Heath Ledger’s Joker still ranks as one of the best performances in a comic book film. There’s a large portion of fandom that would say he’s easily the best. No matter what, Ledger is iconic as the Joker. But it appears Christopher Nolan might have been toying around with the idea of another actor for that role, someone who would actually go on to play the Joker at a later time. 

Continue reading Christopher Nolan Met With Joaquin Phoenix About Joker Role In ‘The Dark Knight’ at The Playlist.

While he was known for years as Christopher Nolan’s co-writer, his younger brother, Jonathan Nolan, has really taken off in recent years and made his name for himself on television. Following shows like “Person of Interest” and HBO’s “Westworld,” a series he created and led for many years, the younger Nolan is about to debut his latest show, “Fallout,” on Amazon Prime.

Continue reading Jonathan Nolan Says Christopher Nolan Was Initially “On The Fence” About Making More ‘Batman’ Films After ‘Batman’ Begins’ at The Playlist.

In this week’s episode of The Discourse, host Mike DeAngelo stays up late to discuss the film “Late Night with the Devil” with producer and star David Dastmalchian (“The Dark Knight,” “The Suicide Squad.” The film follows a fledgling late-night host (Dastmalchian) who decides to invite some spooky guests on his struggling 70’s late-night show to boost ratings—unleashing evil in front of the whole world.

Continue reading ‘Late Night With The Devil’: David Dastmalchian On His Horror Hit, ‘The Dark Knight,’ ‘Oppenheimer,’ & More [The Discourse Podcast] at The Playlist.

As Timothée Chalamet’s “Wonka” has quietly crossed the $600 million mark worldwide—a remarkable figure given the film wasn’t a box office smash but clearly had great sustained longevity theatrically—the actor is starring down his next lead role in Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part Two” (read our review) It’s a film whose hype is so large at the moment it suggests it could best that “Wonka” record, but we’ll see if it has the same kind of four-quadrant appeal.

Continue reading Timothée Chalamet Says Leonardo DiCaprio Has Warned Him Against Superhero Roles, But He’d Consider A “Good Script” at The Playlist.

How does a filmmaker figure out which villain to use a superhero film? Sometimes, it feels as if the studio mandates that a certain villain is included. But in the creation of the three ‘Dark Knight’ films, filmmaker Christopher Nolan and writer David S. Goyer took the selection of the villain to a natural place, letting the villain come to them as the storyline unfolds. That said, the studio still did try to pitch them on including a very famous actor to play a villain in “The Dark Knight Rises.”

Speaking as part of a larger discussion regarding Season 2 of “Foundation,” writer David S.

Continue reading ‘Dark Knight Rises’: David S. Goyer Says WB Pitched Leo DiCaprio For The Riddler & Nolan Thought Bane Was “Cheesy” At First at The Playlist.

Is 2023 the year Jonathan Majors becomes a household name? With “Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania” and “Creed III” in theaters soon and “Magazine Dreams” doing well with critics at Sundance last month, it sure looks that way. And for Majors, it’s the fruition of a dream whose inspiration comes from a seminal moment as a high-school senior, when he watched Heath Ledger‘s legendary performance as The Joker in Christopher Nolan‘s “The Dark Knight.”

READ MORE: ‘Magazine Dreams’ Review: Jonathan Majors Shoulders The Weight Of This Incel, Bodybuilder Drama [Sundance]

IndieWire (via EW) reports that Majors’ first viewing of Ledger in Nolan’s 2008 film fueled his ambition to become an actor.

Continue reading Jonathan Majors Says Heath Ledger’s Joker In ‘The Dark Knight’ Inspired Him To Become An Actor: “I Went, ‘I’m Coming For That. I’m Inspired.'” at The Playlist.

You can’t really talk about the history of blockbuster filmmaking without mentioning Steven Spielberg. You could argue the summer blockbuster was created by his film, “Jaws,” decades ago. Now, with films such as “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Avatar: The Way of Water,” and “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” not just earning huge money at cinemas but also receiving Oscars recognition, Spielberg thinks it’s encouraging to see blockbusters get their credit by the Academy.

Continue reading Steven Spielberg Thinks ‘The Dark Knight’ Should Have Earned A Best Picture Oscar Nom & Is “Encouraged” By Blockbusters Getting Noms at The Playlist.

Well before his role as Gorr the God Butcher in the new “Thor: Love & Thunder,” Christian Bale was no stranger to superhero film franchises. He, of course, played Batman in three Christopher Nolan-directed ‘Dark Knight’ films, which are often considered some of the best superhero films ever. Now, with multiversal craziness in superhero films and studios desperate to make billion-dollar films, it seems like Warner Bros.

