The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight is an upcoming 2008 American superhero film based on the fictional DC Comics character Batman and is part of the Batman film series. The film is a sequel to 2005’s Batman Begins, which rebooted the Batman film series after an eight-year hiatus. Christopher Nolan returns as the director, and Christian Bale reprises the lead role. Batman’s primary conflicts in the film come from his fight against the Joker (Heath Ledger) and his strained friendship with district attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart).

For the film Nolan took inspiration from the Joker’s first two appearances in the comics, and like the first film, he used Batman: The Long Halloween as a major influence on the story. The Dark Knight was filmed primarily in Chicago, (as was Batman Begins), as well as several other locations in and outside the United States. The director used an IMAX camera to film four major action sequences, including the Joker’s first appearance in the film. The Batsuit was redesigned, with a cowl allowing Bale to move his head. A recreation of the Batcycle, known as the Batpod, will be introduced.

Warner Bros. created an aggressive viral marketing campaign for The Dark Knight, developing several websites revealing details of the film, such as screenshots, as a reward for collaboration among Batman fans, leading to some press attention concerning how its campaign might be altered by Ledger’s January 22, 2008 death, as the Joker had been a chief promotional focus. Other marketing ventures include a new toy line as well as an animated direct-to-DVD anthology titled Batman: Gotham Knight that is set between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. The film will be released on July 17, 2008 in Australia, on July 18, 2008 in North America, and on July 25, 2008 in the United Kingdom.

Premise

As Batman, Lieutenant James Gordon, and new district attorney Harvey Dent successfully begin to round up the criminals that plague Gotham City, a mysterious criminal mastermind known only as the Joker appears in Gotham, creating a new wave of chaos. Batman’s struggle against the Joker becomes deeply personal, forcing him to “confront everything he believes” and improve his technology to stop him. A love triangle develops between Bruce Wayne, Dent and Rachel Dawes.

Cast and characters

Christian Bale reprises the role of Bruce Wayne / Batman, a billionaire who has dedicated himself to protecting Gotham City from the criminal underworld as the “Dark Knight”. Bale was confident in his choice to return in the role because of the positive response to his performance in Batman Begins. He trained in the Keysi Fighting Method, and performed many of his own stunts. He did not gain as much muscle this time, because of the storyline in which Batman builds a new suit that allows him to move with more agility. The actor described Batman’s dilemma as whether “[his crusade is] something that has an end? Can he quit and have an ordinary life? The kind of manic intensity someone has to have to maintain the passion and the anger that they felt as a child, takes an effort after awhile, to keep doing that. At some point, you have to exorcise your demons.” He added, “Now you have not just a young man in pain attempting to find some kind of an answer, you have somebody who actually has power, who is burdened by that power, and is having to recognize the difference between attaining that power and holding on to it.” Bale felt that because Batman’s personality was strongly established in the first film, it was unlikely that the character would be overshadowed by the villains: “I have no problem with competing with someone else. And that’s going to make a better movie.”

Heath Ledger portrays the Joker, whom the actor described as a “psychopathic, mass murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy”. Director Christopher Nolan had wanted to work with Ledger on a number of projects in the past, but had been unable to do so. When Ledger saw Batman Begins, he realized a way to make the character work in that film’s tone, and Nolan agreed with his anarchic interpretation. To prepare for the role, Ledger lived alone in a hotel room for a month, formulating the character’s posture, voice and psychology. While he initially found it difficult, Ledger was eventually able to generate a voice that did not sound like Jack Nicholson’s take on the character in Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman film. He started a diary, in which he wrote the Joker’s thoughts and feelings to guide himself during his performance. He was also given Batman: The Killing Joke and Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth to read, which he “really tried to read [...] and put it down”. Ledger also cited inspirations such as A Clockwork Orange and Sid Vicious. Ultimately, “there’s nothing that [is] consistent”, as his main objective was to frighten the audience.

