Leonardo Dicaprio’s Favorite Christopher Nolan Movie That WB Desperately Wanted Him to Join

Leonardo DiCaprio names his favorite Christopher Nolan film, but did you know that the actor could’ve almost been a part of it himself?.

left image by Richard Goldschmidt, licensed under CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Leonardo DiCaprio recently sat down for an interview along with his One Battle After Another co-star, Benicio del Toro, where they discussed their favorite films from legendary directors, including Christopher Nolan.

When asked by Collider to name their favorite Nolan films, DiCaprio simply replied, “Dark Knight“.

Del Toro had the same answer. As it turns out, Warner Bros. wanted DiCaprio to be a part of the Dark Knight trilogy, but the idea never came to fruition.

Movie
Box Office (via The Numbers)
IMDb Rating
Rotten Tomatoes Score

Batman Begins
$356 million
8.2/10
85%

The Dark Knight
$1 billion+
9.1/10
94%

The Dark Knight Rises
$1 billion+
8.4/10
87%

The co-writer of the Batman films once revealed on the Happy, Sad, Confused podcast, “After ‘The Dark Knight,’ the head of Warner Bros. at the premiere said, ‘You got to do the Riddler. Leo as the Riddler.

You got to tell Chris, Leo as the Riddler.’ And that’s not the way we work.”

As for other directors, DiCaprio and del Toro picked Jaws and E.T., respectively, for Steven Spielberg and 2000: A Space Odyssey for Stanley Kubrick.

Leonardo DiCaprio’s Favorite Nolan Movie Is Ironical Because of His Own Rule

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Leonardo DiCaprio has pulled off many intricate roles in a career that spans decades.

From Titanic to The Wolf of Wall Street to Killers of the Flower Moon, every role he picks seems to be better than the last.

So, despite his fame and talent, why has the actor never been a part of a superhero film?

Actor Timothée Chalamet once revealed that his Don’t Look Up co-star had a serious piece of career advice for him: No hard drugs and no superhero movies.

He told The New York Times,

Well, Leonardo DiCaprio said to me, ‘No superhero movies, no hard drugs.’ Which I thought was very good.

I follow them both! But the movie that made me want to act is a superhero movie,‘The Dark Knight.’ If the script was great, if the director was great, I’d have to consider it.

Despite his own rule, DiCaprio is never saying never.

In an interview with Shortlist, he was asked if he’d ever be up to donning a cape, and he replied, “You never know.

They’re getting better and better as far as complex characters in these movies.

I haven’t yet.

But no, I don’t rule out anything.” So far, it looks like the actor hasn’t found a script worth breaking his rule for.

The Other DCU Role Leonardo DiCaprio Could’ve Had

Leonardo DiCaprio in One Battle After Another (2025) | Credits: Warner Bros.

While talking to Shortlist, the actor was asked about the rumor that had been going around, stating that he had screen-tested for Robin’s character in Joel Schumacher‘s Batman Forever (1995).

He quickly shut down the rumors, revealing that he had “never screen-tested” for the film.

However, he did have a meeting with the director about it.

DiCaprio said, “I never screen-tested.

I had a meeting with Joel Schumacher.

It was just one meeting and, no, I didn’t end up doing it.“

When asked whether he wanted the role in the first place or not, DiCaprio stated,

Er, I don’t think I did, no.

As I recall I took the meeting, but didn’t want to play the role.

Joel Schumacher is a very talented director but I don’t think I was ready for anything like that.

DiCaprio simply laughed when the interviewer asked if he felt as if he “dodged a bullet“.

While the film went on to become a box office success, it wasn’t received well by critics.

Its Rotten Tomatoes score stands at 41%, while the audience has given it an even lower number, 33%.

Chris O’Donnell played the role of Robin.

Do you think DiCaprio would’ve made a good Riddler/Robin? Let us know if you have any other DC roles he’d be good at in the comments section below!

Stream the Dark Knight trilogy and Batman Forever on HBO Max.