Some superhero movies end on a positive note with the hero defeating the villain and saving the day. The Dark Knight is not that kind of movie. It shows Batman in one of his biggest struggles against the Joker who at the end of the film, ends up winning by forcing Batman to paint himself as the villain to cover up crimes committed by Gotham's last hope.
The Dark Knight is one of the greatest superhero movies of all time and was a huge step up from its predecessor, Batman Begins. It continued the more serious and realistic take on the caped crusader that wasn't scared to stray away from the comics. Here are 10 easter eggs you may have missed in The Dark Knight.
The Joker's Mask
Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker is one of, if not the most memorable in all Batman movies so far. The mask that Joker uses in the opening bank heist scene is very reminiscent of Cesar Romero's mask in the original '60s Batman TV series. It's a really cool nod to the history of the caped crusader and one that is very cool to see for fans of the original series. The other masks that the other men use during the heist look pretty cool as well and have a very handcrafted look to them. Overall it's a really cool easter egg!
Spiderman 3 Poster
While it's quite blurry and very easy to miss, in the opening scenes of the movie, you can spot a Spider-Man 3 poster in the background. It makes a lot of sense considering that movie released in 2007 while The Dark Knight was filming so it may have just been so minor that the editors didn't see any need to edit it out. It could also just be a cool nod to the web-slinger by the director. 2007 and 2008 were very interesting years as they both started marking a shift into a bigger and more serious world of superhero movies.
Joker's Picture
This one is extremely easy to miss as it requires you to have to pause for a second to look at the text below the picture of the Joker. The date on the picture reads July 18, 2008. This is the actual release date of the movie. It's bizarre that this movie is more than 10 years old but still holds up to this day.
The picture itself is pretty menacing as the Joker just seems to love showing his face and has no intention of hiding it. He wants to be seen and wants to terrorize people, it's just what he does, and unlike some criminals, he's not afraid to make himself known to the police.
Batman's Cowl
When Bruce Wayne goes to Lucius Fox with an idea to change up his cowl to give him the ability to move his head, it's a small and fun nod to the original costumes that came before this movie's version of the suit. Specifically, in the 1989 Batman movie, the suit seemed very uncomfortable as it was impossible for the actor to interact with someone without turning his entire body. The new design is one of the best versions of the costume and one of the most practical as well.
Chaos Begins
The opening of The Dark Knight has very subtle symbolism with the symbol of the Batman burning in the flames. It makes for a really cool intro that sets a dark tone for the movie. The burning symbol foreshadows the chaos that is about to unfold in the story and the next step in Batman's journey. Both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight Rises open up with similar forms of symbolism. It also goes together with one of Alfred's lines in the movie, "Some men just want to see the world burn."
Shoe Knife
This knife is very similar to Rosa Klebb's shoe knife in the 1957 James Bond film, From Russia. With Love. In that film, the antagonist Rosa Klebb has an interesting shoe with a blade coming out of it. The Joker uses one that looks almost identical during the party scene where he's searching for Harvey Dent and ends up being confronted by Batman. It's unsure if this is a direct reference to the classic film, but either way, it's a pretty cool weapon in both movies.
The Riddler
The Riddler is a very interesting villain that unfortunately didn't get to get to face off against Batman in The Dark Knight Trilogy. There was however a small little easter egg in The Dark Knight that seemed to be a little nod to him. During the movie, a Wayne Enterprises employee by the name of Coleman Reese puts a lot of clues together to discover that Bruce Wayne is actually Batman.
He tries to blackmail Bruce in to get a large sum of money in return for keeping his secret. Reese speaks to Lucius Fox about his theory on Batman's true identity and Fox references Coleman Reese as "Mr. Reese." This sounds extremely close to the word mysteries, which could be a very subtle nod to The Riddler, who also worked for Wayne in the comic books.
Two-Face
There's a lot of easter eggs that foreshadow Harvey Dent's fate in The Dark Knight. There's a lot of talk in the movie about Harvey's face being the face of Gotham's white knight and almost making him seem like this perfect figure that was the only person that could save Gotham. The dinner scene where Bruce Wayne's date covers part of Harvey Dent's face is a bit of foreshadowing for his transition into the villain, Two Face.
Lamborghini Murcielago
The awesome sports car that Bruce Wayne drives during the daytime to save his employee, Coleman Reese, from being assassinated after the Joker targets him, is the Lamborghini Murcielago. In Spanish, Murcielago translates to Bat. So in a way, this can be considered the sports-car version of the Batmobile. Sadly, not only does Batman destroy his Batmobile in this movie, but he also destroys a perfect Lamborghini. The Batpod thankfully makes it out in one piece.
Catwoman
Catwoman didn't get her debut in The Dark Knight trilogy until the sequel to this movie, The Dark Knight Rises. There is, however, a fun little easter egg that may be a nod to her. During his visit with Lucius Fox, Bruce asks how the suit will hold up against dogs considering his last encounter with them, didn't go too well. Lucius jokes with Bruce about the kind of dogs it can hold up against and says, "it should do fine against cats." It a nice little easter egg that got some pay off in the next movie. It would have been interesting to learn about her whereabouts during The Dark Knight.
