The Dark Knight Trilogy: 18 Cool Behind-The-Scenes Details You Didn't Know

7. Gary Oldman Was First Considered To Play Ra's Al Ghul

The Dark Knight
Warner Bros. Pictures

The role of Sergeant (later Commissioner) Gordon went to the great Gary Oldman, and it's fair to say that the actor was excited about playing a good guy for a change, since he was usually cast as the villain.

However, initially... Nolan wanted him to play the villain.

When the director first met with Oldman, it was to discuss the role of Ducard, who appears in Batman Begins as Bruce Wayne's mentor in the League Of Shadows. Later in the film, it's then revealed that Ducard is actually the villainous Ra's al Ghul, leading to a final confrontation with Batman inside a speeding train.

Ducard/Ra's al Ghul was ultimately played by Liam Neeson, and as talented as Oldman is, it's honestly hard to picture him in the role. Besides, his version of Gordon is awesome, so things definitely worked out for the best.

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.