The Villains of Batman 3: A Geekscape Field Guide
With the death of Heath Ledger came fears that Christopher Nolan’s acclaimed and box office record-setting series of Batman movies had come to an end. In the interviews that followed The Dark Knight’s release Nolan hedged his bets on a third movie, only fueling the ire. But at last, last week saw the official announcement that Batman 3 was on the way, coming to a theater near you in Summer 2012.
So… Let the speculation begin.
As with every superhero movie, all the fans want to know at this stage in the game is who the villains will be since, after all, we know who the hero is. And with Christopher Nolan’s exceptional ability to tie Batman’s nemeses into an overarching thematic tale of gritty vigilantism the announcement of the next antagonists – along with their casting – isn’t just a geekgasm waiting to happen, it holds hints of what he has on his mind. A Riddler story may tax Batman’s brain, but a Catwoman tale will test his morals and play off of his emotional turmoil following the death of his childhood sweetheart. The Penguin might force Batman to uncover crime amongst Gotham’s own aristocracy – and maybe even the indiscretions of Bruce Wayne himself – while Harley Quinn would personify the impact The Joker’s anarchic spirit had on the criminal underworld of Gotham.
Here, Geekscape presents a field guide at the Batman villains most likely to make an appearance in Batman 3. Who is primed to play them? How could Christopher Nolan incorporate these flamboyant characters into his realistic “Nolanverse”? What are the challenges in adapting them to the screen? And what are the odds that they’ll make it into the film anyway? It’s time that we shine the ol’ Bat Signal on these, the most un-usual suspects.
CATWOMAN
WHO SHE IS: Selina Kyle, sexy cat burglar extraordinaire. Not so much evil as unscrupulous.
WHO COULD PLAY HER: Many names have been bandied about – like Academy Award-winner Marion Cotillard, who would probably be fantastic – but Nolan usually seems to prefer dark horse candidates for these types of roles. So if not Marion Cotillard, it’s possible we’ll see somebody like Emily Blunt.
WHEY SHE’D BE AWESOME: With Rachel Dawes (finally) dead, Batman’s going to be looking for a new love interest and, what with all the other problems in his life, he probably won’t be making the wisest choice. Selina Kyle could represent the antithesis of Dawes’ role in Bruce Wayne’s life: a woman for whom he must make moral compromise, as opposed to a woman who held him to an incredibly high standard.
WHY SHE’D BE AWFUL: Selina Kyle is one of the great Batman characters, but not one of the great Batman villains. Her machinations are based on personal gain as opposed to placing anybody in danger. As a result it might be difficult for Nolan & Co. to develop an entire plotline around her character, relegating her to supporting status. It might also be difficult to tie in such a self-absorbed character in the machinations of other villains, so she could just end up as a distraction to the plot, despite a strong thematic link to the narrative.
WHAT ARE THE ODDS: 3 to 1. Daring though he may be, Nolan’s still making blockbusters here and Batman’s going to need a love interest. Not many to choose from.
THE GREAT WHITE SHARK
WHO HE IS: Warren White, crooked Wall Street mogul who embezzled millions from his company’s pension fund and pleaded insanity in Gotham City, getting him a one way ticket to Arkham Asylum. Surrounded by maniacs, he suffered physically deforming assaults, went insane, and now runs much of Gotham’s criminal organizations from the “comfort” of his padded cell.
WHO COULD PLAY HIM: Nolan would need someone who looked good in a business suit, but later pale and noseless. A greasy corporate type who goes thoroughly nuts. Michael C. Hall seems like a pretty good fit to us.
WHY HE’D BE AWESOME: With Gotham City’s criminal underwold now officially leaderless after the events of The Dark Knight, and the lingering influence of The Joker now an ongoing concern, it’s going to be left to the crazies to fill the power vacuum. In addition to crooked financiers being a hot button issue, the idea of somebody not unlike Bruce Wayne running crime in Gotham and bridging the gap between “sensible” and “senseless” crime has a distinct appeal.
