Christopher Nolan Says He Was “Nervous” to Include Catwoman in DARK KNIGHT RISES; Christian Bale Talks About the Franchise

Yesterday we shared a bounty of The Dark Knight Rises material from Steve’s visit to the set, including interviews with Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway and producer Emma Thomas, and a round-up of 20 things to know about the film. In case you didn’t quite get your Dark Knight Rises fill, a few more quotes of interest have gone online today from Bale director Christopher Nolan.  Nolan talks about his initial apprehension to including Catwoman in the film and how his brother (and co-writer) Jonathan finally changed his mind, and Bale talks about the franchise beyond The Dark Knight Rises.  Hit the jump to see what they had to say.

Though we don’t know for certain, some of the comments could be considered SPOILERS, so read at your own risk.

Nolan and Co. have been touting The Dark Knight Rises as the third and final film in the director’s Batman trilogy (the film’s tagline is even “The Legend Ends”).  Though this is almost assuredly the case, Bale noted in an interview with Empire that in the unlikely event that Nolan decides he has another story to tell, he’d be more than up for the challenge:

“My understanding is that this is the last one. I think it’s appropriate, I think it’s going out at the right time. But…if Chris came to me with a script and said, ‘You know what? There is another story’ then I would love the challenge of making a fourth one work.”

Again, it’s highly doubtful that Nolan would return for a fourth go-around (in fact wheels are already in motion for a reboot), but it’s nice to know that Bale would be down for reprising Bats once again should the situation arise.

The Dark Knight Rises was planned from the get-go as the series closer, and Nolan talked about approaching the film as the conclusion to a three-part story:

“What drew me to Batman in the first place was Bruce Wayne’s story, and that he’s a real character whose story begins in childhood. He’s not a fully formed character like James Bond, so what we’re doing is following the journey of this guy from a child who goes through this horrible experience of becoming this extraordinary character. That, for me, became a three-part story. And obviously the third part becomes the ending of the guy’s story.”

When it came time to plot the third film out, brothers Christopher and Jonathan Nolan had differing opinions on the inclusion of Catwoman:

“Catwoman is a very iconic figure in the Batman pantheon. I was nervous about how she would fit into our world. But [Jonathan] was very much convinced that there would be a great way to do it and eventually turned me around. Once I got my head around the idea of looking at that character through the prism of our films, saying, ‘Who could that person be in real life?’ we figured it out. She’s a bit of a con-woman, something of a grifter. A hard-edged kind of criminal.”

Jonathan explains why the inclusion of Catwoman was integral to their Batman series:

“What we’re endeavoring to do here is tell a complete take on the Batman mythos. And a complete take of the Batman mythos without the character for me was sacrilegious,” Nolan said. “You’ve gotta have her, because she has a delicious greyness to her that helps define who Batman is. She keeps wavering on this line of, ‘Is she a good guy or a bad guy?’ Well, she’s kind of neither. And that’s why, to me, that relationship and that character only enhances the universe — and the Batman character.”

I’m always interested in the development process of how certain films came to be, and these quotes offer a nice behind-the-scenes look at the super secret planning for The Dark Knight Rises that went on while us commonfolk were none-the-wiser.  Here’s hoping the series goes out in grand fashion with a stellar third and final Batman film from Nolan.  The Dark Knight Rises opens on July 20th.

For more from our The Dark Knight Rises set visit:

• Christian Bale Talks Shooting in IMAX, Ending the Trilogy, Fight Scenes with Tom Hardy and More on the Set of The Dark Knight Rises
• 20 Things to Know About The Dark Knight Rises From Our Set Visit; Plus a Recap of the Filming Including Bane’s Big Entrance
• Anne Hathaway Talks Fighting in Heels, Adapting to Christopher Nolan’s Universe, Filming in IMAX and More on the Set of The Dark Knight Rises
• Tom Hardy Talks Following Heath Ledger’s Joker, Bane’s Costume and More on the Set of The Dark Knight Rises
• Producer Emma Thomas Talks Drawing from Comic Books, Bane, Filming in IMAX and Much More on the Set of The Dark Knight Rises