Film references

Casting sides

The casting sides that were discovered in March 2007 contain plot points that all appear in the film.

The site Rorysdeathkiss.com is a play on The Dark Knight's working title, Rory's First Kiss.

Characters

The following characters appear in the film.

• The Joker

• It is implied that the Joker hires goons by their "personalities," since many of them were former inmates at Arkham Asylum.
• In the interrogation scene, the Joker tells Batman, "The only sensible way to live in this world is without rules. And tonight, you're going to break your one rule."

• Batman/Bruce Wayne

• It is mentioned in several areas that Bruce Wayne has moved into an exclusive penthouse in Gotham's downtown area after Wayne Manor has burnt down.

• Harvey Dent

• Participants voted Harvey Dent as Gotham City District Attorney, the title he holds at the start of the film.
• Similar to his actions in the Notaro hostage situation, Dent coolly takes control of the situation when
  Albert Rossi pulls a gun on him point-blank during testimony. It misfires and Dent takes the gun, punching out Rossi and giving a wry statement to Maroni.
• Gordon tells Dent that he is "Gotham's White Knight."

• Lt. Jim Gordon

• Plays a large part in the film as head of the Major Crimes Unit.

• Rachel Dawes

• Appears in the film as Assistant District Attorney, aiding Harvey Dent in his quest to bring down Sal Maroni. It is also known publicly that she is dating Dent. Her fate leads to a pivotal turn in the film between Harvey Dent, Jim Gordon, and Batman.

• Police Commissioner Gillian Loeb

• Appears in the film as Commissioner,
  but is murdered early in the film by the Joker.

• Mayor Anthony Garcia

• Is mayor of Gotham in the film, and
  is targeted for death by Joker, but survives.

• Lucius Fox

• Seen running Wayne Enterprises as CEO.
  It is very clear that he knows who Batman is. He willingly aids in Batman's quest, and attempts to protect Batman's identity as well.

• Salvatore Maroni

• First seen in the film on trial by Harvey Dent, accused of being the head of the Falcone crime family under the guise of heading an import/export business. He struggles to regain his power in Gotham's underworld, and although wary of the Joker's services, he openly offers his resources - namely, moles in the law and police departments. Harvey Dent faces him
  as Two-Face at the end of the film.

• Gambol

• A hot-headed gang leader, he distrusts the Joker immensely.

• The Chechen

• The mob leader who trusts Joker the most, but his allegiance turns when
  the Joker, instead of returning the mobs' money as promised, burns half of it instead.

• Mike Engel

• Shown as host of multiple episodes of Gotham Tonight several times in the film, and someone who is very distrustful of Batman. Mike Engel is later
  taken hostage by the Joker, but is rescued by Batman.

• Albert Rossi

• After being arrested for voter intimidation, he cuts a deal and appears in the film as a witness testifying against Sal Maroni. During the trial,
  he pulls a gun on DA Harvey Dent, but it misfires and he is taken into custody.

• Brian Douglass

• Appears in the film as the head Batman copycat, and is
  kidnapped by the Joker, then killed and his body (complete with crude Batsuit) publicly displayed.

• Judge Nancy Surrillo

• As reported on Gotham Cable News, Nancy Surrillo is voted in as municipal judge. She appears as the judge
  presiding over the Maroni trial.

• Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow

• Appears in the film as a drug dealer, as rumored in the third episode of Gotham Tonight.

Plot-related references

• Whysoserious.com

• The Joker tells several stories about how he got his scars. During the first one, he uses the phrase, "Why so serious?"
• The plot of The Dark Knight is inspired mainly by the graphic novel "The Long Halloween," which is referenced in Whysoserious.com/Halloween
• The Joker invites a mobster's bodyguards to join him as if he had a human resources department. ("Our operation is small, but there's a lot of potential for aggressive expansion. So which of you fine gentlemen would like to join our team?")
• Frederick Alder, a likely Joker goon, was possibly killed for his failure to kidnap an employee for the Gotham Power Department. In the film, the Joker is able to remotely shut off power in the city.
• Participants aided Joker in hijacking a school bus for the bank heist in the film's opening sequence during the Whysoserious.com/Steprightup exercise, as shown by the removal of GUSD employee Jake Karnassian's ID from the police evidence safe.
• The kidnappings (and later murders) of Maroni associates Stevie and Romeo allow the Joker to find which bank held most of the mobs' money, in order to make the most powerful statement during the bank heist opening sequence.
• Members of a SWAT team use the phrases "shooting gallery" and "sitting ducks",
  while attempting to end a hostage crisis that the Joker concocts.
• He uses diesel and the ammonium nitrate stolen from the Gotham harbor docks
  to carry out a "social experiment" by holding two Gotham ferries hostage.
• Throughout the film, the Joker attempts to take down Harvey Dent, which reflects Ibelieveinharveydenttoo.com and Whysoserious.com/Myhero.

