Batman Begins

Bruce Wayne / Batman:A billionaire socialite who, after witnessing his parents' death in a mugging at age 8, travels around the world seven years before returning home to inherit his family company Wayne Enterprises whilst operating at night as a bat-masked vigilante bringing justice upon the criminal underworld of Gotham City. Bale was relatively unknown when cast. Before he was confirmed on September 11, 2003, having expressed interest in the role since Darren Aronofsky was planning his own film adaptation, Eion Bailey, Henry Cavill, who would later be cast as Superman, Billy Crudup, Hugh Dancy, Jake Gyllenhaal, Joshua Jackson, David Boreanaz, Heath Ledger, who later played the Joker in The Dark Knight, and Cillian Murphy, who would later be cast as Dr. Jonathan Crane / Scarecrow, took interest in it as well. While still attached to the project, Aronofsky revealed in a 2020 interview for Empire magazine that he wanted Joaquin Phoenix for the role, but the studio wanted Freddie Prinze Jr. instead. Josh Hartnett met with Nolan about the role, but decided against pursuing it. Bale, Bailey and Murphy auditioned using the Batman Forever sonar suit donated by Val Kilmer, but the cape was lost, and Amy Adams served as the casting reader for the casting of Bruce Wayne / Batman in a favor to the casting director. Though his friends doubted him stating it was not going to work, Bale was convinced by Nolan's approach and he felt that the previous films underused Batman's character, overplaying the villains instead. To best pose as Batman, Bale studied graphic novels and illustrations of the superhero. Director Nolan said of Bale, "He has exactly the balance of darkness and light that we were looking for." Goyer stated that while some actors could play a great Bruce Wayne or a great Batman, Bale could portray both radically different personalities. Since he had lost a great deal of weight in preparation for his role in The Machinist, Bale hired a personal trainer to help him gain of muscle in the span of only a couple of months to help him physically prepare for the role. After realizing he went over by , he lost the excess weight by the time filming began. Bale trained in Wing Chun Kung Fu under Eric Oram in preparation for the movie.

Alfred Pennyworth:A trusted butler to Bruce's parents, who continues his loyal service to their son after their deaths as his closest confidant. Nolan offered the role to Anthony Hopkins but he declined. Nolan went to Caine's country home to personally deliver him the script, telling what his role would be and describing Alfred as "Batman's godfather". Nolan felt Caine would effectively portray the foster father element of the character. Although Alfred is depicted in the film as having served the Wayne family for generations, Caine created his own backstory, in that before becoming the Waynes' butler, Alfred served in the Special Air Service. After being wounded, he was invited to the position of the Wayne family butler by Thomas Wayne because, "He wanted a butler, but someone a bit tougher than that, you know?"

Michael Caine

decoy Ra's al Ghul:A member of the League of Shadows assigned to impersonate Ra's al Ghul during Bruce's training.

Ken Watanabe

Young Bruce Wayne.

Gus Lewis

Henri Ducard / Ra's al Ghul: The leader of the League of Shadows, an ancient society that uses chaos to punish the corrupt and decadent, who goes undercover as an associate of the League and trains Bruce in martial arts, later revealing himself in the film's climax. Writer David Goyer said he felt he was the most complex of all the Batman villains, comparing him to Osama bin Laden; "He's not crazy in the way that all the other Batman villains are. He's not bent on revenge; he's actually trying to heal the world. He's just doing it by very draconian means." Gary Oldman was the first choice for the part, but ended up playing James Gordon instead. Guy Pearce, who collaborated with Christopher Nolan on Memento (2000), reported that the pair had discussions about him playing the role, but both of them decided that he was too young for the part. Viggo Mortensen was also considered for the role. Neeson is commonly cast as a mentor, so the revelation that his character was the main villain was intended to shock viewers.

Liam Neeson

Rachel Dawes: Bruce's childhood friend and love interest who serves as Gotham City's assistant district attorney and fights against corruption in the city of Gotham. Nolan found a "tremendous warmth and great emotional appeal" in Holmes, and also felt "she has a maturity beyond her years that comes across in the film and is essential to the idea that Rachel is something of a moral conscience for Bruce".

Katie Holmes

Young Rachel Dawes.

Emma Lockhart

James "Jim" Gordon:One of the few uncorrupted Gotham City police officers, who is on duty the night of the murder of Bruce's parents and, in this way, shares a special bond with the adult Bruce and thus with Batman. Oldman was Nolan's first choice for Ra's al Ghul, but when Chris Cooper turned down the part of Gordon to spend time with his family, Nolan decided that it would be refreshing for Oldman, who is renowned for his portrayals of villains, to play the role instead. Speaking of his role as Gordon, Oldman explained, "I embody the themes of the movie which are the values of family, courage and compassion and a sense of right and wrong, good and bad and justice". He filmed most of his scenes in Britain. Goyer said Oldman heavily resembled Gordon as drawn by David Mazzucchelli in Batman: Year One.

Gary Oldman

Dr. Jonathan Crane / Scarecrow: A corrupt psychopharmacologist working as Chief Administrator of Arkham Asylum. A specialist in the psychology of fear, he has secretly created a fear-inducing toxin and plots with Ra's al Ghul to expose the entire Gotham population. Nolan decided against casting an Irish actor like Murphy for Batman, before casting him as Scarecrow. Murphy read numerous comics featuring the Scarecrow and discussed making the character look less theatrical with Nolan. Murphy explained, "I wanted to avoid the Worzel Gummidge look, because he's not a very physically imposing man – he's more interested in the manipulation of the mind and what that can do." Robert Downey Jr. was considered for the role.

Cillian Murphy

Carmine Falcone:The most powerful Mafia boss in Gotham, who shares a prison cell with Joe Chill after he murdered Bruce's parents. Later, after having Chill murdered for his decision to testify against their relationship, he goes into business with Dr. Jonathan Crane and Ra's al Ghul by smuggling in Crane's fear toxins through his drug shipments over the course of several months so that they can be mixed in with the city's water supply.

Tom Wilkinson

William Earle:The CEO of Wayne Enterprises, who takes the company public in Bruce's long-term absence.

Rutger Hauer