The Dark Knight Movie Production

Before the release of Batman Begins, screenwriter David S. Goyer wrote a treatment for two sequels, introducing the Joker and Harvey Dent. Originally, the Joker would scar Dent during his trial in the third film.^[29] On July 31, 2006, Warner Bros. Pictures officially announced the initiation of production for the sequel, titled The Dark Knight.^[5] For the film's interpretation of the Joker, the writers spent much time researching his appearances in the comics, before Jonathan Nolan suggested the character's first two appearances as their influence. Nolan, "felt like we've actually come around to something eerily close to those first two stories."^[6] Jerry Robinson, one of the co-creators of the basic concept for the Joker in the comics, is involved as a consultant on the portrayal of the character.^[30] The Nolan brothers took turns each month to revise the screenplay,^[31][32] and were highly secretive. Christopher refused to let Heath Ledger leave his house with a copy of the script.^[33]

The Dark Knight is the first live-action Batman film without the word "Batman" in its title, which Christian Bale noted as signaling, "This take on Batman of mine and Chris' is very different from any of the others."^[34] Christopher Nolan described the sequel's theme as escalation, continuing how Batman Begins ended, with "things having to get worse before they get better."^[35] The director indicated that the film will continue the themes of Batman Begins such as justice vs. revenge and Bruce Wayne's father issues,^[36] but will also show more of Batman as a detective, as "[they]'re trying to move the story forward."^[6] Bale described Batman's dilemma as whether "[his crusade is] something that has an end? Can he quit and have an ordinary life? The kind of manic intensity someone has to have to maintain the passion and the anger that they felt as a child, takes an effort after awhile, to keep doing that. At some point, you have to exorcise your demons."^[37]