In this Nightshift deep dive, the boys revisit The Dark Knight (2008) — the billion-dollar blockbuster that changed superhero movies forever and still stands as the gold standard for the genre.

We talk Christopher Nolan’s direction, Christian Bale’s career-defining Batman, and why Heath Ledger’s Joker is not just the greatest comic-book villain ever put on screen — but one of the greatest performances in movie history.

We break down:

• The iconic bank heist opening

• Joker’s terrifying yet hilarious “magic trick” introduction

• The interrogation scene (a top-10 scene ever made)

• Ledger’s total immersion, diary, voice, mannerisms

• Assistant DA Harvey Dent’s rise and fall into Two-Face

• Gordon’s arc, faking his death, and the final rooftop sequence

• The Hong Kong skyscraper extraction

• The real hospital explosion & IMAX stunts

• Chaos vs order — Joker vs Batman as yin/yang

We also debate:

• Whether Joker “won”

• Whether Harvey would’ve actually shot Gordon’s kid

• The worst casting swap ever (RIP Katie Holmes)

• Why Maggie Gyllenhaal breaks immersion

• Whether a 2025 Joker/Bane crossover could’ve worked

• What Batman movies get wrong today

Plus:

• The sonar = Patriot Act metaphor

• Why this hits different as an adult (and ESPECIALLY as a dad)

• The ferry-boat moral dilemma

• Tavington comparisons, Goblin comparisons, Thanos slander

• Count of Monte Cristo hype

• Endless tangents (Murder Mystery, Silence of the Lambs impressions, almond diets, Gotham real estate)

Finally, we give our Perfect 10 ratings and crown The Dark Knight as the definitive movie of its genre — the one every blockbuster has been trying (and failing) to catch ever since.

Nightshift is clocking in — and the standard has been set.