Who's your pick as the next Batman villain?

Well we can cross Mr. Freeze off the list. : http://movies.ign.com/articles/107/1076247p1.html

He wouldn't go into details about the plot or future villains, but did at least confirm that Mr. Freeze wouldn't make an appearance.

Click to expand...

Made me a little sad, as Mr. Freeze is in my top 3 favorite bat-villains and was my vote in this poll, but there was also some more interesting news in the article:

"Without getting into specifics, the key thing that makes the third film a great possibility for us is that we want to finish our story," he said. "And in viewing it as the finishing of a story rather than infinitely blowing up the balloon and expanding the story.

"I'm very excited about the end of the film, the conclusion, and what we've done with the characters," Nolan said. "My brother [Jonah] has come up with some pretty exciting stuff. Unlike the comics, these thing don't go on forever in film and viewing it as a story with an end is useful. Viewing it as an ending, that sets you very much on the right track about the appropriate conclusion and the essence of what tale we're telling. And it hearkens back to that priority of trying to find the reality in these fantastic stories. That's what we do."

Click to expand...

So they're actually going to end the Nolanverse version of Batman. Lovely idea, imho. I'm now leaning toward the idea that they might not even actually introduce a new villain, at least not emphatically - like virtually every other Batman and/or Superhero movie has done in the past.

Perhaps they'll have the al Ghul family return along with Scarecrow and Joker? Hard for me to imagine that they'd be able to manage to tie up all these stories, along with the mob problem, and introduce/conclude a new villain and finish Batman's story as well all in one movie.

I suppose this also probably refutes the idea that the Batman of the Nolanverse will ever be a part of JLA. Interestingly however, the "Nolan team" (Chris and Jonah, along with Goyer and company) are focusing on the next Superman movie.

We'll see!

http://celebrityhollywoodgossips.blogspot.com/2010/08/leonardo-dicaprio-tom-hardy-join-joseph.html

I'm still hoping against hope for Bane.

I'd like to see David Cain appear in a movie.

Oburi said:

http://celebrityhollywoodgossips.blogspot.com/2010/08/leonardo-dicaprio-tom-hardy-join-joseph.html

Click to expand...

Nice selection. Coming off Inception I think this would be a size role for Joseph Gordon-Levitt, whom I'm hoping becomes more and more creditable with his acting career. Following Inception this would be the start of a great new track record but any three of them would work.

I know this is kind of off-topic, but have you guys discussed who would be a fitting replacement for Heath Ledger as the Joker? the Joker didn't die at the end of the movie, and I'm sure Nolan had a part for him in the next film. (maybe start a new thread?)

Truder said:

I know this is kind of off-topic, but have you guys discussed who would be a fitting replacement for Heath Ledger as the Joker? the Joker didn't die at the end of the movie, and I'm sure Nolan had a part for him in the next film. (maybe start a new thread?)

Click to expand...

Jack Nicholson. I don't know why, but something tells me that man could pull it off.

Nolan said he's not going to use the Joker anyway.

Oburi said:

Nolan said he's not going to use the Joker anyway.

Click to expand...

Yeah, this is confirmed. But you know I think before the movie came out, and we all saw that single shot of Ledger sitting down as the Joker, I think we knew exactly what they were going for and how it had to be done. I think the role can easily be re-casted but why do it? I mean, the Joker in Batman mythology is a great master mind and was well done in TDK, but now I can only imagine what Nolan could do with the Riddler. Most of Nolan's films are (mystery/philosophy/heist) so I think the Riddler and his mind games would be perfect fun, even without the Joker. I'm just as excited when I heard the TDK was going to have the Joker as I am with this movie having the Riddler. I would think it is going to be easy for people to jump on board for this film because of its sheer possibilities with the Riddler.

I'd actually like to see a Batman movie that breaks from the normal dogmatic formula of NEW SUPERHERO MOVIE = NEW VILLAIN. How about just a really good Batman mystery movie without having to focus on a big, predictable FINAL BATTLE?

Walter said:

I'd actually like to see a Batman movie that breaks from the normal dogmatic formula of NEW SUPERHERO MOVIE = NEW VILLAIN. How about just a really good Batman mystery movie without having to focus on a big, predictable FINAL BATTLE?

Click to expand...

Mask of the Phantasm, duder! Also, didn't Batman Begins basically take that as far as it could go without, arguably, being boring? I feel like he kind of did it already.

I'm not saying it can't be done, or couldn't be awesome frankly, I just wouldn't want to mess with whatever formula worked for Nolan in the last one, and that would seem to be in the opposite direction from where he was going. So, while I know what you mean, I just don't think it would necessarily work better in practice, even in this incarnation. When watching The Dark Knight, were you ever thinking how much more you enjoyed the scenes without the Joker in them, or wished he was left out of the movie altogether? Was your favorite part the China caper subplot? Want two and half hours of THAT or Inception instead, if that's what Nolan has to offer otherwise? I'll take the traditional villain done well (a Riddler plot could actually lend itself perfectly to Batman's detective skills). I mean, there has to be some kind of antagonistic presence relative to Batman (of course, that doesn't mean they have to hire Ace Ventura). Removing a villain of that stature seems one step removed from removing the super hero from the super hero movie, or making something that isn't a super hero movie anymore. Does it make it more genuine, or defeat the purpose? I feel like TDK already struck a precarious balance there.


