Trivia / Batman Begins

• Cast the Runner-Up:
  • Cillian Murphy screen-tested for the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman. Although his performance was deemed unsuitable for the character, he nonetheless impressed Nolan, who cast him as Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow.
  • Gary Oldman was originally cast as Henri Ducard with Chris Cooper as Jim Gordon. After Cooper dropped out, Oldman was cast as Gordon.
• The Cast Showoff: Notice how Ducard tends to go into boxing stances when fighting bare handed? Liam Neeson trained as a boxer in his teens.
• Completely Different Title:
  • Hong Kong: Batman: Mystery of Heroes
  • Vietnam: Batman Appears
• Cowboy BeBop at His Computer: At least one critic, noting that the movie makes reference to a (fictional) "depression", and perhaps also remembering the origin of the Batman character, believed that in Batman Begins Bruce was a child sometime in the 1930s...which, of course, would mean that he became Batman (in this continuity) in the mid-1950s at the latest, which is obviously not true. The parody of this movie on The Simpsons, "Bartman Begins," ran with this by having the story be set blatantly in the '30s.
• Creator Killer: Successful as the film itself was, it also meant the beginning of the end for veteran Spanish voice actor Armando Carreras, who directed the dub and voiced Thomas Wayne. Due to Warner's famously draconian standards about foreign dubs, Carreras was forced to subject all the characters to castings and auditions, even for veteran voice actors who had not gone though one in decades, and some didn't meet the harsh conditions, resulting in usual assignations being replaced. Although it's believed Carreras had little to no choice in this process, he was forced to bear most of the brunt when several big names complained, leading to a series of public clashes after which Carreras ended up blacklisted from Spanish dub forever.
• Dyeing for Your Art: Christian Bale had to quickly bulk up after his incredible weight loss for The Machinist. He succeeded in packing on the muscle in a short amount of time and discovered that he actually overdid it (making him look too bulky and stout for a character that has to be quick on his feet) and had to slim back down during production. Compare how he looks during the training montage at Ra's Al Ghul's compound and during his shirtless scenes later in the movie to see just how much he had to lose.
• Enforced Method Acting: Christian Bale's active dislike of his uncomfortable Batman outfit helped his performance as the Dark Knight as he was perpetually in a foul mood when wearing it.
• Fake American: Other than Katie Holmes and Morgan Freeman the majority of the cast is not American. We have the English Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne, Irish Cillian Murphy as Dr. Crane, and English actors Gary Oldman, Tom Wilkinson, Linus Roache and Sara Stewart as Commissioner Gordon, Falcone, and Thomas and Martha Wayne, respectively.
• Fake Nationality: In addition to the above, wherever he actually is from, Ra's Al Ghul is almost certainly not Irish.
• Money, Dear Boy:
  • Part of Christian Bale's motivation for taking on the role of Batman was the fact that the salary was enough for him to pay off his house.
  • At the time this film entered production Gary Oldman had just gone through a messy divorce and been awarded sole custody of his two young sons. He accepted the role of Jim Gordon because it was a supporting role that wouldn't keep him away from his children for too long while also providing a large salary^note He took the role of Sirius Black in the Harry Potter film series for the same reason.
• No Stunt Double: Although Christian Bale performed many of his own stunts, he wasn't allowed anywhere near the Batmobile.
• The Other Darrin:
  • For the video game, Gary Oldman was replaced by Gavin Hammon.
  • For the video game again, in the French dub this time, Dominique Paturel replaced Frédéric Cerdal. Paturel was the most prolific dubbing actor for Michael Caine, but curiously never voiced his Nolan film roles.
• Playing Against Type: Two deliberately invoked examples on Nolan's part
  • Liam Neeson as Ra's al Ghul, especially since the character initially seems to be an ally of Batman.
  • Conversely, playing Commissioner Gordon allowed Gary Oldman the rare chance to play a more heroic and upstanding character than the usual villains he had portrayed up until that point.
• Scully Box: An unforeseen problem with the ninja training academy was that Liam Neeson towered over the rest of the men. This was swiftly solved by putting most of the ninjas on wooden blocks.
• Star-Making Role:
  • Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman. While American Psycho was a cult hit, this was the film that made him a bona-fide star.
  • Cillian Murphy was already well-liked by critics and fans of indie films, but this movie (along with Red Eye) gave him an almighty shove out of the shadows and into the spotlight.
• Underage Casting: Rachel Dawes is an assistant district attorney despite her actress Katie Holmes being 26 years old and looking to be about 23.
  • To top this, according to the original script Rachel is supposed to be some two or three years older than Bruce Wayne, to justify her being an intern at the DA office when he's still an undergrad. In real life, Bale is some five years older than Katie Holmes.
