DEBATE PART II: Who will be terrorising Gotham in BATMAN 3?

The final look at potential future Batman villains. You can read PART ONE HERE which generated a good amount of discussion. Please try and keep the comments in regards to this article and these sets of villains rather than those talked previous or not yet, as there is or will be soon a thread for them.

I should have also probably mentioned that people are quite happy to shout out spoilers for the The Dark Knight in the comments section, so watch out for that.

POISON IVY

Poison Ivy, the women with the deadly touch. In this environment conscious world we live in she could make a good villain in principal, targeting Wayne Enterprises because of their industry waste and effect on the environment. Again with film noir appearing to be a theme of the new Batman movies, she is the ultimate seductress and femme fatale.

IN NOLAN’S WORLD: Again, it would have to be different to the Uma Thurman portrayal but a botanist/nature obsessive who has come up with a poison that kills the bureaucrats of Gotham could be interesting, especially if she kills villains and not completely innocent people.

And how about she gets Gordon on her side by seducing him away from his wife? I’m sure some of you will have read Batman: Year One where Gordon becomes an adulterer… it would certainly be interesting to see a man of principle who isn’t tempted by the seedy side of the law actually succumb to a beautiful women.

CASTING: Rebecca Hall. I’ve always thought Hall was a little tomboy ish, she carries that with her as well as being able to play sexy and I’m certain manipulative. Nolan has already worked with her on The Prestige and she has the slim figure for it and sexy British accent. And she’s a really good actress too.

MAD HATTER

Well we know this new Batman series is going to be darker so an obsessive-compulsive, highly delusional, psychotic manic pedophile who dresses up like a character out of Alice in Wonderland may not be too far fetched. In Hatter’s favour is the fact that the character has never been used before on screen so like the Scarecrow and Ra’s Al Ghul - he will be fresh to everyone.

Though as a physical presence, he would hardly be intimidating.

IN NOLAN’S WORLD: If Nolan did ever use him I would predict a terrorist or a bad bomber would be his persona because there ain’t no way in hell that WB would allow for a child snatching villain ala Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Yes somehow Tim Burton got away with something similar for The Penguin in Batman Returns but look what the uproar from that caused. Frikkin’ neon light Batman!

CASTING: Martin Short. Ok so it’s a completely obvious choice but the child friendly actor who goes bad… and bad in a “I play with children” way is just dynamite. And hell, there’s something creepy about Martin Short anyway.

THE PENGUIN

Memorably played by Danny Devito in Batman Returns, The Penguin is not such a monster in the physical sense in the comic medium, instead he is a short creep who believes himself to be a fine gentlemen with his tuxedo’s, top hats and upper class demeanour.

For a change, this is a villain only in it for the money. His only hindrance is greed, very little psychotic problems or motivations here which make him a very deadly and powerful villain who could easily be molded into the Nolan universe. He is the owner of the Iceberg Lounge in Gotham City and if they built him up like Bill in the Kill Bill movies, where they build up his name as being powerful and pulling the strings to much of what is going on then he could be really effective.

The Penguin is such a famous villain and he is so easy adaptable to transform into a “real life situation” it makes him a big candidate for future movies.

IN NOLAN’S WORLD: Was rumored for a long time as being in The Dark Knight - starting a thread as Gotham’s top mobster or notorious arms dealer which could carry on for a few movies and when names like Bob Hoskins and Phillip Seymour Hoffman were rumored, you can get an idea of how Oswald Cobblepott will be portrayed. A fat greasy slob who may look tiny but he has the power of the whole of Gotham Underworld on his side… he will be snivelling, sweaty, horrid little man. Basically just like nearly every character Hoffman plays.

CASTING: Phillip Seymour Hoffman - see above!

BANE

In the comics, the man who broke Batman’s back and crippled him for over a year. Bane spent his childhood on an offshore and dirty prison where through a forced experiment on him… he gained superhuman strength (which can only be kept up via large doses of venom, which he regularly must intake) but he ain’t just some big wrestler.

