Katie Holmes was replaced by Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes in 2008's The Dark Knight. Rachel Dawes was created for Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, first appearing in Batman Begins as the childhood friend and love interest of Bruce Wayne. Rachel was very important to Nolan's Batman universe, due to her association with Bruce as well as Harvey Dent as they worked to stop the Joker and the rest of Gotham's organized crime network. Though seemingly as close to a perfect trilogy as one can get, Nolan's Batman trilogy is not without the odd continuity problem, in this instance taking the form of recasting an integral character.

Initially portrayed by Katie Holmes opposite Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne, a.k.a. Batman, the actress did not reprise her role in 2008's The Dark Knight. Instead, Maggie Gyllenhaal took over the part, and the character was killed off by the end of the film.