As for the Riddler in the next Batman movie, while I'd kind of like to see Nolan surprise us since this is what everyone expects, I have to admit that it seems perfectly suited to Nolan, like he was born to do a Batman versus The Riddler story.

Griffith said:

As for the Riddler in the next Batman movie, while I'd kind of like to see Nolan surprise us since this is what everyone expects, I have to admit that it seems perfectly suited to Nolan, like he was born to do a Batman versus The Riddler story.

Click to expand...

Yea deff. Plus twoface will have his "surprise I'm not dead" twist.

Oburi said:

Yea deff. Plus twoface will have his "surprise I'm not dead" twist.

Click to expand...

Ugh, I remember that chatter. You're thinking of the perfect Batman movie for M. Night Shyamalan.

twoface had about 15 minutes of movie time

Truder said:

twoface had about 15 minutes of movie time

Click to expand...

That was the start of his character, the beginning. How Dent became Twoface. Mark my words, he'll be back.

Be nice to see the scarecrow consistency intact...minute cameo and all!

Oburi said:

That was the start of his character, the beginning. How Dent became Twoface. Mark my words, he'll be back.

Click to expand...

Sounds like a complete arc for Harvey Dent to me, especially the death part. Oh lord, it's all coming back to me though!

Let's put this puppy to sleep once and for all:

http://www.movieweb.com/news/NEdOlkeloZqggi said:

"He's dead," Eckhart said before the question was even finished. Eckhart also mentioned that he asked that very same question to director Christopher Nolan while filming The Dark Knight.

"I asked Chris if there was a chance of coming back. 'No way,' he said. 'He's toast.'"

Click to expand...

I know, it's all an elaborate ruse to fool us, like killing the character off, on screen, in the first place.

It's like we're so used to bullshit at this point we just expect it like it's normal and acceptable. Actually, a more recent Eckhart interview suggests that very notion:

http://www.imdb.com/news/ni0998600/ said:

Aaron Eckhart has launched a new bid to convince director Christopher Nolan to revive Batman comic book character Two-face for the sequel to The Dark Knight.

The actor, who portrayed Harvey Dent and his alter ego Two-Face, saw his character appear to be killed off in the 2008 blockbuster, and assumed he would not be a part of any future movie installments.

But Eckhart is now appealing to Nolan to consider bringing Two-Face back from the dead - mimicking a popular technique used on dramatic TV soap operas.

He says, "I think I've talked myself out of the job. I thought I'd died. But you know, America's grown up on soap operas and reinventing people so why doesn't Chris take that into consideration (when he's writing the script)?"

Click to expand...

Wow, is that a serious recommendation for the story, or a serious condemnation of the audience? And rightly so it appears, even I'll admit it seems more likely to me now than then, but rather than perspective gained, I chalk it up to the passage of time actually making me forget how silly the idea was in the first place, relative to the quality of work in the film (like everyone else, I'm just used to bullshit too =). So, please, since all indications are that Nolan had and has no intention of going the "soap opera" route, until we hear otherwise, or at least something changes, let's stop the insanity (or should I say, "inanity?").

Death May Die said:

Be nice to see the scarecrow consistency intact...minute cameo and all!

Click to expand...

I could take him or leave him, it wasn't really necessary in TDK, though I thought it was a strange callback and a decent allusion to Batman doing a routine bust on a second-tier, not-quite-super villain. To really be consistent, Batman should dig up and apprehend the corpse of Harvey Dent at the beginning of the next movie. It could happen!

So, are we settled on Two-Face and Ra's al Ghul as the most likely villains in Batman 3!?

Talia Al Gul is a lot more probable now that we're reading of Nolan casting 2 female characters.

I pick Catwoman and Bane.

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2011/01/19/batman-hathaway-catwoman-hardy-bane-dark-knight-rises/

Good guess... those choices and the accompanying actors don't exactly scream excitement though, unless Nolan plans on breaking Batman's back. He probably shouldn't since Christian Bale might actually have his back broken for the role.

Yeah the casting feels uninspired to me. I have a hunch Kyle may be more of a love interest than a villain this time around.

Walter said:

Yeah the casting feels uninspired to me.

Click to expand...

Yeah, and it's a developing trend as everything we've heard about this movie so far has been uninspired, starting with the title. I know everyone thought the same thing about Heath Ledger, but that was an exception and by the same token Nolan's female leads in these movies haven't exactly been home runs when you consider Katie Holmes was the best of the bunch.

I dunno, Catwoman aside I'm pretty excited to see Bane done right. I like Tom Hardy and think he's capable of pulling off the role. Can't be any worse than the Bane we saw in Batman & Robin...*shudder*

Not knowing anything about the script, the fact that Bane was chosen would open up the possibility of seeing something along the lines of Batman: Venom and if done right, that would be very interesting, at least to me.

Griffith said:

Good guess... those choices and the accompanying actors don't exactly scream excitement though, unless Nolan plans on breaking Batman's back. He probably shouldn't since Christian Bale might actually have his back broken for the role.

Click to expand...

Agree with this. I'm excited though because I like what Nolan's done with his movies (so far so good). Anne's an interesting pick, I didn't like her as much in the Alice movie, but she was cool in Love & Other Drugs, Rachel Getting Married, Brokeback Mountain, and The Devil Wears Prada. I think (or I hope!) Tom will nail it.