WHY HE’D BE AWFUL: The Great White Shark’s best storyline is still his origin, which would take an entire film to properly convey unless Nolan wanted to handle it off-screen (doesn’t seem like a good idea to us). He’s also a relatively unknown character, so despite the fact that he fits naturally into the “Nolanverse” he probably won’t have much studio support behind him.
WHAT ARE THE ODDS: 30 to 1. We really do love The Great White Shark, but he’s probably not going to make the cut due to his relatively obscure nature.
HARLEY QUINN
Who She Is: The unfortunately-named Doctor Harleen Quinzel, formerly The Joker’s psychologist in Arkham Asylum, later his submissive, ultra-violent girlfriend and biggest fan.
WHO COULD PLAY HER: There are very few actresses in the appropriate age-range who have made a distinct impression on us lately, who fit the physical needs but also have the range necessary to portray batshit insanity without simply overacting. Ellen Page has been considered, and Dakota Fanning could be awesome in a very creepy way, but “Veronica Mars’s” Kristen Bell hasn’t had a great role since her show ended, and although she may be the most popular contender for the role we really can’t think of anyone better.
WHY SHE’D AWESOME: With Heath Ledger still tragically dead, it might be difficult to convey the influence that The Joker has had on Gotham City. The Dark Knight would seem to be the story that portrayed the shift from Carmine Falcone and Sal Maroni’s era of “organized” crime with the Gotham City of the comics, run by psychopaths with rampaging ids. Some interpretation of Harley Quinn, perhaps with an entire gang of “Jokers” at her disposal a la “Batman Beyond” might serve to illustrate the lasting effect The Joker had on Gotham’s identity while the man himself remains behind bars. The added concept of a Joker fangirl would also really piss Batman off to no end.
WHY SHE’D BE AWFUL: Many consider Harley Quinn to be a suitable invention for the animated series, but lacking a suitable “real world” analogue for the Nolanverse. “A little too wacky,” they might say, and it’s probably true. Also, to make Harley the principle villain would risk Batman 3 (whatever it might be called) paling in comparison to The Dark Knight, when the film will desperately need to forge its own identity.
WHAT ARE THE ODDS: 15 to 1. Although Nolan may wish to move past The Joker in the wake of Heath Ledger’s demise, Harley Quinn could serve as an interesting reminder of his influence. But if she appears at all it’s unlikely to be much more than a cameo.
HUSH
WHO HE IS: Dr. Thomas Elliot, childhood friend of Bruce Wayne who always envied the death of Wayne’s parents (his own stayed very much alive for far too long, keeping their riches from him). Upon discovering Bruce’s secret identity he embarked on an elaborate plan to destroy his best friend.
WHO COULD PLAY HIM: Hush would have to be played by someone Christian Bale’s age and, since in the original story Hush’s identity was a mystery, it would have to be somebody who wasn’t famous enough to make the revelation obvious. Peter Sarsgaard would seem an obvious choice, but he’s already playing Hector Hammond in The Green Lantern, so we’d offer the role to Billy Crudup.
WHY HE’D BE AWESOME: With Rachel Dawes dead and Commissioner Gordon no longer a reliable confidant, Bruce Wayne really could use a friend, making Thomas Elliot a valuable character in Nolan’s arsenal. Besides the fact that Hush is in many respects an evil, alternate Bruce Wayne it would also provide Nolan with the ability to convey more realistically the difficulties of Batman trying to “hush up” a villain who knows his secret identity. How far would he go to cover that up?
WHY HE’D BE AWFUL: Outside of his original appearance, Hush hasn’t really made much of an impact on readers in the last eight years and is already written off as a one hit wonder. Plus, since his identity was originally a mystery it would be difficult to Nolan to adapt the original story, since by now everybody knows who he really is.
WHAT ARE THE ODDS: 20 to 1. An unlikely choice for Nolan, but Hush would provide a lot of interesting narrative and thematic options for the series if given the proper dramatic emphasis.
THE JOKER
WHO HE IS: The human embodiment of violence and anarchy, originally played by posthumous Academy Award-winner Heath Ledger in an iconic performance, and now presumably locked-up in Arkham Asylum.