Continue reading Christian Bale Will Only Return As Batman For Christopher Nolan at The Playlist.

David S. Goyer is a filmmaker who is well-known to a certain segment of the film-going population. But those who know him from his superhero work will be shocked when they watch his latest TV series, “Foundation.” And Goyer recently joined The Playlist Podcast to talk about his new show, as well as his legacy as the comic book film writer.

For those unaware, Goyer has been working in Hollywood for decades, having written many films that are iconic in the eyes of genre film fans, with projects such as “The Dark Knight,” “Blade,” and “Dark City,” just to name a few.

Continue reading David S. Goyer Talks ‘Foundation,’ Taking Liberties With Source Material & Stepping Away From Superheroes [The Playlist Podcast] at The Playlist.

Even though Matt Damon has appeared in a number of high-profile roles in massive box office hits and awards-worthy features, he’s probably turned down just as many. And in a recent interview, he details a few of those roles, including a couple of superhero-y ones.

Speaking to Happy. Sad. Confused., Damon opened up about the myriad opportunities that he’s had to pass up over the years. And we’re not talking just some indie features, but some of the most acclaimed and biggest box office hits of their times, including a role in Christopher Nolan’s superhero epic, “The Dark Knight.”

READ MORE: Matt Damon On Michael Mann’s ‘Good Will Hunting’ Take As Possible Director: “What The F*ck Is Going On?”

Included in the list of films that Damon walked away from are award-winning features such as Tom McCarthy‘s “Spotlight” (he would have had Mark Ruffalo‘s part) and Gus Van Sant’s “Milk” (a role that eventually went to Josh Brolin who earned an Academy Award nomination for the part).

Continue reading Matt Damon On Auditioning To Be George Clooney’s Robin In ‘Batman’ & Almost Playing Two-Face In ‘The Dark Knight’ at The Playlist.

Most of us were thrown off when Warner Bros. and Christopher Nolan announced a “Tenet” promotion within the popular battle royale video game “Fortnite.” The idea felt a little “How Do You Do Fellow Kids?” scene from “30 Rock“; seemingly a way to give his upcoming sci-fi action film some marketing exposure to a younger demographic that could support the movie.

Continue reading Christopher Nolan Loves The Idea Of Making A Video Game In Theory, But Says He’s Devoted His Life To Film at The Playlist.

Unlike the Oscars or other annual awards, being selected by the Library of Congress as one of the 25 films picked to join the National Film Registry is on a whole different level. By being chosen, a film is given the honor of being deemed one of the most influential and important films to ever be released. And this year, the 25 films chosen include a wide variety of features, from superhero films to war dramas to musical comedies.

Continue reading ‘The Dark Knight,’ ‘Shrek,’ ‘Hurt Locker’ & More Join The 2020 Class of The National Film Registry at The Playlist.

Nearly a decade after the release of Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight Rises,” which completed his ‘Dark Knight’ trilogy, fans and critics still hold those films up as the gold standard for superhero filmmaking. And while there’s no denying that Nolan brought something unique to the storytelling and style of his superhero films, the filmmaker doesn’t necessarily believe that the success of the franchise is due to just the content on the screen.

Continue reading Nolan Says His ‘Dark Knight’ Films Arrived Before Superhero Films Turned Into “Engines Of Commerce” at The Playlist.

Before Todd Philips‘ Oscar-winning “Joker” turned the Crown Prince of Crime into a down-on-his-luck Newyorker loner, the villain’s mysterious origin was part of what made him intriguing. “The Dark Knight” gave us one of the best Joker portrayals ever without the need to say where he came from. Now, co-writer David S. Goyer revealed that there was an initial push to give Joker an origin story in the film.

Continue reading Writer David S. Goyer Revealed Warner Bros. Wanted To Give Joker An Origin Story In ‘The Dark Knight’ at The Playlist.

Continue reading Christian Bale Says WB Approached Him About A Fourth Christopher Nolan ‘Dark Knight’ Film at The Playlist.

It feels relatively safe to say that no single Christian Bale performance is quite like the other. Sure, he’s transformed his body countless times, dropping a tremendous amount of weight for certain roles (“The Machinist,” “The Fighter”) and gaining an abundance of it for others (“American Hustle,” “Vice”). But in terms of the roles he chooses and how he tackles them, Bale is constantly redefining himself: perpetually in the process of shedding his artistic skin so that he may effectively become whomever, he sets out to play.

