The highly anticipated third and final chapter in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises, has been in production for nearly six weeks, yet more and more actors keep being added to the cast. Earlier this week, it was announced that Josh Stewart had been added in an unspecified role and that he would be "the last" cast addition. However, now there's word that another actor, one who has previously appeared in one of Nolan's Batman movies, was recently spotted shooting a scene for The Dark Knight Rises.
According to HitFix, the famous actor in question is none other than Liam Neeson, who harried Batman (Christian Bale) in Batman Begins as Ra's al Ghul, mysterious leader of the international terrorist organization known as the League of Shadows. Ra's al Ghul seemingly died at the end of Batman Begins, but comic book aficionados know that Ra's al Ghul is incredibly long-lived and capable of being "resurrected" thanks to the mystical healing powers of the Lazarus Pit he controls.
Speculation about the nature and extent of Neeson's role in the movie abounds, but considering the brief amount of time Neeson spent on the set, added to the fact that Bale was spotted in India at the same time as Josh Pence, who plays a younger-looking version of Ra's al Ghul, the most likely scenario is that Neeson simply shot a flashback cameo and that Pence is playing a Lazarus Pit-rejuvenated Ra's al Ghul (rather than a "young" Ra's al Ghul, which would make Pence's scenes flashbacks). However Neeson fits into the plot, his addition is sure to please fans of the franchise. We'll just have to wait and see how the plot unfolds.
The Dark Knight Rises was written by Jonathan Nolan from a story by Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer. The cast includes Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, Sir Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth, Nestor Carbonell as the mayor of Gotham City, Gary Oldman as Commissioner James Gordon, Juno Temple as Holly Robinson, Tom Hardy as Bane, Marion Cotillard as Wayne Enterprises board member Miranda Tate, Joseph Gordon-Levitt as policeman John Blake, Alon Aboutboul as a "mad scientist," Brett Cullen as a judge, Chris Ellis as a priest, and Tom Conti and Joey King in as-yet-unspecified roles.