Liam Neeson Says He's Not Been Asked To Return For 'The Dark Knight Rises'

by Kevin Jagernauth
March 5, 2011 7:48 AM
7 Comments

Rutger Hauer Also Says He's Not Likely To Reprise His Role

All we know so far about "The Dark Knight Rises" is that Christian Bale will play Bruce Wayne, Tom Hardy will take on the villain role of Bane and Anne Hathaway will purr as Catwoman. But that hasn't stopped speculation from running wild and one of the longest rumors knocking around the film is that Talia al Ghul is one of the major female roles still to be cast. If true, we speculated it would likely mean she would team with Bane to seek revenge on Batman for killing her father, Ra's Al Ghul, from "Batman Begins." Badass Digest recently spilled that according to their sources, Talia will head up The League Of Shadows and Catwoman will fight alongside Batman. And while we'll have to wait to see if that's accurate, Liam Neeson has confirmed that he's not been asked to return for the sequel.

"That rumor is totally not true. In the comic books, Ra's Al Ghul goes into a life bath of some sort and immerses himself to become immortal. So that's probably where that comes from," Neeson told Empire (via DigitalSpy). "But no-one's approached me with an offer. I'd like to if it happens."

So what does this mean? Not much. The purported Talia/Bane and/or League Of Shadows plot doesn't really need to have Ra's pop up to work; we'd guess that if Neeson returned he would've been relegated to flashback scenes anyway considering he's presumed dead in "Batman Begins."

Still lots of questions remain for "The Dark Knight Rises" such as Joseph Gordon-Levitt's role in the film and who exactly from "The Dark Knight" will return. Rutger Hauer, who played the CEO of Wayne Enterprises, recently told EW he's not expecting a call. “I think not,” Hauer said about reprising his role. “I would have heard about it.”

"The Dark Knight Rises" starts filming this summer and will land on July 20, 2012.

More: Films, Actors, Christopher Nolan, Super Hero Films, Liam Neeson, Rutger Hauer, The Dark Knight Rises

7 Comments

| Reply
goldfarb | March 7, 2011 8:24 AMReply

what I love about these unending speculations is that Nolan's Batman films have been praised for their originality etc* - and yet it seems like all anyone wants to see is the exact same cast back again...isn't that the problem with sequels? just re-hashing the original over and over until it's dead?
Neeson was the bad guy in the first one - and he 'died' - 2nd film, new villains, now dead or in jail...third film?
BRING EVERYONE BACK!

haters might hate...but fanboys are just sad.

* a subject worthy of rational debate.
jojo | March 6, 2011 5:46 AMReply

"wow…so now we’re posting about not just speculating castings, but speculating noncastings? brilliant!"

+10 duck
Gatsby | March 6, 2011 5:15 AMReply

-10 duck, its the answer to a question fans want to know.

Film news from a film blog, you nincompoop.

haterz gonna hate
Daniel | March 6, 2011 1:53 AMReply

+1 duck
Hossam | March 5, 2011 11:18 AMReply

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is not confirmed yet he will cast
Smash Tit-house | March 5, 2011 10:56 AMReply

was Rutger Hauer even in "The Dark Knight"? I thought his story was wrapped up in "Batman Begins". There's literally no logical reason to even assume he would be back.
duck | March 5, 2011 9:21 AMReply

wow...so now we're posting about not just speculating castings, but speculating noncastings? brilliant!