WHO COULD PLAY HIM: Jesus, this is a tough one. Anybody taking over from Heath Ledger has enormous shoes to fill, and no, that’s not just a clown joke. You’d need somebody with incredible chops to pull off that particular feat, and although there may be a better choice out there the only person who comes to mind is Leonardo DiCaprio, who is starring in Christopher Nolan’s Inception later this summer. Nolan is notoriously loyal to his cast members, after all.
WHY HE’D BE AWESOME: Christopher Nolan made a very specific point of not killing The Joker off in his first appearance, leaving room for an even foreshadowing future conflicts between Batman and his nemesis. Nolan himself even intimated that he had plans for The Joker later in the franchise. If he sees fit to move past the tragic loss of Heath Ledger and tell the story he originally intended, then he probably has a very good reason for doing so – not to mention a very good plotline. The Joker has always had a tendency to reinvent his identity, and recasting him to fit the evolution of his personality might not be the worst idea in the world. Also, the age-old storyline of The Joker being released from Arkham and declared “sane” would be a massive slap in the face to our hero, who would be forced once again to confront the system he believes in but has to work outside of.
WHY HE’D BE AWFUL: Too soon? It might be wise for Nolan to give Ledger’s memory a little time to simmer down, so if somebody does end up filling those enormous shoes in a future film they won’t be under quite so much scrutiny.
WHAT ARE THE ODDS: 6 to 1. No, we don’t think it’s that likely that The Joker will actually be the main villain in Batman 3, but we do think it’s that likely he’ll be a presence of some kind in the film as a promise of things to come. Maybe he’ll be mentioned in a news report, or maybe we’ll hear his laughter emerging from the bowels of Arkham Asylum, but we wouldn’t be surprised if we haven’t seen the last of The Joker in one form or another.
THE MAD HATTER
WHO HE IS: Jervis Tetch, a psychotic manic-depressive who is obsessed with Alice in Wonderland and in particular very fond of hats. He is a master manipulator, using high technology or even drugs to coerce others to his will and, depending on the writer’s interpretation, either eerily obsessed with children or actually a homicidal pedophile.
WHO COULD PLAY HIM: Ordinarily we’d suggest a particularly short individual, but Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland finally broke free of that stereotype for the character leaving us with no shortage (if you will) of interesting actors to portray the fanciful and seriously creepy Mad Hatter. Call us crazy but we’re particularly fond of Frost/Nixon’s Michael Sheen, with his acting skill matched by his boyish – and decidedly British – facial features.
WHY HE’D BE AWESOME: If you remove the sci-fi trappings from The Mad Hatter (the high tech mind control doesn’t really fit Nolan’s universe), you’ve got all the makings of a pretty horrifying murderer here. Children have been decidedly absent from Nolan’s movies since Batman’s origin, and placing young characters Bruce Wayne associates with his only happy memories in jeopardy would be a particularly shocking tale for the third film.
WHY HE’D BE AWFUL: Batman versus a child-murdering pedophile? Creepy, but a little too creepy to be the focus of an entire blockbuster film, and also thematically tangential to the overarching narrative Nolan is creating about the nature of Batman and vigilantism. Fanciful allusions to Alice in Wonderland would also appear to have little place in his gritty depiction of the Batman mythos.
WHAT ARE THE ODDS: 60 to 1. As interesting as the match-up could be, any Mad Hatter in the Nolanverse would be better suited to a sequel to the animated Gotham Knight than a serious feature film.
MISTER FREEZE
WHO HE IS: Doctor Victor Fries, cryogenics expert who lost his terminally-ill wife in an industrial accident while trying to cure her condition. Since then he has found himself living in the cold, and claiming to no longer suffer from emotion of any kind.
WHO COULD PLAY HIM: Jackie Earle Haley sure seems like an obvious choice, which is why we don’t think Nolan would be interested. Still, Fries would need an older actor to play him, but also one who looks formidable physically. We’ll take “Breaking Bad”-ass Bryan Cranston for the win.