He is one of the smartest Batman villains, which makes him a deadly foe indeed. He isn’t just a big muscle guy like he was portrayed as Poison Ivy’s sidekick in Batman & Robin - he is much smarter than that, often being able to second guess Batman’s next movie. Still can’t see him being used in any form, can you?

IN NOLAN’S WORLD: A big muscle criminal? Not going to work as anything other than a side attraction.

CASTING: Not a chance of being used.

DR. HUGO STRANGE

Dr. Hugo Strange is a mad scientist and was one of the first recurring Batman villains that was introduced into the DC canon and actually came some months before Catwoman and The Joker. He works in the Arkham Asylum and it’s a popular trait that he knows the true identity of Batman and in a more interesting and ironic twist the doctor hates the genetic science he studies because nature has made him balding, short and a loner. He keeps his body to the peak of physical perfection but he does not know what to do with it, he is a much darker image of Batman.

IN NOLAN’S WORLD: A guy who lets the inmates out of the Asylum perhaps? Someone who spends so long with the criminals of Gotham that he himself turns crazy? What about a storyline where he actually believes he is Batman, I’m sure I remember reading that story somewhere.

CASTING: Ben Kingsley. Someone older, shorter but has kept himself in fine condition. He has to be at the peak of physical perfection for his age and needs to be an actor of dramatic weight so he can get internally inside this character’s insane mind. Kingsley may be slightly too old but I think he could work.

Let us know what you think below!

Remember, Batman Begins is released on Blu-Ray on July 14th 2008 and is available to pre-order from Amazon right now priced at £15.98

22 Comments »

I really dont think a new villian should be introduced in TDK. in my opinion it should revolve around two face and batman. the rivlary looks like it can be somewhat near Batman and Joker. what will the 3rd batman film be named?

Comment by Jd | June 10, 2008

Why has no one mentioned Black Mask?, he’s a character that would work really well in Nolan’s universe.

Comment by Tino | June 10, 2008

I’d be up for Two Face and Black Mask.

Comment by Lencho | June 10, 2008

I hope you re-introduce these debates/discussions after The Dark Knight releases. It’s hard to speculate when Nolan has yet to show his hand.

Comment by Despacio | June 11, 2008

From the looks of TDK, it seems as if Nolan is going to avoud the ‘yeah right’ aspect of comic-canon films. We won’t be seeing anybody build an energy reactor in a cave… using scraps.

Which is great. Nolan’s Batman exists in a universe where people like the Penguin, Mad Hatter, and… Superman, are just too hokey.

That said, there can always be adaptations of each of these more ‘riculous’/campy/cartoony characters. They can base a semi-new/original villain around one or more previous villains. I would be cool with that. Plus, like I said… Ra’s isn’t dead.

Comment by Phil | June 11, 2008

I actually think that Nolans’ real world approach kind of hurts the franchise in away because it creates limitations. Don’t get me wrong I love what he’s doing with Batman but people have to remember that this is a superhero movie first and foremost. Every character in the Batman mythos should be adaptable for these movies because this is a Batman series.

Comment by Tino | June 11, 2008

I fancy the idea of including Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy in a future Batman flick. I know that a very special director ruined the potential of this character in the past, but I also believe that she can be salvaged through the likes of Nolan. He is a clever man and I’m sure there is a way to portray this femme fatal in future Batman flick.

Comment by Mario | June 11, 2008

One of way introducing Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy would be to follow the story of the “Robinson Park Orphans.” Isley/Ivy would start out as a humanitarian protecting the rights of children (namely orphans) just to have a corrupt government destroy the good she has created. At first she is able to maintain her cool and plans a deliberate scheme would involve her wit and prowess to plot her revenge. Even though this is a bit extreme, but perhaps her own experiments will backfire on her thereby mutating her to withstand toxins and whatnot. Of course do not make her become some cartoonish character, but her story arc is possible. Even if it meant she was teamed up with another villain; sort of how the Scarecrow was portrayed in Batman Begins. The early 90’s rendition of Batman: The Animated Series portrayed Isley/Ivy in a realistic fashion that gave subtle hints to her mutation, but not so blatantly.

