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So current rumour is Chris Nolen has started to pen ideas for the third film, hopefully this is the case as he's not be forthcoming on if he would even do a third up until now. However other actors in the current franchise and execs have let slip in interviews and off the record that the talk is the main villian will be Riddler and Johnny Depp and another actor (Not Murphey!!) are being considered, along with Angelina Jolie as Catwoman.

However after finally getting to watch Dark Knight a couple of days ago (and loving it) I had to ponder which Batman villians would I really like to see in the films. So I thought why not start a thread on it here on Dakka and see what folks think.


As to myself, hmm, Killer Croc could be interesting, or Bane done properly although as this is supposed to be a young Batman maybe Bane wouldn't fit. I don't mind the idea of the Riddler though, but I would really like to see a new villian again, one not covered in the previous four films to this franchise.

I'd like 2 major villains(Riddler and Penguin in his role as crime boss/man about town) and maybe a few other villains as hired goons(Killer Croc, Dead Shot, Dr. Langstrom hired/forced to develop a serum for new "super goons" and turning into Man-Bat, etc.).

Failing that, I just want to see some metahuman villains like Croc, Clayface, and Killer Moth, but I know they're trying to do a "this could possibly happen in reality" Batman series.

But then, I want the same out of Superman movies, not more Lex Luthor movies.

i'd personally like them to "continue" down this story arc... begin the movie with an unseen mentor, training a young female in the ways of crime.. the birth of harley quin.... then somewhere, you could throw in the Mad Hatter, or Riddler.

at least, id like to see that.. ive never been a fan of catwoman, or any of the portrayals of her, and while penguin is possible, i cant see how theyd get someone with the rotund factor working in their favor well enough to do the part.

Aye Nolan has been reported as saying he can't see how he'd fit Penguin into his vision of the series.

I'd also love to see Harley, but that seems less likely now with Heath's death as you couldn't really do her character justice without Joker.

Morathi's Darkest Sin wrote:Aye Nolan has been reported as saying he can't see how he'd fit Penguin into his vision of the series.

I find that odd, considering how important crime bosses are to his vision of Batman(every movie has involved the mob/organized crime in some way), and that's all the Penguin is.

Hmm...

Harley doesn't really work without the Joker, and you can't really replace Heath.

Freeze, Ivy, Croc, Clayface and the others are too supernatural for the way the other two movies have gone.

Penguin would be hard to do as a real villain. He would work as a side character.

I guess I'd like to see Bane, but see him portrayed as an intelligent adversary, and not another stupid but strong henchman.

Well, Nolan said that he doesn't want anyone else to play the Joker in his movies, so we need new villians. Which is quite a shame; I just watched Dark Knight again two days ago and one of my favourite scenes is still the one where Joker hangs upside down and explains to Batman how they are made for each other. This really was a brilliant set-up for future installments, but it was not meant to be

I think to find the next villain, we need to think about what the next movie could be "about". In Begins, the main theme of the movie was fear and in the Dark Knight it was more about Batman's rage and chaos as opposite to a normal society.

Personally, altough Nolan mentioned he wasn't interested in the topic, I think that after the events of Dark Knight, it would seem possible that we get more "copycats". Harley Quinn is a possibility, but wouldn't it also make sense at some point that, since Batman is hunted by the law, a new vigilante shows up in town, maybe some incarnation of Nightwing, and Batman decides to take him under his wing? Or, a new vigilante who takes it too far and Batman has to stop him. Altough I can't think of anyone in the Rogue's Gallery who would fit that description.

Let's see, who's left...
- Bane is one of my favourite Bat-villians and I would love to see someone get him right on the big screen, so we can all forget the abomination that was the 2nd. Schumacher movie. The most interesting part about Bane is not his strenght, but the brilliant mind behind it.
- Speaking of brilliant minds, the Riddler could work quite well, as a new "nemesis" for Batman, but more on a mental level. On the other hand, the Joker couldn't "fight" Batman, so maybe he needs a "physical challange".
- which brings us to Killer Croc, but that may be a bit too over the top and probably not very interesting.
- considering the fact, that movies like this don't work without at least some sort of female lead, I thin Catwoman is a good idea. I loved what they did with her in the animated series and maybe after Rachel's death the Dark Knight might be more vulnurable than he thinks

btw. Nolan said to Arron Eckhart that Two-Face is dead. Just thought I should mention that.

Yeah my brother was telling me how Two face is going to be in the third film yesterday and I was thinking as I'd just watched Dark Knight the day before, but Two face looked 100% dead so was confused but did think well superhero tales have pulled things like that before.

Then looking on the net last night about snippets and rumour for the third film I saw that from Eckhart and chuckled. Haven't spoken to my brother yet though.

You better stay away from any internet romours at this point. I won't believe a thing about this movie until I hear it from Joblo.com or Superherohype.

Oh aye, my main discussion here is who we'd like to see, I don't trust anything this early.

I love Batman.

Well firstly I'd like to see him quickly mop up/take down one or two really minor villains- some of the escaped crazies from the first film. Someone kind of goofy yet still odd like the Ventriloquist, Doodlebug or the Cavalier.

