Batman almost faced off against Leonardo DiCaprio?
![When The Dark Knight Rises swoops into theaters July 20, fans will finally be able to see Gotham’s sworn protector facing off against Tom Hardy’s menacing muscle-god, Bane. However, if the studio had it their way, the film would have featured a very different supervillain. In an article for Empire Magazine, The Dark Knight writer […]](http://darkknight.tribute.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Leo-Dicaprio.jpg "Batman almost faced off against Leonardo DiCaprio? - The Dark Knight")
When The Dark Knight Rises swoops into theaters July 20, fans will finally be able to see Gotham’s sworn protector facing off against Tom Hardy’s menacing muscle-god, Bane. However, if the studio had it their way, the film would have featured a very different supervillain. In an article for Empire Magazine, The Dark Knight writer David Goyer recalls Warner Brothers strongly pushing for Titanic dreamboat Leonardo DiCaprio to be cast as Bruce Wayne’s main nemesis in the epic trilogy’s conclusion, telling him during a 2008 meeting, “Obviously it’s gonna be The Riddler, and we want it to be Leonardo DiCaprio.” DiCaprio went on to star in Christopher Nolan’s cerebral blockbuster, Inception. Had he appeared in the movie, he’d have starred alongside former co-stars Michael Caine, Marion Cotillard and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Last played by Jim Carrey in 1995, The Riddler is one of Batman’s more gimmicky antagonists, known more for his quippy one-liners than his diabolical schemes. It isn’t hard to understand why Goyer chose to go with the more gritty Bane in Nolan’s hyper-realistic series that has featured some of Batman’s more obscure opponents such as The Scarecrow and Ra’s al Ghul.