Bringing the Joker back to the big screen invited a wave of speculation over his depiction. Before Ledger was confirmed in July 2006, Paul Bettany, Lachy Hulme, Adrien Brody, Steve Carell, and Robin Williams had publicly expressed interest in the role. Jack Nicholson was disappointed that he had not been approached to reprise the part. “You can’t believe the reasons things do or don’t happen. Not asking me how to do the sequel is that kind of thing,” he said. “Maybe it’s not a mistake. Maybe it was the right thing, but to be candid, I’m furious.” After the trailer was released, director Guillermo del Toro and comic book writer Jeph Loeb lavished praise upon Ledger, while Batman: The Animated Series co-creator Paul Dini said, “He seems more street than any other version of the Joker [...] His attitude is mordant and sardonic as opposed to manic [...] No goofy gags or puns for him. This Joker doesn’t split sides… he splits skulls.” Mark Hamill, who voiced the part on The Animated Series, said “The balls-out debauched psycho approach seems like a great way of reinventing everyone’s favorite scary (and scar-y) clown.” Ledger died on January 22, 2008, after filming had been completed. “It was tremendously emotional, right when he passed, having to go back in and look at him every day,” Nolan recalled. “But the truth is, I feel very lucky to have something productive to do, to have a performance that he was very, very proud of, and that he had entrusted to me to finish.”

Aaron Eckhart plays district attorney Harvey Dent / Two-Face, for whom battling the Joker takes a dark toll. Eckhart described the character of Harvey Dent as coming from the same world as Batman, but simultaneously being apart from it. “I’m looking for the tension between the two, the similarities between the two. I want to find what’s similar to Batman and then find what’s opposite to him,” Eckhart said. Producer Charles Roven described Dent as the “white knight of the city”. Christopher Nolan and David Goyer had originally considered using Dent in Batman Begins, but replaced him with the new character Rachel Dawes when they realized they “couldn’t do him justice”. Before Eckhart was cast in February 2007, Liev Schreiber, Josh Lucas, and Ryan Phillippe had expressed interest in the role.

Maggie Gyllenhaal plays assistant D.A. Rachel Dawes, a childhood friend of Bruce Wayne, and one of the few people who know that he is Batman. Gyllenhaal acknowledged her character as a damsel in distress to an extent, adding that Nolan had sought ways to empower her character. She said, “Rachel’s really clear about what’s important to her and unwilling to compromise her morals, which made a nice change” from the many conflicted characters she has portrayed. Before Gyllenhaal’s casting, actress Katie Holmes (who had portrayed Rachel Dawes in Batman Begins) was reported in August 2005 by producer Charles Roven to be signed for The Dark Knight. However, in January 2007, Holmes turned down the offer to reprise her role as Rachel Dawes due to scheduling conflicts, and the role was recast two months later.

Additional characters include:

• Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth: Bruce Wayne’s trusted butler and father figure who tends to Wayne Manor.
• Gary Oldman as Lieutenant James Gordon: One of the few uncorrupt members of the Gotham City Police Department. Gordon’s wife and son, played by Melinda McGraw and Nathan Gamble, respectively, also appear.
• Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox: The recently-promoted CEO of Wayne Enterprises who supplies Bruce Wayne with the gear necessary to carry out Batman’s mission.
• Eric Roberts as Sal Maroni: The gangster who now leads Carmine Falcone’s mob family. Bob Hoskins and James Gandolfini were reported to have also auditioned for the part.
• Michael Jai White as Gambol: A gang leader at war with Maroni. David Banner auditioned for the role.
• Nestor Carbonell as Mayor Anthony Garcia.
• Cillian Murphy as Dr. Jonathan Crane / Scarecrow: The former director of Arkham Asylum, who poisoned the Gotham water supply with fear hallucinogen in Batman Begins.
• William Fichtner as Gotham National Bank Manager: A bank manager working for the mafia, confronted by the Joker in the film’s opening. Fichtner’s casting was a nod to Heat. Musician Dwight Yoakam was approached for the role, or to play a corrupt cop, but he chose to focus on his album Dwight Sings Buck.
• Winston Ellis as Gator: A villain who serves as Gambol’s bodyguard along with actor Chucky Venice. He is confronted by the Joker in the first full length trailer.
• Monique Curnen as Detective Ramirez, a member of the GCPD.

Anthony Michael Hall has been cast as a reporter. Keith Szarabajka has been cast as a detective named “Stephens” (according to his website), and Beatrice Rosen and Joshua Harto also have minor roles. Edison Chen cameos as a villain. Batman fan and United States Senator Patrick Leahy, who previously was an extra in the 1997 Batman & Robin and also was a guest voice actor on Batman: The Animated Series, will have a cameo in The Dark Knight, in a scene with Batman and the Joker. Singaporean actor Ng Chin Han also reportedly has a role in the film.

Snapshots: