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Game of Thronesfans would agree that Arya Stark slaying Littlefinger was one of the most rewatchable moments in the entire series. British actor Aidan Gillen put up a convincing performance and made the character as despicable as possible. Little do fans know that Gillen was a part of Christopher Nolan’sDark Knighttrilogy. Interestingly, his character was one of the most widely debated ones in Nolan’s universe.
Gillen appears in a brief role during the opening scene ofThe Dark Knight Risesand gets killed off quickly by the villain Bane. While the character’s name is not mentioned in the film, some online clues led fans to believe that he is a major Batman supervillain.
Game Of ThronesVillain’sThe Dark Knight RisesRole Causes Major Confusion
Aidan Gillenis listed as CIA Op during the credits ofChristopher Nolan‘sThe Dark Knight Rises. During his scene in the film, the character is introduced only as CIA to the Russian nuclear physicist Dr. Leonid Pavel, who is being extracted from Uzbekistan. However, in Greg Cox’s novelization of the film, the character was named Bill Wilson.
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Interestingly, the character’s CIA file circulated on the internet which gave fans some clues about the nameless operative. The document remains unverified as to whether it is from the film’s marketing team or a fan-made one. Famous scooper @MyTimeToShineH recently shared the file in response to a post about the actor’s role.
Littlefinger was in The Dark Knight Rises as Deathstroke?!https://t.co/yyB1ZkOIcBpic.twitter.com/oT3SoNuX8j
— MyTimeToShineHello (@MyTimeToShineH)June 21, 2025
The name of the operative is mentioned in the file as William Joseph Wilson. His codename is mentioned as Bill Wilson (which many fans pointed out to be weird). However, it is his alias mentioned in the file that caused the massive confusion. It is mentioned as Slade and DC fans will immediately recognize the character hint here.
Slade Wilson aka Deathstroke is a famous DC supervillain, who was an elite operative in the U.S. Army. He is the archenemy of the Teen Titans and also plays the villain to Batman, Green Arrow, and the whole Justice League. While the comic version is not CIA, fans could still draw the parallels between Bill Wilson and Deathstroke.
Aidan Gillen’s character, however, does not possess the ruthlessness of a mercenary as he only pretends to shoot his prisoners in the scene. A fandom trivia noted that Bill’s gun might be loaded with blanks since the slide on his gun doesn’t recoil like a live round (via Batman Fandom).
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Nolan is infamous for throwing such character names randomly in his Batman universe. Fans still debate whetherJoseph Gordon-Levitt‘s John Blake is Robin inThe Dark Knight Rises. While the common consensus confirms it, some still argue that the first name alone doesn’t necessarily mean he isNolan’s universe’s Robin.
Fans Engage In Debate Over Aidan Gillen’sThe Dark Knight RisesRole
One fan on X argued that as long as it was not explicitly mentioned anywhere in the movie, Aidan Gillen’s Deathstroke claim carried no weight. Another shared that Nolan could have possibly added it only as an Easter Egg and that fans were trying to read too much into it. Others also claimed the document to be a fake.
However, fans supporting the Deathstroke theory shared that if they accepted John Blake as canon Robin, then they would have to accept Aidan Gillen’s character as Slade Wilson too. Some of the fan reactions read:
https://twitter.com/JAZ1ELL/status/1793290356861120697
It’s just an Easter egg. It doesn’t make him comic book slade Wilson. He is an insignificant character and Nolan gave him the name of a comic book character
— Trey Wessel (@WesselTrey)July 15, 2025
Why tf are people saying this was Nolan’s version of Deathstroke? are we just lying now just hate on this movie even more?
— Chilly Aintit (@AxelRDroga)June 17, 2025
Christopher Nolan had tons of Easter eggs in his Batman trilogy like how they made a regular cop, Blake as Robin and this CIA guy was actually Slade aka Deathstroke. Check out his file.pic.twitter.com/hv4EOVIOvA
— I may have (@QuincyWandera)July 10, 2025
For the people in this post going “HIS NAME IS SLADE WILSON AGHHHHHHAHAGSIWBDIEHAJAAAA!”
Read two lines down from the name..
— Bamboo-zled (@notnicericefoo)July 01, 2025
While fans are unsure about Deathstroke in Nolan’s Universe, Zack Snyder’s DCEU definitely had an underutilized Deathstroke, played byJoe Manganiello. The actor tried to secure the same role inJames Gunn‘s DCU, but he admitted thatit was very unlikely. Gunn’s universe will probably have the character as they have aTeen Titansmovie coming out.
The Dark Knight Risesis now available for streaming on Max.
Hashim Asraff
Senior Writer
Articles Published :3019
Hashim Asraff is a Senior Entertainment Writer at FandomWire, with over 2,800 articles published on celebrity culture, comic book movies, and major TV franchises. With a background in Sociology and a keen interest in pop culture, Hashim brings a unique lens to breaking news stories, character deep-dives, film rankings, and fan-driven perspectives.His coverage often includes the MCU, DCU, hit network shows, and celebrity profiles, giving readers a rich blend of entertainment and analysis. A longtime fan of crime and investigative series, Hashim has watched thousands of episodes of NCIS, Criminal Minds, Law & Order: SVU, Bones, Blue Bloods, and The RookieA passionate storyteller and wordsmith, Hashim has also worked as a ghostwriter and managed multiple social media handles. He brought his writing expertise to FandomWire to also pursue his lifelong love for cinema and television.