Continue reading The Essentials: Christian Bale’s Best Performances at The Playlist.

“Red Sonja” isn’t even close to production but there’s already been some serious drama behind-the-scenes. The project was originally announced as being directed by Bryan Singer, but after the filmmaker’s most recent #MeToo accusations, he was dismissed from the film. Now, there’s “Transparent” creator Jill Soloway, who has taken over the role of writer-director of the action film. And speaking to Deadline, it appears that Soloway has very clear ideas about what “Red Sonja” is going to be like.

Continue reading ‘Red Sonja’ Writer-Director Jill Soloway Says Film Will Be Similar To Superhero Films ‘Dark Knight’ & ‘Deadpool’ at The Playlist.

Lately, it feels like there’s just a never-ending supply of news surrounding Batman’s greatest villain, the Joker. Whether it’s the various pictures that Todd Phillips is sharing from the set of his upcoming ‘Joker’ or news about Jared Leto’s unfortunate turn as the character in “Suicide Squad,” there’s been no shortage of news about the Clown Prince of Crime. Today’s requisite Joker news is a little different, but just as crazy, as it involves Tommy Wiseau.

Continue reading Tommy Wiseau Gives A Career-Best Performance Playing The Joker In A Scene From ‘The Dark Knight’ at The Playlist.

Continue reading Jonathan Nolan Says His Brother Chris Turned Down Song Idea He Had For One Of The ‘Batman’ Trailers at The Playlist.

There’s a lot to admire about “Black Panther.” A huge financial success for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “Black Panther,” directed by Ryan Coogler captured the zeitgeist by crafting a complicated story and delivering three-dimensional, humanistic comic book characters. But the one element that reverberated most, and ultimately contributed to the film’s success, was its antagonist: Erik Killmonger.

Played by Michael B. Jordan, Killmonger deeply resonated with audiences and was called one of Marvel’s best, most compelling villains yet by various outlets.

Continue reading Empathy Matters: How ‘Black Panther’ Creates One Of The Best Superhero Movie Villains Ever at The Playlist.

Welcome to another edition of The Playlist Podcast, where we discuss cinematic topics, ideas and notions around film and television and the art of these mediums. On this episode, I am joined by Editor-in-Chief Rodrigo Perez to discuss the recent 10th anniversary of Christopher Nolan’s towering achievement in cinematic pop culture, “The Dark Knight.”

READ MORE: The Playlist Interview: Christopher Nolan Talks The ‘Dark Knight’ Trilogy, Blockbuster Filmmaking, ‘Following’ & More [Part 1]

Ten years ago this month, “The Dark Knight” took the world by storm.

Continue reading Forget Batman Or The Joker: ‘The Dark Knight’ Is About Gotham City & The Fight For Its Soul [Podcast] at The Playlist.

There are only a handful of filmmakers working today that make films that are worthy of being shown on 70mm. Leading the way, in most people’s minds, would be Christopher Nolan. The director is known for his incredibly beautiful films. And to celebrate the 10th anniversary of one of his best works, Nolan is finally getting the full 70mm treatment.

Warner Bros. announced today that “The Dark Knight” is getting a special one-week re-release in select cities and will be shown in 70mm.

Continue reading Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Dark Knight’ To Receive 10th Anniversary IMAX 70mm Release at The Playlist.

Continue reading The Battle Between Chaos and Order in ‘The Dark Knight’ Trilogy at The Playlist.

The blockbuster release pattern is almost depressingly familiar by this point: a studio will announce a date (or numerous dates) for a high profile project, and then race to meet that deadline. While Marvel is canny and smart about their development process, pretty much everyone else in Hollywood has a mixed success rate (just take a look at Universal‘s failed Dark Universe and Warner Bros. DC Films).

Continue reading Christopher Nolan Explains His “Advantage” That Made ‘The Dark Knight’ Trilogy A Unique Success at The Playlist.

**Spoilers ahead**

If the first season of “Stranger Things” wore its influences on its sleeve, “Stranger Things 2” puts them on like a suit, making no apologies for acknowledging its forebears. However, not everything about the series is informed by the ’80s, as the Duffer Brothers reveal how one very contemporary superhero movie inspired a scene in the debut second season episode, “Madmax.”

The episode opens on 008 aka Kali (Linnea Berthelsen) rolling around Pittsburgh with her punk friends, until a violent act leads to a pursuit by the cops.

Continue reading ‘Stranger Things 2’: Duffers Talk Scene Inspired By ‘The Dark Knight’ at The Playlist.