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When makingThe Dark Knightfilms, Christian Bale and Christopher Nolan had a pact that they would walk away if they were fortunate enough to make three films. The pair stayed true to this vision and concluded their Batman adventure afterThe Dark Knight Rises. But if Nolan were to make a potential fourth film in the series, one fan had the perfect villain and actor suggestion for theOppenheimerdirector.
The fan made a concept trailer in 2012 with clips from previous films and chose The Riddler as the villain for the film. The fan’s choice of actor to play The Riddler was the Oscar-winning actor Casey Affleck. While the fan’s idea of a fourth film never came to fruition, it still has a lot of potential.
Christian Bale Faces Off Against Casey Affleck InThe Dark Knight 4Fan-Made Trailer
Christopher Nolanis unlikely to return for a fourthDark Knightfilm after concluding his trilogy on a positive note. While Nolan was engaged in theworks ofThe Dark Knight Rises, one fan was already conceptualizing a fourthDark Knightfilm with the comic book villain The Riddler. This fan-made trailer from the account@videoedits1988grabbed the internet’s attention once again and fans would definitely like to see the concept made into a film.
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According to the trailer,Christian Balereturns to his role once again, this time facing off against another psychopathic villain after The Joker —Casey Affleck‘s The Riddler. Interestingly, before the third film was greenlit, the studio wanted Nolan to make The Riddler as the central villain in the film. However, Nolan believed that Bane made a better villain to his story than The Riddler and Nolan’s argument made sense once the movie came out.
In the trailer, Gotham City is terrorized by the villain who is obsessed with riddles and puzzles. The villain goes on a murderous rampage and Inspector Gordon is helpless in the case. He wants the Caped Crusader to come back and take down the villain. Besides Christian Bale and Casey Affleck,Gary Oldman‘s Inspector Gordon andMorgan Freeman‘s Lucius Fox appear in the trailer.
Interestingly, Bale and Affleck would join forces a year later in 2013 for the film,Out of the Furnace. Casey Affleck would also go on to work with Christopher Nolan in the filmInterstellarand later inOppenheimer. He also received his much-deserved Oscar for Best Actor for his role inMachester by the Sea. The fan’s desire to see The Riddler as a Batman villain on the big screen also happened in 2022 in the Matt Reeves filmThe Batman.
As forThe Dark Knight 4film, Christian Bale revealed to theToronto Sunin 2019 that he and Nolan agreed that they would only focus on“one film at a time.”He added that theInceptiondirector used to mention to him that if they ever made it to a third film, they would stop making any further films in the series. With the current advent of the Dark Knight in the DC Universe and in the Elseworlds Universe, the chances of a Nolan film happening are almost none.
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Christian Bale’sThe Dark Knight 4Had The Potential To Complete A Crucial Character Arc
While fans saw Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne retiring from his crime-fighting days at the end ofThe Dark Knight Rises, they missed one major Batman arc from the comics. At the end of the film, Bruce Wayne leads John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) to uncover his Batcave and all his equipment. It is hinted that John will take on the mantle of Robin in the film. However, fans did not get to see Wayne himself train the new protector of Gotham City.
In DC Comics, Batman is surrounded by many apprentices who learn the lessons of crime-fighting from him. Batman took all these kids under his wing and served as a mentor for them. His apprentices included Dick Grayson, who became Nightwing, Jason Todd, who became the Red Hood, and Tim Drake. He even trained Barbara Gordon aka Batgirl in the comics. In Christopher Nolan’s films, Bale’s Batman was surrounded by mentors rather than mentees.
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Thus, a fourth film could have roped back the Dark Knight into Gotham City to fight The Riddler, while also exploring his personal core story as a mentor to John Blake. Christopher Nolan’sThe Dark Knighttrilogy is now available for streaming on Max.
Hashim Asraff
Senior Writer
Articles Published :3018
Hashim Asraff is a Senior Entertainment Writer at FandomWire, with over 2,800 articles published on celebrity culture, comic book movies, and major TV franchises. With a background in Sociology and a keen interest in pop culture, Hashim brings a unique lens to breaking news stories, character deep-dives, film rankings, and fan-driven perspectives.His coverage often includes the MCU, DCU, hit network shows, and celebrity profiles, giving readers a rich blend of entertainment and analysis. A longtime fan of crime and investigative series, Hashim has watched thousands of episodes of NCIS, Criminal Minds, Law & Order: SVU, Bones, Blue Bloods, and The RookieA passionate storyteller and wordsmith, Hashim has also worked as a ghostwriter and managed multiple social media handles. He brought his writing expertise to FandomWire to also pursue his lifelong love for cinema and television.
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Casey AffleckChristian BaleChristopher Nolan
