Joseph Gordon-Levitt has been confirmed as a cast member for the upcoming Batman trilogy cap, “The Dark Knight Rises”. His role has also been announced, and surprisingly, it’s not one of Batman’s classic villains.
In the first two films in the new Batman trilogy helmed by Nolan, we saw villains who were gritty, “real” versions of the old classics: Ra’s al Ghul, Scarecrow, Joker, and Two-face. This time, we’re getting at least one villain who is neither colorful nor classic.
Gordon-Levitt will be playing Alberto Falcone, an organized crime figure in Gotham, and the son of the crime boss featured in Batman Begins. The character also may be a serial killer, though with a timid gimmick. No word in how central this role will actually be, but considering the actor, and the popularity of his performance in the recent “Inception”, we can guess that it likely won’t be just a walk-on.
Some analysts are guessing that this character will be the major villain, pushing the two costumed villains – Catwoman and Bane – off to the side-lines, and that it represents the promise Nolan made to create “real” villains for Batman to fight. I don’t think that’s the right of it, however.
The promise of “real” is already being fulfilled, as all of the villains so far have been very dynamic, and seem to take on more true personality aspects than the previous attempt at Batman movies.
It’s very unlikely that Nolan will decide to break the tradition of having two costumed villains for each movie, with one being the primary antagonist, especially after following the trend for the first two movies of the trilogy.
More likely, this character will serve as the non-freak backer for one or both of the villains, and Batman will not have to fight him directly.
The original press release says this:
“After months of speculation that Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s performance in Christopher Nolan’s Inception had earned him a role in the director’s next Batman installment, Variety is confirming the deal has been made. Levitt is the latest to officially hop on board The Dark Knight Rises, the fast-tracking Warner Bros. Pictures which also has his confirmed co-stars Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Anne Hathaway and Tom Hardy.
“While Levitt’s role is being kept under wraps for now, the trade does report that actress Juno Temple is being eyed to play a street-smart Gotham girl.
“Christopher Nolan is returning to wrap up his Batman trilogy, based on a screenplay by his brother Jonathan Nolan and returning franchise writer David Goyer.”
Variety reported the identity of the character as coming from an industry insider.
