The Dark Knight's David Dastmalchian Gives His Thoughts On The Batman - Exclusive

There's been no rest for Batman since the resurgence of the famed DC comic book superhero thanks to Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" trilogy, which began in 2005. Starring Christian Bale as Batman and his alter-ego Bruce Wayne, the film saga reached new heights with its first sequel, "The Dark Knight," in 2008, with Heath Ledger turning in a legendary performance as the Joker. Sadly, Ledger didn't live to see the success of the film or his ultimate achievement as a performer, as his family accepted his posthumous Oscar for best supporting actor the following year.

Among the actors who worked alongside Ledger in "The Dark Knight" was David Dastmalchian, who was featured in a small but haunting turn as Joker henchman Thomas Schiff. Dastmalchian was featured in a pair of indelible scenes in the film, first opposite Ledger and several others in an assassination attempt on the mayor (Nestor Carbonell), and later in a harrowing interrogation scene opposite Bale's Batman and Aaron Eckhart's Gotham District Attorney Harvey Dent.

"The Dark Knight" marked Dastmalchian's first foray into comic book movies, an appropriate beginning since he was a fan of comic books growing up in Kansas. In the ensuing years, Dastmalchian broke into the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Scott Lang's (Paul Rudd) crew member, Kurt, in the "Ant-Man" movies and the animated Disney+ series "What If...?" He also starred in more DC screen projects, including the series "The Flash" and "Gotham," and in 2021, he played the fan-favorite Polka-Dot Man in writer-director James Gunn's antihero extravaganza "The Suicide Squad" (via IMDb).

Since his time on "The Dark Knight" provided Dastmalchian such wonderfully vivid memories, the actor is forever a Batman fan. As such, Dastmalchian naturally caught the latest big-screen adventure of the Caped Crusader.

David Dastmalchian joined Looper for an exclusive interview to discuss the new, second volume of his "Count Crowley" release, "Count Crowley: Amateur Midnight Monster Hunter." During the chat, Dastmalchian was happy to give his thoughts on "The Batman" — writer-director Matt Reeves' epic, big-screen tale starring Robert Pattinson in the titular role.

"I thought it was amazing. I loved it. I thought it was so beautiful and powerful. I thought all of the casting exceeded my already high expectations," Dastmalchian enthused. "I think that Colin Farrell was the sleeper surprise of that film. I thought his portrayal of the Penguin really brought a life and energy into a movie that was so incredible."

Not only was Dastmalchian impressed with the acting, but he also couldn't say enough about the setting and atmosphere Reeves and his fellow collaborators created in realizing "The Batman's" stark vision of Gotham.

"I have to give a major shout out to our 'Dune' cinematographer, Greig Fraser," said Dastmalchian, who played Piter de Vries in Denis Villeneuve's 2021 sci-fi epic. "The way that he and Matt Reeves created the visual look of the film, along with their incredible production design and costume people, and all of that — but the cinematography to me was amazing, really amazing."

Dastmalchian will soon be reuniting with Christopher Nolan for the filmmaker's upcoming historical drama "Oppenheimer," which chronicles legendary scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer's (Cillian Murphy) role in the development of the atomic bomb. 

Issue #1 of "Count Crowley: Amateur Midnight Monster Hunter" is now available at comic book retailers everywhere. You can purchase the digital version through the Dark Horse website here.