When The Dark Knight Rises first made plans late last month to come to New York for two weeks of production, it was in the earliest days of what's now known as Occupy Wall Street, the protest taking place in Lower Manhattan. And of course, Christopher Nolan is famously meticulous and controlling over every aspect of his films; having written the script months or even years ago, it's unlikely he's making major story changes right now.
And yet, Occupy Wall Street may work its way into The Dark Knight Rises as a recent addition, or at least a part of the background action. The LA Times has heard from a source that the cast of The Dark Knight Rises, code-titled Magnus Rex, have been informed they may be shooting scenes at the Occupy Wall Street protests. What's unclear is pretty much everything else, including how the fiercely anti-Wall Street would respond to becoming unpaid extras in a movie made by a giant corporation, or even how signs like "I Can't Afford A Lobbyist" might make sense in the Batman universe as created by Nolan.
What we do know, though, is that the original casting call in New York was looking for extras to play law enforcement "within a city besieged by crime and corruption," and images from the Occupy Wall Street protests have shown striking images of law enforcement facing off against protesters that most filmmakers might be eager to recreate. As confusing as it is to hear that Nolan would be incorporating real-life politics into his fictional superhero universe, at least we know the mystery won't linger long-- Nolan is about as famous as a director can get, and the minute he shows up at Occupy Wall Street, we'll be hearing about it. Stay tuned for when that happens.
(Protest sign image via Buzzfeed)