  • In The Dark Knight, the role of Rachel is recast with Maggie Gyllenhaal who appears only slightly older than Holmes (indeed, she is a year older). In that film, she was still the assistant DA in a love triangle between Bale's Bruce Wayne and the even older Aaron Eckhart's Harvey Dent.
  • Cillian Murphy was 27 during filming and looked several years younger, leading one to wonder how Crane got put in charge of Arkham when he should be just graduating medical school.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Josh Hartnett was approached for the part of Bruce Wayne before Christian Bale was cast. However, Hartnett turned down the offer due to a lack of interest in portraying a comic book character at the time.
  • Heath Ledger had discussions for the role of Bruce Wayne, but turned it down due to his dislike of comic book movies. Ledger would eventually go on to play the Joker in The Dark Knight.
  • Ashton Kutcher was also considered for Bruce Wayne and was reportedly some of the studio executives' top contender for the part. However, Nolan was not so enthusiastic about the idea of casting Kutcher, which prompted the studio heads to drop the idea.
  • Jake Gyllenhaal, David Boreanaz, Joshua Jackson, Eion Bailey, Hugh Dancy, Cillian Murphy and Billy Crudup screen-tested for the titular role as well before the casting of Bale. Murphy would later go on to portray Jonathan Crane in the film, while Crudup would play Henry Allen in Justice League.
  • Ewan McGregor, Christopher Eccleston, Jeremy Davies, Marilyn Manson and Robert Downey Jr. were considered for the part of Jonathan Crane before the casting of Cillian Murphy. McGregor would eventually go on to play Black Mask in Birds of Prey.
  • Chris Cooper, Dennis Quaid and Kurt Russell were considered for the role of James Gordon before Gary Oldman was cast.
  • Daniel Day-Lewis, Viggo Mortensen and Guy Pearce were approached for Henri Ducard before the casting of Liam Neeson. Pearce turned down the offer due to the fact that he considered himself "too young" for the part at the age of thirty-seven.
  • Anthony Hopkins was offered the role of Alfred Pennyworth before Michael Caine was cast.
  • Laurence Fishburne was considered for Lucius Fox before the casting of Morgan Freeman. Fishburne would go on to portray Perry White in the DC Extended Universe.
  • Darren Aronofsky was originally chosen to write and direct the movie before Christopher Nolan was hired. Aronofsky's version of the film would've been based on Batman: Year One, and he brought on Frank Miller to co-write it with him. Aronofsky was also interested in casting Joaquin Phoenix as Bruce Wayne, while the higher-ups preferred Freddie Prinze Jr. However, the studio was unhappy with the script due to the differences from the source material and did not greenlight the film. Phoenix would go on to play the titular character in Joker. M. Night Shyamalan, David Fincher and The Wachowskis were also approached to direct the film before Nolan was hired. The Wachowskis turned down the offer in order to helm The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions instead.
  • The writers considered having Harvey Dent in the film, but inserting him would have been too unwieldy. Dent would later appear in the sequel portrayed by Aaron Eckhart.
  • Nolan originally didn't want to give Scarecrow a mask, but David S. Goyer was able to convince him into it.
  • According to an interview with production designer, the waterfall guarding the entrance to the Batcave was originally meant to cover a solid rock wall, which Batman's enemies would slam into when attempting the jump in. The rock wall would have been opened with a button inside the Batmobile, but the sequence was cut before filming began.
  • The video game was going to have a PlayStation Portable port, but wasn't completed.
• Word of God: Going by this, comics canon, and the novelization, the Nolanverse Bruce Wayne was born on February 19, 1977 (1980 in the novelization); his parents were killed on June 26, 1986, at 10:47 PM; their killer is killed and Bruce himself begins his seven-year odyssey on February 20, 2000; Henri Ducard discovered Bruce in early 2006; his training with the League of Shadows went on for about a year, culminating in the final test on January 17, 2007; Bruce boards a plane back to Gotham on January 21, 2007, arriving the next day; the film's story picks up on February 1, 2007, as Crane recommends that Victor Zsasz be moved to Arkham; the Batman makes his first appearance and serves up Carmine Falcone on Valentine's Day, with the case against Falcone going forward the next day; Falcone is driven insane on the 17th, and the Batman is poisoned by Crane that night; the climax takes place on February 19, 2007; Lucius Fox becomes the CEO of Wayne Enterprises the next day... and the final scene takes place on December 1, 2007. This would also place the events of The Dark Knight in early 2008, as it takes place a year after Begins, and Rises, since that's set eight years after TDK, would be taking place in 2016.

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