Trends International DC Comics Movie - The Dark Knight - The Joker - Why So Serious One Sheet Wall Poster, 14.725" x 22.375", Black Framed Version
SHARE “Why so serious?” If anybody should take The Dark Knight seriously it’s the people who put the work in to make it one of the highest-grossing and acclaimed DC films of all time – but especially Christopher Nolan. RELATED: Cillian Murphy Doesn’t Think His Wes Craven-Directed Thriller ‘Red Eye’ Was That Good: “I Hated Watching Myself” It’s as near-perfect a movie as you’re going to get (more so than Jonah Hex ), despite some confusing plot holes. However, Nolan is bothered by one thing his movie gave pop culture – that being one of its more quotable lines, and we’re not talking about any of the grim quips that came from The Joker. Nolan, speaking to Deadline , confessed he is ”plagued” by Harvey Dent’s (Aaron Eckhart’s) iconic line, “You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” And the reason is surprising and simpler than you may think. “I’m plagued by a line from The Dark Knight, and I’m plagued by it because I didn’t write it,” he explained. RELATED: Christopher Nolan Appears To Run Damage Control For His Film ‘Tenet’, Claims It Isn’t Supposed To Be Comprehensible “My brother [Jonathan] wrote it,” he revealed. “It kills me, because it’s the line that most resonates. And at the time, I didn’t even understand it. He says, ‘You either die a hero or you live long enough to become the villain.'” Over time, the filmmaker grew to understand what those words meant, and how they apply so well to Harvey Dent. “I read it in his draft, and I was like, ‘All right, I’ll keep it in there, but I don’t really know what it means. Is that really a thing?’ And then, over the years since that film’s come out, it just seems truer and truer. In this story, it’s absolutely that. Build them up, tear them down. It’s the way we treat people,” Nolan said. RELATED: Christopher Nolan Calls Zack Snyder’s ‘Watchmen’ A Masterpiece That Was “Ahead Of Its Time” Aaron Eckhart was not quite an unknown at the time playing the bifurcated one, but he sort of falls into the category – especially now – of that type of actor taking on a major villain unexpectedly. That sort of casting was the calling card for Nolan’s Batman, starting with Cillian Murphy as The Scarecrow. “I don’t remember having any resistance whatsoever to having a relative unknown take on a big part like that,” Nolan recalled when it came to casting Murphy and Eckhart. “And previously all those villains were played by actors like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Jack Nicholson. They were the biggest stars in the films. But no, [the studio] got it. They were all blown away by the test.” The entire world and the Academy are appropriately blown away this season by Murphy as Oppenheimer in Nolan’s biopic of the father of the atomic bomb which has a sizable chance of sweeping the award show. (We aren’t assuming you’re interested in that; we’re just pointing it out.) NEXT: Rumor: Christopher Nolan In Discussions To Direct Pair Of James Bond Movies More About: Movies By Bounding Into Comics By Bounding Into Comics By Bounding Into Comics By Maxim By Chip Chick By American Cars And Racing Warning: Spoilers for Wonder Woman (2023) #6 ahead! Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight (2008) remains a classic Batman film for a reason: the tightly-paced thriller's impact on the superhero genre can still be felt today. As such, it's only appropriate that the film receives a nod from the comics every now and then, with a recent side story confirming one of the film's major plot elements as DC canon. Wonder Woman (2023) #6 concludes with Tom King, Belén Ortega, Alejandro Sánchez, and Clayton Cowles' story, "World's Finest, Part 4." The story is largely a charming romp in which Damian Wayne and Jon Kent attempt to coax a young Lizzie (Trinity) to bed. However, a mild spat arises between Jon and Damian when Jon discovers Damian has hooked the television up to a surveillance feed of Gotham. " Father cut this feed out of some pathetic theoretical privacy concerns, " Damian explains, echoing one of the key ethical debates posed by The Dark Knight. " Fortunately, I was able to repair the damage without the necessity of his supervision. " One of the most memorable lines of The Dark Knight - "some men just want to watch the world burn" - gets twisted by Marvel to establish a new Big Bad. Electronic monitoring without knowledge or consent is one of The Dark Knight 's major plot elements. With Batman desperate for any edge he can get over the Joker, Lucius Fox is horrified to discover that Bruce has used his sonar technology to hijack the personal devices of everyone in Gotham to act as his surveillance network. The breach of privacy is so egregious that Lucius refuses to work for Bruce for as long as the network exists, although Batman redeems himself by destroying the network by the end of the film. While the film presents this as a major ethical dilemma, Batman is infamous for doing far worse in the comics. Between the creation of Brother Eye, his anti-Justice