The Dark Knight Scribe Confirms Riddler Casting Rumors

The Dark Knight's writer confirmed those Riddler casting rumors that have been floating around for years. David S. Goyer joined Josh Horowitz on the Happy, Sad, Confused podcast to discuss Warner Bros. pushing for Leonardo DiCaprio to be The Riddler in The Dark Knight Rises. Now, to clarify, the third movie in The Dark Knight trilogy didn't even have a name yet when an executive approached him with the idea. 

Goyer explained how the head of the company approached him after Christopher Nolan's second movie absolutely took over the zeitgeist. Warner Bros. absolutely wanted DiCaprio to be The Riddler in the third installment. Unfortunately for them, Goyer had to calmly explain why that would be difficult at best.

The writer recalled, "I remember after the premiere of The Dark Knight, the head of Warner Bros. saying, 'Oh, you gotta do The Riddler. Leo as The Riddler!' Saying to me, 'You gotta tell Chris, Leo as The Riddler.' And I just had to say, 'Dude, that's not the way we work.'"

DC Films Regimes Pushed For Their Own MCU Too Soon

Elsewhere in that interview, Goyer actually said that various regimes at DC Films were pushing for their own MCU right after Man of Steel. It's hard to imagine any reality where that ended up working out. Part of the Marvel Studio success with The Avengers was that audiences had met most of the principal players beforehand. When the time came to assemble, it was like seeing your old favorites together. However, DC brass wanted Goyer and other creatives to get toward Justice League as soon as possible. The rest is history.

"I know the pressure we were getting from Warner Bros., which was, 'We need our MCU! We need our MCU!' And I was like let's not run before we walk," Goyer shared. "The other thing that was difficult at the time was there was this revolving door of executives at Warner Bros. and DC. Every 18 months someone new would come in. We were just getting whiplash. Every new person was like, 'We're going to go bigger!'"

"I remember at one point the person running Warner Bros. at the time had this release that pitched the next 20 movies over the next 10 years. But none of them had been written yet!" The writer chuckled with the host. "It was crazy how much architecture was being built on air… This is not how you build a house."

What Does The Path Ahead At DC Look Like

Well, Christopher Nolan coming back for another Batman film feels like a long shot at this point. James Gunn has announced his Brave and the Bold movie. That one will probably focus on a slightly younger Batman and the Bat-Family. In fact, Gunn and Peter Safran are the heads of DC's movie efforts now. After the debut of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, their vision will go into full effect. With the way the release schedule has been lined up, don't be surprised if we don't see the fully assembled Justice League for a while. Here's what the duo had to say about taking over the head positions at DC.

"We're honored to be the stewards of these DC characters we've loved since we were children," Gunn and Safran wrote when the move was announced. "We look forward to collaborating with the most talented writers, directors, and actors in the world to create an integrated, multilayered universe that still allows for the individual expression of the artists involved. Our commitment to Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Harley Quinn, and the rest of the DC stable of characters is only equaled by our commitment to the wonder of human possibility these characters represent. We're excited to invigorate the theatrical experience around the world as we tell some of the biggest, most beautiful, and grandest stories ever told."

Would you have liked to see DiCaprio as The Riddler? Let us know in the comments!