"Rises" screenwriter David Goyer recently revealed to Empire magazine that the studio essentially thrust the idea of DiCaprio as the Riddler upon he and Nolan after the release of 2008's "The Dark Knight"... around the same time Nolan was pitching "Inception" to them, in which DiCaprio starred.
WB's top execs said, according to Goyer: "Obviously it's gonna be The Riddler, and we want it to be Leonardo DiCaprio.
In an interesting twist, the DiCaprio proposal -- while ultimately unsuccessful for unknown reasons -- may have spawned other casting choices. You see, much of the "Inception" cast carries over into "Rises": Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard, Michael Caine, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt -- who was originally thought to be cast as the Riddler.