WHY HE’D BE AWESOME: Like The Mad Hatter, if you remove the sci-fi trappings from Mister Freeze (the high tech freeze gun doesn’t really fit Nolan’s universe), you’ve got all the makings of a pretty horrifying murderer here. (“The Ice Truck Killer,” anyone?) Borne from tragedy, extremely cold and calculating, and with an interesting visual hook – maybe he only strikes during the winter, giving Gotham a new appearance for the third movie – Mister Freeze could make an intriguing figure, albeit perhaps an incidental one, for Batman to defeat over the course of the film.
WHY HE’D BE AWFUL: Christopher Nolan apparently has no love for the character, who has to overcome enormous skepticism from audiences who remember all-too-well Arnold Schwarzenegger’s disastrous turn as the character in Joel Schumacher’s Batman & Robin.
WHAT ARE THE ODDS: 50 to 1. We like our serial killer angle, but this is real a long shot, particularly when other, more thematically significant villains are at Nolan’s disposal.
THE PENGUIN
WHO HE IS: Oswald Cobblepot, a gentleman criminal with a love of both birds and dressing up (hence the tuxedo/“penguin” angle). Although a legitimate businessman, he uses his nightclubs and other entrepreneurial enterprises as cover for a vast criminal empire.
WHO COULD PLAY HIM: Philip Seymour Hoffman has long been rumored for the role, and damn if that’s not good casting, but once again, Christopher Nolan has a tendency not to go for the obvious choice. Someone suggested the talented and appropriately-nosed Adrien Brody as a dark horse candidate, who despite his height might be great (and dispel obvious similarities between a new interpretation and Danny DeVito’s famous take on the character), and Bob Hoskins is pretty on-the-nose, but we’ve got our fingers crossed for Toby Jones, who already portrayed a publically accepted personification of evil as Karl Rove in Oliver Stone’s W.
WHY HE’D BE AWESOME: Though not much in a fight, The Penguin’s public image could, once again, provide an interesting link between the world of Bruce Wayne, billionaire, with the criminal underworld.
WHY HE’D BE AWFUL: Maybe not “awful,” per se, but The Penguin’s always been more about the bottom line. He’s not going to throw Gotham City into utter chaos so much as rob a bank or smuggle weapons and narcotics into the city. Perhaps he’s just not enough of a threat to carry his own film.
WHAT ARE THE ODDS: 5 to 1. He’s a natural fit in the Nolanverse, although he’d probably need a few incidental enforcers – like Deadshot, Deathstroke the Terminator, Bane, etc. – to beef him up as a genuine threat.
POISON IVY
WHO SHE IS: Pamela Isley, eco-terrorist who values the lives of plants above people. An expert in the field of botany, particularly in the use of plants to create poisons, hallucinogens and “stimulants.”
WHO COULD PLAY HER: Practically every attractive actress in Hollywood would be up for the part, but we genuinely can’t imagine anybody more appropriate than “Mad Men’s” Christina Hendricks, one of the loveliest women in the world who plays a fantastic superbitch on a weekly basis.
WHY SHE’D BE AWESOME: The most popular Poison Ivy stories involve Pamela Isley seducing Bruce Wayne with her love toxins, a story which could fit the Nolanverse pretty nicely. Bruce Wayne is still nursing that broken heart, and as a billionaire is a pretty big target for gold diggers. Poison Ivy enticing Wayne to her psychotic will and inadvertently neutralizing Batman as a threat to her plans is pretty decent drama, provided Nolan tones down her abilities a bit and focuses instead on an eco-terrorist who specializes in poisons.
WHY SHE’D BE AWFUL: An eco-terrorist doesn’t really fit in with Nolan’s street-level take on Batman, so tying Poison Ivy in to his overarching themes would be quite a stretch. If he wanted a seductive assassin who uses chemicals on our hero, he’d be better off sticking with Cheshire, a lower-level villain who nevertheless fills the niche more appropriately.
WHAT ARE THE ODDS: 40 to 1. Batman still needs a love interest, but Poison Ivy won’t be scratching that itch any time soon.
THE RIDDLER
WHO HE IS: Edward Nigma, a master criminal with a psychotic fixation on telling the truth, leading him to confess to his misdeeds ahead of time but also to obfuscate the truth with brilliant riddles and puzzles.
