The Dark Knight: Christopher Nolan’s Batman Sequel Celebrates Anniversary

Fans celebrate the 13th anniversary of The Dark Knight, which opened on this day in 2008. Director [...]

By Cameron Bonomolo

Fans celebrate the 13th anniversary of The Dark Knight, which opened on this day in 2008. Director Christopher Nolan's sequel to his 2005 reboot Batman Begins, starring Christian Bale as the costumed crime-fighter, The Dark Knight pits the triumvirate of Batman and allies Lt. Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) and DA Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) against a new breed of costumed criminal: the Joker (Heath Ledger). When the clown plunges Gotham City into chaos months after a frightful attack by the Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy), the Joker's plans threaten the future Bruce Wayne hopes to have with childhood love Rachel (Maggie Gyllenhaal) in a Gotham that no longer needs a Batman.

Released on July 18, 2008, The Dark Knight was the highest-grossing film of the year with a worldwide total of $1.005 billion. The Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures production was the fourth film in history to reach the milestone — behind Titanic, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest — hitting the mark just days before the 2009 Oscars. It's there that Ledger, who died in January 2008, was posthumously awarded the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his instantly-iconic role as the Joker.

"We hadn't planned on doing a sequel [to Batman Begins]," Nolan said at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival when reflecting on The Dark Knight a decade after its release. "So shifting genres and the nature of the antagonist felt the way to take the audience on a journey and tell them something different about Bruce Wayne."

A third and final chapter, The Dark Knight Rises, followed in 2012. Batman Begins and The Dark Knight are now streaming on Hulu; Nolan's complete Dark Knight Trilogy is currently streaming on HBO Max.

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