Christopher Nolan reveals iconic line from The Dark Knight that really troubles him

Every now and again, as we try and close our eyes to get some sleep, that random thing we said – or didn’t say - many years ago suddenly comes into our head.

You wish you’d handled it differently, replaying the scenario over and over again even though it’s long since been and gone.

And it seems the same goes for film directors, as Christopher Nolan has revealed the iconic line from The Dark Knight that really troubles him.

The first film in his legendary trilogy landed back in 2008, with Christian Bale as Batman/Bruce Wayne.

Also starring the likes of Heath Ledger and Michael Caine, the movie picked up a number of awards for Best Film and for its cast.

The Dark Knight also still holds an impressive 94 percent critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, with it being praised by both critics and viewers.

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But despite all these rave reviews, there’s something that ‘plagues’ Nolan about it to this day.

Nolan’s latest film, Oppenheimer, has also been picking up awards this season and while he was promoting it, he discussed this specific line from his 2008 blockbuster.

He told Deadline: “I’m plagued by a line from The Dark Knight, and I’m plagued by it because I didn’t write it.”

It turns out, it was actually written by Nolan’s brother, Jonathan, who he also co-wrote The Prestige, The Dark Knight Rises and Interstellar with.

“It kills me, because it’s the line that most resonates,” Nolan said.

Warner Bros.

And the line the award-winning filmmaker is referring to of course comes from Harvey Dent, also known as Two-Face, played by Aaron Eckhart.

In the film, he says the line as Bruce Wayne and his date join the villain and his girlfriend for dinner – who turns out to be Bruce’s true love, Rachel.

Of course, it’s the highly quoted: “You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”

But despite now wishing he was the one who wrote it, Nolan admitted he didn’t actually understand it at first.

He explained: “I read it in his draft and I was like, ‘All right, I’ll keep it in there, but I don’t really know what it means. Is that really a thing?’

“And then, over the years since that film’s come out, it just seems truer and truer.”

Nolan related the iconic line to Oppenheimer as he said: “In this story, it’s absolutely that. Build them up, tear them down. It’s the way we treat people.”