Christopher Nolan's Batman movies could have starred Jake Gyllenhaal
Warner Bros. also really wanted a Leonardo DiCaprio Riddler for The Dark Knight Rises, said Batman Begins co-writer David S. Goyer

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Jake Gyllenhaal Photo: Jon Kopaloff
Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy may be one of the best, most surprising superhero tales of all time, but—according to co-creator David S. Goyer—it almost looked very different. Instead of Christian Bale’s gritty, brooding take on the titular vigilante, we could have had Jake Gyllenhaal’s… probably equally heady take on the character. This is still a Christopher Nolan film, after all.
“There were a number of people who screen tested, and I had advocated for Gyllenhaal,” said Goyer—who co-wrote Batman Begins and story-crafted The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises—on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast (via Variety). “I mean, Gyllenhaal is amazing. Christian Bale is amazing. So who knows,” he clarified.