League contingency files, and his Failsafe robot turning Gotham into a miniature police state , Batman has become DC's poster child for paranoid illicit surveillance. Not only is it completely in character for this film element to be adapted into canon , it marks one of the few times the film adaptation of the character has wound up making better choices than their comic counterpart. It's fascinating how Batman's role as "detective" has transformed over time to become the worst-case scenario for intrusive technological surveillance. While The Dark Knight presents this as an ethical quandary that is ultimately resolved for the better, it is something that Batman still struggles with in the comics, making it an easy part of the film to incorporate into DC canon. Wonder Woman (2023) #6 is available now from DC Comics. Wonder Woman #6 (2023) Joaquin Phoenix donned his best clown makeup to play the iconic DC villain in 2019’s Joker . Yet Phoenix could have played the Clown Prince of Crime in The Dark Knight . In a recent appearance on Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin , Phoenix revealed that he spoke with Nolan about playing the Joker in The Dark Knight . “I remember I talked to Chris Nolan about The Dark Knight , and that didn’t happen for whatever reason,” Phoenix said. “I wasn’t ready then. That’s one of those things where it’s like, ‘What is in me that’s not doing this?’ And it’s not about me. There’s something else. There’s another person who is going to do something.” The other person turned out to be the late Heath Ledger, whose Oscar-winning performance as the Joker remains one of the greatest comic book portrayals in a movie. Even Phoenix can’t deny Ledger’s greatness. Phoenix added, “I can’t imagine what it would be if we didn’t have Heath Ledger’s performance in that film, right?” “I don’t know whether Christopher Nolan was coming to me saying, ‘You’re definitely the person,'” Phoenix continued. “I can’t remember the context of how we met, but I know we met. My feeling was I shouldn’t do this, but maybe he also was like, ‘He’s not the guy.’” It worked out for Phoenix in the long run, as he won an Oscar for his role as Arthur Fleck in 2019’s Joker, which became an international hit, grossing over $1 billion worldwide. Joker was the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time until Deadpool & Wolverine surpassed it this summer. Phoenix reprised his Oscar-winning role in Joker: Folie à Deux . The sequel was critically panned and rejected by most audiences. Joker: Folie à Deux has grossed $201 million worldwide on a rumored budget of $190 million. The film is projected to l ose $150 to $200 million for Warner Bros . Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga are wreaking havoc in the new trailer for Joker: Folie à Deux. While awaiting trial for his crimes as Joker, Arthur Fleck (Phoenix) is incarcerated at Arkham State Hospital. While in captivity, Arthur meets and falls in love with Harleen Quinzel (Gaga), aka Harley Quinn. Amid the chaos, the duo discovers their true versions of themselves. Joker 2 will include musical elements, as Phoenix and Gaga are singing and dancing in the latest footage. Christopher Nolan is back on the big screen with the biographical thriller Oppenheimer. Cillian Murphy stars as J. Robert Oppenheimer, a theoretical physicist who played a key role in developing the first nuclear weapons. Murphy and supporting player Robert Downey Jr. are receiving rave reviews across the board, with many critics considering them early contenders for the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor Oscars, respectively. Rave reviews are not an abnormality for Nolan's films -- the auteur who revolutionized the comic book movie is behind many of the best sci-fi movies from the 2000s and 2010s. Still, Oscar talk for his leading actors is; after all, the late Heath Ledger remains the only performer to win an Oscar for acting in a Nolan film. However, his movies have several incredible performances, thanks to Nolan's heavy, thought-provoking dialogue and the top talent he attracts to his projects. From deranged clowns to loyal butlers and femme fatales, here are the best performances in Christopher Nolan's films. 7. Marion Cotillard (Inception) Christopher Nolan is set to go nuclear this week. The filmmaker’s long-awaited 12th film, Oppenheimer, hits theaters opposite Barbie this Friday — making it one-half of the weirdest theatrical double-feature since, hilariously enough, Nolan’s The Dark Knight opened opposite Mamma Mia in 2008. (Oh, how times have and haven’t changed.) While Oppenheimer continues Nolan’s career-long fascination with science, the film also promises to be the longest and most adult production that he’s ever constructed. The movie's R-rating, $100 million budget, and 3-hour runtime have made it Nolan’s biggest gamble to date. But if any filmmaker can draw audiences in for such a movie, it’s Nolan, a director whose cinematic visions have repeatedly proven to be both popular and profitable. Whether or not Oppenheimer joins his long line of blockbuster successes remains to be seen.