For the main foe I think Deacon Blackfire could well work, ogre and the ape could be funny/horrible if done right, but overall I'd like to see Nolan and Co. have a crack with Prometheus who I'd love to see on the big screen. "Neural chaff" FTW !

I'd like to see the Mad Hatter, but I think that's a little unlikely. Black mask could be good.

The batman films have had strong themes so far, and I would like the third to have one as strong.
I think that the three strongest Batman villains are Bane, Joker and Rhas al Ghul. The first two were used brilliantly. Bane however requires a more established batman, and also a more established rogues gallery.
Of the classic villains I don't think many of them would work.
Penguin is too comical. Mr Freeze, Croc and Clayface are too over the top. Catwoman sucks. Harley Quinn sucks even more (seriously we do not need a lame ass joker clone after Ledger's joker). Mad Hatter has potential, but the most interesting and realistic portrayal of him is as a paedophile, and this is something I'm not sure I'd be comfortable watching. Minor villains like Zaz (can't remember how it's spelled but he's the dude who cuts scars into himself for his victims, mentioned in the first film) could work, but not easily.
I think the riddler is a terrible choice. Try and figure out a script that would make sense for it. It's impossible. He's like a weaker joker. No.
I reckon they'll have to suprise us. Come up with a new villain, or better an antagonist. A cop or detective who is hunting batman for the murders. Have Bats fight minor whackos along the way, build up the rogues gallery, but this is window dressing to the greater moral and intellectual struggle between bats and his pursuer, who could be a good person. I think that's the best route. It's not retreading old ground, it's not a weak or over the top idea and it is what Dark Knight leads up to- Batman as a hunted figure rather than an ambigous one.
There's precedent for using new media to introduce comic characters. Harley Quinn was not a comic character originally. I think Nolan's Batman is stronger than all but the best batman comics and he should feel confident enough to mess with it rather than sticking to people's expectations and doing weak adaptions.

I personaly think Riddler could be a perfect choice for the next Batman instalment,of course not the Jim Carrey/Frank Gorshin Riddler...but a sinister "Zodiac Killer" type Riddler,tuanting Batman with clues,daring him to stop him...that would be interesting.
Catwoman,meh,not a big fan ,Croc would be interesting to see.

The thing I don't like about the Riddler and the Mad Hatter is they both remind me too much of the Joker.

After all, a "riddler" and "joker" are practically the same thing, and the Mad Hatter is too "crazy clownish."

I don't think anyone like the Joker would be good in the third movie. For one, having too similar villains in a row is bad, for another no one's going to follow up the Joker, so it would come off as weaker.

I could still see either of them in a supporting role though.

I'm with Orkeosaurus, the 'wild card crazies' should sit out a movie for the same reasons

I think a Mr. Freeze would work if done with a callous emotionless madness
similar to Anton Chigurh from 'No Country for Old Men' (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0477348/)
which if you haven't seen it, do so

Anung Un Rama wrote:
Personally, altough Nolan mentioned he wasn't interested in the topic, I think that after the events of Dark Knight, it would seem possible that we get more "copycats". Harley Quinn is a possibility, but wouldn't it also make sense at some point that, since Batman is hunted by the law, a new vigilante shows up in town, maybe some incarnation of Nightwing, and Batman decides to take him under his wing? Or, a new vigilante who takes it too far and Batman has to stop him. Altough I can't think of anyone in the Rogue's Gallery who would fit that description.

I was thinking on this earlier, and was thinking I wonder if the current version of Huntress would fiit this bill, the one with the mafia daughter backstory. She clashed with batman intially as well, which would make an interesting character with the potential to come good later on if they so want.

... i don't care i just hope we don't get a Robin or BatGirl

I've read that Nolan and Bale have both said they will not do the movies if Robin is going to be in them

Anung Un Rama wrote:Or, a new vigilante who takes it too far and Batman has to stop him. Altough I can't think of anyone in the Rogue's Gallery who would fit that description.

The Reaper, or maybe better known as Phantasm, the watered down version of Reaper made for the animated movie.

Trouble is that both the Riddler and Joker are a bit too similar for my liking. Both embodying Chaos, Nihilism and Absurdism.

Mind you Nolan's vision has re-invented every single one of the villains for the better so it may be best to ignore your pre-conceived notions of the villains in terms of looks, mannerisms and motivation.

I have total confidence in Christopher Nolan and I'm confident that if asked for their dream castings before either of the 1st 2 movies had been announced, no one on the internet would have dreamt of suggesting Cillian Murphy or Heath Ledger and I haven't heard a word of crititsm against either.

The Joker was interesting because even after you take away all the crazier elements of the character, you still had someone that stood outside the boundaries of ordinary crime. He wasn't concerned with the mob's money and turf control, he was a force of nature, destruction and chaos. It was a really important part of The Dark Knight.