• Ibelieveinharveydent.com

• The slogan "I believe in Harvey Dent" is said by Bruce Wayne when showing his support for Dent, and is later given a deeper meaning at the end of the film, when
  Batman takes the blame for the murders that Two-Face committed, so that Dent's legacy as Gotham's "White Knight" will remain.
• Joker is seen wearing a Dent support sticker when he
  visits Dent in Gotham General Hospital.
• Bruce Wayne is seen keeping surveillance on Harvey Dent - in one clip, posters from Ibelieveinharveydent.com can be seen in the background during what seems to be a Dent campaign stop.

• Wearetheanswer.org and Gpdiad.com

• It is mentioned in the film that before Harvey Dent was elected District Attorney, he made his name by investigating corrupt police officers by working with "internal affairs". It is this work that earns him a nickname in the MCU -
  Two-Face.

• Gothamnationalbank.com

• The Admin account holder at Gothamnationalbank.com/Admin is the bank manager seen at the film's opening bank heist sequence.
• Gotham National Bank is also one of 5 banks that Gordon and Batman target as mob-laundering facilities.

• Citizensforbatman.org

• Evolves from a support site for Batman into a full-fledged community of organized vigilantes who emulate Batman.
  They appear in the film as Batman copycats, complete with crude Batsuits, although they can be differentiated from the real Batman by their unabashed use of guns.
• Similar to some takedowns that are references in CFB Underground, early in the film
  a group of them attempt to take down a drug deal between Scarecrow and the Chechen, but are foiled by Batman.

• Gpdmcu.com

• The Gotham Police Major Crimes Unit plays a significant part in the film, and Gordon openly (albeit not publicly) lets Batman work with them on their investigations.
• Joker is
  captured and taken to the MCU, but he manages to escape.
• As Harvey Dent predicted, corruption in Gotham PD
  trickles even into the MCU, when corrupt cops help Joker kidnap Harvey Dent and Rachel Dawes.

• Thegothamtimes.com

• As described in the first issue of The Gotham Times, the presence of Batman has disturbed the mob hierarchy.
• Joker provides a clue as to his future target in a future printing of The Gotham Times, which Gordon and Batman find at the scene of a crime. It even appears slightly Jokerized.
• Ballerina Natascha Patrenko appears in the film as Bruce Wayne's date at a fancy restaurant, where he is introduced to Harvey Dent.
  Bruce Wayne also takes the entire Gotham ballet company on an impromptu yacht trip as part of a Batman-related alibi, causing the ballet performances to be canceled.
• The Joker hijacks (and re-christens) a truck from Hyams Amusements, which is mentioned in the third issue of The Gotham Times as being a part of Gotham's yearly South Side Carnival.
• There is a significant plot point involving a Wayne Enterprises "government telecommunications project" where
  Batman uses a new wireless technology system to secretly monitor all cell-phone users in Gotham, which upsets Lucius Fox.
  Various characters are also seen in the film using Nokia phones.

• Gothamcablenews.com

• The sixth episode of Gotham Tonight, which became available on July 11, has a breaking news segment referring to the bank robbery that takes place during the opening sequence of The Dark Knight.
• The second episode of Gotham Tonight, which became available on June 20, mentions "Radiation stamping technology" as one of the technologies Wayne Industries has acquired and/or developed under the direction of Bruce Wayne.
  This technology is then used by Batman and the Gotham PD in an attempt to track mob drug money.
• The seventh episode of Gotham Tonight, alluded to in the sixth episode, partially appears, when Mike Engel can be seen interviewing Mayor Anthony Garcia about the Batman and what the city will do about him.
• GCN news reports can be seen on various televisions during the film.
• The Joker submits videos of hostages to relay his plans, and calls into an episode of Gotham Tonight,
  threatening to blow up a hospital.

• Gcferries.com

• The Liberty Ferry is mentioned in the film as being
  the ferry which the Gotham civilians are on. The ferry containing the criminals is named Spirit.
• Two ferries are involved in the movie's climax.

• Gothamusd.net

• Gothamusd.net mentions the bus line being rerouted in District 22, and in the TDK IMAX prologue, the Joker is seen escaping the bank heist in a yellow school bus conspicuously marked "District 22."
• As mentioned in the June 20 update, there is a field trip on July 11. This might explain how the Joker is able to escape the robbery within a line of yellow school buses, since the July 11 episode of Gotham Tonight reveals the bank heist has just occurred.

• Pasqualesbistro.com

• The meeting between gang factions that takes place early in the film may occur in a back room of Pasquale's Bistro.