WHO COULD PLAY HIM: There’s a lot of potential for interesting casting here, ranging from John Malkovich to to “Lost’s” Michael Emerson to the decidedly off-kilter choice of Jason Schwartzman, but like many we find it hard to resist the urge to suggest “Doctor Who’s” David Tennant in the role of a mad supergenius operating on a completely different wavelength from those around him.
WHY HE’D BE AWESOME: Not long after The Dark Knight came out a fan-made poster intimating a Zodiac-killer take on the Riddler made the rounds online, and we have to admit it makes perfect sense. Bruce Wayne struggling to keep up in a deadly game of cat and mouse with a homicidal maniac who may actually be smarter than he is could make a pretty thrilling tale in Christopher Nolan’s hands.
WHY HE’D BE AWFUL: Even with the serial killer interpretation, The Riddler could be a serious step down in scale from The Dark Knight, and Nolan has other, perhaps more thematically appropriate villains to incorporate into the franchise first.
WHAT ARE THE ODDS: 10 to 1. If The Riddler doesn’t make the cut in Batman 3 then we’d be very surprised if he doesn’t at least show up in Batman 4. At least, we seriously hope there’s going to be a Batman 4…
TALIA HEAD
WHO SHE IS: Sometimes known as Talia Al Ghul, she’s the daughter of Ra’s Al Ghul/Henri Ducard, and has inherited the leadership of The League of Shadows after his “untimely” death.
WHO COULD PLAY HER: Rachel Weisz has been suggested by many as an ideal choice for Ra’s Al Ghul’s daughter, but in the Nolanverse that overt level of beauty and sensuality doesn’t really fit in with the League of Shadows, which used a broad supervillain caricature to distract from the real identity of their leader. So we’re imagining someone a little more unassuming in charge of the clan (her bodyguard Lady Shiva would fill the “Yowza” quotient anyway), but also somebody you can imagine slitting your throat at a moment’s notice. Natalie Portman came to mind, but she’s already doing Thor and may be superheroed out now, so we finally decided on Inglourious Basterds’ Melanie Laurent as an unexpected but very fitting choice.
WHY SHE’D BE AWESOME: Talia Head has a very rich history with Batman. In addition to being the daughter of one of his greatest nemeses, and quite the psychotic supervillain herself, she’s also the mother of his child. Their close relationship is of course entirely at odds with their natures, and it would be quite an unexpected twist for non-comics fans if the daughter of the man Bruce Wayne killed were to show up with the intention of getting pregnant.
WHY SHE’D BE AWFUL: The problem with bringing Talia into the third film would be the risk of turning Nolan’s Batman movies into a trilogy, with her presence tying everything from the first movie up in a neat little package. Newsflash: We don’t want a trilogy. We want an extended series of films we can depend on to be quality, exciting and intelligent entertainment.
WHAT ARE THE ODDS: 3 to 1. Once again, that love interest role needs to be filled by someone (and not just Batman, if you know what we mean), and we’d be very surprised if it doesn’t go to either Catwoman or Talia Head, to the point where we consider it a toss-up between them.
TWO-FACE
WHO HE IS: Former District Attorney Harvey Dent, hideously deformed by The Joker, who went mad at the end of The Dark Knight and went on a killing spree before… well, dying.
WHO COULD PLAY HIM: Aaron Eckhart. At least he’s still alive.
WHY HE’D BE AWESOME: Many people felt that, like Venom before him, the story of Two-Face was rushed at the end of his film. They believed that his death was less than satisfying and, since nobody seemed to actually take his pulse, assume that he must still be alive somewhere. Two-Face could return to wreak havoc in The Joker’s stead.
WHY HE’D BE AWFUL: If Harvey Dent survived and reared his ugly head as a supervillain then The Dark Knight, arguably the best superhero movie ever made and considered by many to be one of the finest films of the last decade, would be completely invalidated. His story might not have been as long as you liked, but it reached a logical conclusion and folks, it is very much over.
WHAT ARE THE ODDS: 100 to 1. It’s hard to imagine Christopher Nolan pulling the “He’s Not Really Dead” card in his realistic take on the Batman saga, and even harder to imagine that he’d undo all the hard work he did on The Dark Knight just for the sake of a switcheroo.
