Batman Begins featured a darker and more realistic version of Gotham City and its hero, and the ending teased the arrival of his arch nemesis, the Joker – but how much of it was planned? Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy began in 2005 with Batman Begins, a much needed change in Batman’s universe after Joel Schumacher’s 1997 film Batman & Robin, which continues to rank among the worst films ever made.
Batman Begins introduced Christian Bale as the new Bruce Wayne and a much more realistic Gotham City, which served as a reflection of real-world society, but with very peculiar criminals. The film followed the origins of Batman, from the murder of Martha and Thomas Wayne, to Bruce’s training and his rise as local hero. Batman Begins had Ra’s al Ghul (Liam Neeson) and Jonathan Crane a.k.a. Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy) as villains, and the ending left the door open for the arrival of Batman’s biggest enemy and a favorite among fans: the Joker.
As a result, the sequel – The Dark Knight – had the Clown Prince of Crime as villain, masterfully played by Heath Ledger, but was the card at the end of Batman Begins an actual set up for the Joker’s appearance in a second film, or was there a different intention behind it?
At the end of Batman Begins, James Gordon (Gary Oldman) shows Batman the Bat-Signal and mentions the case of a criminal accused of bank robbery and homicide who leaves behind a certain playing card. Gordon hands the card to Batman and both him and the audience learn that the criminal is, in fact, the Joker. Although this allowed the sequel to include the Joker and explore a darker version of the character, this wasn’t exactly the plan – at least not Christopher Nolan’s.
David S. Goyer, who wrote the screenplay for Batman Begins, has said he had a treatment for two sequels that introduced the Joker and Harvey Dent even before Batman Begins was released. Goyer’s plans for these characters was to have the Joker scar Dent during the former’s trial in the third film, thus turning Dent into Two-Face, and cited Batman: The Long Halloween as inspiration. But even though the Joker was in Goyer’s plans from the beginning, for Nolan it all happened differently.
In an interview with THR in 2012, Nolan shared that the reveal of the Joker card felt like an appropriate ending for Batman Begins, but it wasn’t about setting up a sequel. Nolan’s goal with it was to leave the audience’s minds “just spinning”, as it marked the arrival of Batman as the world knows him, and it was months after the film’s release that he was interested in exploring who the Joker was. The result was one of the best superhero films ever made with an unforgettable version of the Joker thanks to Heath Ledger. The Joker’s story in Nolan’s Batman trilogy wasn’t fully planned or setup in Batman Begins, but in the end, Goyer and Nolan’s plans converged and the result exceeded all expectations.
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