Of all the many major comic book movies in production and coming out throughout the year, there’s no arguing the Christopher Nolan and Warner Bros. are the most successful at keeping their projects secretive. From casting, to storylines, The Dark Knight Rises has endured so much speculation and so little of it has been confirmed.
Thanks to a very intriguing report from set of The Dark Knight Rises, a seemingly important scene was shot featuring an actor that reveals more about the plot of Batman 3, and the Nolan Batman trilogy as a whole.
The following report comes from our pal Drew McWeeny at HitFix who has learned through sources on set that a certain actor was on set yesterday to shoot a scene which directly ties The Dark Knight Rises in with Batman Begins…
***WARNER: POTENTIALLY MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD***
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You’ve been warned. The report reveals that Liam Neeson shot scenes for The Dark Knight Rises in London yesterday. This very well may be a very small role for the Irish actor as McWeeny points out that today he was in New York.
So, Ra’s Al Ghul in his Batman Begins form will be in the film. As we all know, the character seemingly died at the end of Nolan’s first Bat-flick so it’s more likely that Neeson is shooting an extra flashback sequence that takes place closer in the timeline to where Bruce Wayne becomes The Dark Knight. Or, Nolan is introducing sci-fi elements into the “Nolanverse” and those set photos of a Lazarus Pit in India has much deeper implications.
We previously reported that Josh Pence had signed on the project to play the younger Ra’s Al Ghul in flashbacks, so if that remains true, it’s certain that Christopher Nolan will in fact, be going full circle with The Dark Knight Rises to tie it into the events of Batman Begins and complete the trilogy’s story arc.
Could it be that the younger Ra’s Al Ghul (Pence) discovers the Lazarus Pits like in the comics via flashbacks and later he (Liam Neeson) is healed in the pits? Perhaps the train wreck in Batman Begins didn’t finish the villain off (he’ not easy to kill in the books) and his daughter, Talia al Ghul (possibly Marion Cotillard’s secret character) takes him there to resurrect him. It’s also intriguing that Bane (Tom Hardy) also has history with the Lazarus Pits as well, since he attempted to destroy the pits around the world. It’s all starting to tie together. Let the theories and speculation roll in…
Excited to see Ra’s Al Ghul back in action?
The Dark Knight Rises hits theaters July 20, 2012.
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