Jake Gyllenhaal was to be Christopher Nolan's Batman in The Dark Knight trilogy?

Jake Gyllenhaal almost played the role of Batman, the caped crusader, in Christopher Nolan's franchise. Screenwriter David S. Goyer recently appeared on a new episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast, where he shared that he wanted Jake Gyllenhaal to play Batman, aka Bruce Wayne, in the film Batman Begins. However, the role went to Christian Bale, who played the part in all three films.

2 things you need to know

• David S. Goyer, screenwriter, revealed that Jake Gyllenhaal was close to playing Batman.'
• He also revealed that the makers wanted Leonardo DiCaprio to play The Riddler.

Jake Gyllenhaal was going to play Batman?

David S. Goyer revealed he vouched for Jake to play the role of Bruce Wayne in the Batman film series. "We would chat about all sorts of things. There were a number of people who had screen-tested, and I had advocated for Gyllenhaal," said David Goyer. "I mean, Gyllenhaal is amazing, Christian Bale is amazing, so who knows what," he added. He also recalled that Warner Bros. wanted Leonardo DiCaprio to play The Riddler in The Dark Knight. Goyer said, "That's not the way we work," explaining that they made the films around a story and had not built it around a specific villain.

(Jake Gyllenhaal was close to playing the role of Batman | Image: X)

Who else was considered for Batman role?

Cillian Murphy had auditioned for the lead role of Batman but he lost out the role to Christian Bale. Eventually, he was cast to play the character of Dr. Jonathan Crane or The Scarecrow in the Batman trilogy. In an interview with GQ, the Peaky Blinders actor opened up about the same and said that whatever happened was for the best. He said, "Yes, I think it was for the best because we got Christian Bale's performance, which is a stunning interpretation of that role. I never considered myself as the right physical specimen for Batman."