Enigma could have been the main villain in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, and Leonardo DiCaprio would have been the actor to follow in his footsteps.
The character of the Riddler, better known in Spain as Enigma, has been played by several actors for different versions of on the big screen Batmanas Jim Carrey In Batman forever (1995) Joel Schumacher O Paul Dano In The Batman (2022) Matt Reeves. Leonardo DiCaprio was close to being on this list.
As stated by the screenwriter David S. Goyer in a current podcast episode Happy, sad, confused, Leonardo Dicaprio He almost brought Enigma to life in the trilogy Batman by Christopher Nolan, consisting of the films: Batman begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008) year The Dark Knight rises (2012).
“We had a lot of suggestions,” said David S. Goyer. “I remember (the premiere of) The Dark Knight the head of Warner Bros. He said, “You have to do Riddler. Leo (DiCaprio) as Riddler“. “That’s not how we work, I don’t want to take anything away from that.”
Back then, it was common for superhero films to revolve around a villain. That is, first the antagonist was chosen and then a story was developed that took him into account. But David S. Goyer and Christopher Nolan They did not agree with this working methodology at all.
Why wasn’t Leonardo DiCaprio allowed to play the Riddler in Batman?
“I had the feeling – with the films of Spider-Man or when they were made Superhero films and there were consequences – that the studios were always saying, OK, who’s that going to be? Rogue from the next film? And we’re going to base a film on that.”
“Chris was strongly against it…Let’s figure out (first) what story we want to tell and what we want to approach thematically Bruce. Then let’s think about which villain fits the story.” And that’s the real reason why Leonardo DiCaprio was left without the role of Enigma.
