More casting news for The Dark Knight Rises today! Matthew Modine, Joey King, and Tom Conti have been confirmed to have joined the cast of Christopher Nolan‘s next Batman movie. And, by law, we are required to speculate who these people will be playing. Here’s what we do know: Modine, despite playing Private Joker in Full Metal Jacket, will not be playing the Joker, but instead a character only being referred to as “Nixon.” However, King’s casting is raising a few questions.
Joey King, who played Ramona in Ramona and Beezus, is 11 years old, which puts her closer in age to the 13-year-old Carrie Kelley — the female Robin — though this was the part everyone thought was going to Juno Temple, who is nearly 22. Is there always a chance of changing the age of the character? Of course. And it’s also possible that King will be playing Barbara Gordon (daughter of Jim Gordon), which would mean another age change or an indication of how many years have passed since the last movie.
As for Tom Conti, no details have been given for his character. Conti is a Tony-winning and Oscar-nominated Scottish actor who has done theater, film, and television and is also a novelist who published The Doctor in 2004. If you ever watched Friends, he played the father of Emily, the girl Ross was supposed to marry until he said “Rachel” at the altar. Here is some video of Tom Conti’s character threatening Ross. If you stay until the end, you’ll also find a pre-House, naturally-accented Hugh Laurie.
