with the protagonist. As a result, Joker, Penguin, and more are iconic names in the realm of bad men. It was recently that Paul Dano embodied Riddler in The Batman opposite Robert Pattinson. But did you know Leonardo DiCaprio almost played that part in Christopher Nolan’s legendary The Dark Knight trilogy?
Christopher Nolan entered the world of Bruce Wayne with Christian Bale donning the Batman costume for the iconic Dark Knight trilogy. Starting in 2005 and releasing the third in 2012, the three films are considered to be a masterclass in making a superhero movie.
While the filmmaker managed to give Heath Ledger the legendary status by making him Joker, he was about to bring in Leonardo to play The Riddler on Warner Bros’ demand reportedly.
So for the unversed, Christopher Nolan in his various interviews at one point had said that he wanted a very physical adversary and people were quick to point at The Riddler. Soon the reports said that Warner Bros wants it to be Leonardo DiCaprio. “[Co-writer] David Goyer said that at the premiere of The Dark Knight, Warner Bros. executives were already talking about a villain for The Dark Knight Rises — ‘it’s gonna be The Riddler, and we want it to be Leonardo DiCaprio,’” reports said back then as per Showbiz Cheatsheet.
But turned out Christopher Nolan brought in Tom Hardy as Bane and Riddler did not make the cut at all. It is now that the character made its appearance in Matt Reeves’ telling of the Gotham tale starring Robert Pattinson, The Batman. While over the years hints have been given about the consideration, no one has confirmed why it didn’t happen.