It's impossible to do anything similar with most of the rest of the rogue's gallery. To get a Nolan level of plausibility into most of the rogues gallery, they end up losing most of the stuff that made them different from ordinary criminals. You can make the Penguin a mob boss but then he'd be like the countless mob bosses Batman has been beating up for two movies now. That'd be horribly dull. What's Bane other than a guy who can beat up Batman but is also really smart. How do you write an interesting screenplay about that?

reds8n wrote: Well firstly I'd like to see him quickly mop up/take down one or two really minor villains- some of the escaped crazies from the first film. Someone kind of goofy yet still odd like the Ventriloquist, Doodlebug or the Cavalier.

For the main foe I think Deacon Blackfire could well work, ogre and the ape could be funny/horrible if done right, but overall I'd like to see Nolan and Co. have a crack with Prometheus who I'd love to see on the big screen. "Neural chaff" FTW !

Yeah, Deacon Blackfire is the guy I could see working. A cult leader offering protection for the city's homeless... it'd be hard for Batman to distinguish himself from Blackfire. Perhaps the difference would only be clear when Blackfire shows a willingness to kill, and sacrifice his own followers.

I figure they could play around with the idea of people following the Batman in an almost cult like fashion and contrats this with Deacon's mob. Maybe push him as offering some form of "religious" protection from the Batman. Like a cross between Blackfire and the CRime Doctor kind of thing. Then as you said compare and contrats the two schools of thought/practise. The added irony being Batman doesn't actualy wany anyone else following him or taking his path, especially with what happened to Dent

Plus Deacon Blackfire is a cool name which helps.

I think they need to go back to a 'sympathetic' villian. Rhas a Ghul (?) was a good choice. Clearly, he's the villian and antagonist - but he wasn't out stealing money or going for world domination - he was trying to clean things up (although, rather harshly). The Joker is just all over crazy. Two-Face was somewhat symathetic. Deacon could work, but I'd vote for Dr. Freeze. Freeze is more 'old school', a little quirky, and more recognizable. I wouldn't mind if they include a second villian, one with a more malicious intent. Maybe they're even involved with the creation of Freeze, and both Freeze and Batman are tracking them down. And this could be a major role or a cameo, but I think Catwoman could work. She breaks into Freeze's lab, Batman chases her, accident happens, Freeze is created.

Personally, I would have no problem with them recasting the Joker part and/or having some copycats of him show up in the third and/or later films.

being that this iteration of gotham city is a very dark one, i would definitely see the riddler as something like "Mr. Brooks" or zodiac... or Mad Hatter as someone like jack the ripper... have a guy who dresses in older fashioned clothing with top hat, a very psychotic, yet cold methodical killer..almost like a victorian version of Hannibal Lector


just doing a browse thru the DC comics webpage, and being that the second film had some scenes in hong kong/china.. you could bring on sin tzu

if you just wanted to piss of the tree hugger community, do poison ivy!! she could be quite the evil wench, perhaps bruce wayne chopped out her favorite tree grove?

also saw, for those who want another vigilante to be taken down: deadshot... guy starts off in the affluent lifestyle... then he starts disarming the criminals (by shooting their weapons out of their hands)... but all these "good deeds" are really a ruse to take over the crime syndicates

Da Boss wrote:I think the riddler is a terrible choice. Try and figure out a script that would make sense for it. It's impossible. He's like a weaker joker. No.
I reckon they'll have to suprise us. Come up with a new villain, or better an antagonist. A cop or detective who is hunting batman for the murders. Have Bats fight minor whackos along the way, build up the rogues gallery, but this is window dressing to the greater moral and intellectual struggle between bats and his pursuer, who could be a good person. I think that's the best route. It's not retreading old ground, it's not a weak or over the top idea and it is what Dark Knight leads up to- Batman as a hunted figure rather than an ambigous one.
There's precedent for using new media to introduce comic characters. Harley Quinn was not a comic character originally. I think Nolan's Batman is stronger than all but the best batman comics and he should feel confident enough to mess with it rather than sticking to people's expectations and doing weak adaptions.

Actually, I think the Riddler could seve as a good contrast to the Joker. The Joker wasn't about makijng plans, but about turning people's plans against them. The Riddler could be a true criminal mastermind, determined to challange Batman and the police, proving that he's superior to them.
If you think of Joker's quote

this city deserves a better class of criminal

as well as the impact he had on Gotham, I think it would fit just fine that another "costumed nutjob" shows up, trying to be a new "supervillian".

It would be nice to have again, a more focused view on the similiarities between Batman and his enemies. Mr- Freeze for example, also lost someone he loved, but choose a life dedicated to revenge and crime.

I was just thinking. Why does the Penguin have to be rotund? Why can't he be an urbane upper-class gentleman that is secretly a mob boss? A James Bond type type of villian. Introduce a new type of Penguin that is the same as Bruce Wayne but is instead evil. Some one who looks good in a tux. I know this sounds a lot like Lex Luthor but it'd be interesting.

I don't know which character he'd play but as far as sympathetic villians go I really want to see Steve Buscemi. You want a sympathetic serial killer or arch-villian, he's the way to go.

Well, there's always Maxie Zeus and Firefly to play up the tech villains, also.

I still stay Deadshot could work, maybe set up the Suicide Squad and Amanda Waller for future installments. Batman vs the American government rogues/President Lex was always a good time.