Are Dark Knight Rises And Memento Connected By One Character? The Actor Thinks So

Like many other directors, Christopher Nolan has called upon many of the same key collaborators through all his cinematic efforts. And one of these collaborators, Thomas Lennon, believes that his two minor appearances in Nolan's "Memento" and "The Dark Knight Rises" may have grander implications. In 2000's "Memento," Lennon plays a doctor who performs a series of short-term memory loss tests with Sammy Jankis (Stephen Tobolowsky). Years later, he returned in a similar role in 2012's "The Dark Knight Rises," where he portrays a doctor who informs Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) that he does not recommend him to go heli-skiing due to the loss of cartilage in his knees. 

Lennon recalls what it was like getting the call from his agent about the "Dark Knight Rises" role, telling HuffPost, "The call that I got [said] 'There's a scene with a doctor, and Nolan really wants you.' Basically, I guess — I kinda of think it's the same character from 'Memento.'" However, the "Reno 911!" star believes that the connection between these two roles runs deeper than a simple wink to Nolan fans. "I like to think I'm exactly the same doctor and it's all happening inside Guy Pearce's mind," he continues. "Whether or not that's true is probably for Nolan to say. I'd like to think that's happening." 

As appealing as it may seem, it's unlikely that Nolan would support this theory. As grand-scaled as the director can get with his world-building, Nolan's viewpoint on "The Dark Knight" trilogy is surprisingly contained. 

Christopher Nolan's film repertoire has been packed with a great deal of mind-twisting feats. Despite this, the award-winning filmmaker has never been one to see his cherished "Dark Knight" trilogy as one meant to be interconnected with any other expanding universes. 

In a 2008 interview about "The Dark Knight" with the LA Times, Nolan claims that his version of the iconic DC Comics character wouldn't work in a world inhabited by other heroes. "I don't think our Batman, our Gotham, lends itself to that kind of cross-fertilization," he comments. "It goes back to one of the first things we wrangled with when we first started putting the story together: Is this a world in which comic books already exist? Is this a world in which superheroes already exist?" 

Ultimately, Nolan and his team felt that adding other superheroes would completely alter the version of Batman they were trying to create, with the filmmaker telling the LA Times, "If they did ... then that's a completely different decision that he's making when he puts on a costume in an attempt to become a symbol. It's a paradox and a conundrum, but what we did is go back to the very original concept and idea of the character."

A secondary character like a doctor was probably not at the top of Nolan's priorities when constructing his epic superhero narrative. However, his stance on keeping the trilogy as its own freestanding story makes it hard to believe he intentionally placed Thomas Lennon in as a world-building easter egg.