Comment by Mario | June 11, 2008

I apologize for the flood of Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy, but this was something that I found online that was particularly interesting in regard to Ivy and Ra’s Al Ghul:

“With regards to her principle motivations and beliefs, Poison Ivy is in some ways similar to another major Batman villain who is a fundamentalists Environmentalist: Ra’s Al Ghul. But whereas Ra’s Al Ghul’s goals are often complex and never focus on eliminating all human life (just most of it), Poison Ivy appears to have an almost monomaniacal obsession with plants. Fortunately for Batman and civilized society, Poison Ivy is considerably less organized and a far less effective killer than Ra’s Al Ghul.

Poison Ivy strives to consciously identify with plants more than with humans, although she is herself human. Her disdain for humans may even exceeds that of Ra’s Al Ghul, who still regards himself as human, although superior to most other humans.”

Just thought this was interesting connection.

Comment by Mario | June 11, 2008

Although i would love to see the penguin i think after danny davitos performance everything else will just seem bad
mr freeze for some reason i think he might acuualy work
i could deffinutly see mrfreeze being scary for some reason
also the mad hatter could be good as long as he looks as scary as joker does
and he should kill peopl in almost every seen hes in. really show how creepy this little guy is

Comment by supermroctavio | June 11, 2008

i too think Ra’s survived the train wreck.
sure there was no body found, but even beyond that- i was watching it on cable again recently and just as the train first falls from the monorail, you se a darkish man sized …thing… ‘leap’ or at least continue forward toward the crippled scaffolding. i can’t remember if it comes from a roof hatch, or the front door, but it’s there.
could just be deris, but it kinda looks added in later.

one way to slip in more rogues without making them headliners would be as cameos. Bruce is in a nightclub with live entertainment. in the background we see drunks booing a ventriloquist off stage or something. Poison ivy could be mentioned in radio or television as the moniker of a suspected leader of an environmental terrorism group vandalizing wayne properties, among others. she’d probably have a cow over the gas guzzling and land demolishing tumbler too, y’think? breif mentions or rumors by secondary characters joking about some deformed murderer hiding in the sewers.. a mention that lucius fox had worked with a victor frieze in the past, when he outfits bruce with a climate controlled batsuit for fire rescue, etc.
easily done.

Comment by zombot | June 24, 2008

That last comment just gave me a great idea… what if in the next movie they cameo several of these other major villains, without using their special names? Two-Face is supposed to be a vigilante just like Batman, so we should be seeing him targeting multiple criminals right? What better than to have some of his targets be other or future villains? There could be a eco-terrorist who slept with a judge and got a far reduced sentence for an attack (Poison Ivy), an arms dealer who is too rich to be tried in court (Penguin), a pedophile child abuser out after his fourth arrest (Mad Hatter) and a serial killer on the loose with a fascination for preserving his victims (Mr. Freeze).

Comment by William Hart | June 29, 2008

The Riddler would work well in the third movie as psycotic personality to fill the void left by the Joker. But didn’t we already see the Two Face and Riddler tandem? I think that Nolan can to better than to repeat that. Even though it’s his new universe, I think we should see Two Face with someone else or just by himself . I think if there is to be a second Villain, they should have a small presence compared to Two Face. I think the Penguin as a major crime boss, played by Seymor Hoffman would be outstanding. The Penguin to me is the easiest to cast in Nolan’s universe

Comment by jackie chan | July 4, 2008

my dream would be them to do a 3rd 4TH batman film, the 3rd featuring whoever but nolan to do the batman take on catwoman in her own feature film and then use her as the villian in the 4th film.

Comment by batman_no1 | July 7, 2008

I think if you were to imagine poison ivy in a noir world it would be a young teenager confused with her life somewhat researching botanical stuff. But she gets caught up with this bad crowd/boyfriend who gets her to smuggle drugs. There is a raid and it changes her body (marijuana mixed with weird chemical.) so instead of the pheremone c$@* we could have her being addictive so she doesnt have to be so hot just addictive. So just like scarecrow brought fear poison ivy brings addictive delight. I dont really know what a plot for her could be…..

Comment by Jeromy | July 15, 2008

so, this might just be me, but i’m thinking that if isley/ivy is the next character to join this new batman series, they should be a relative newcomer if not a total unknown person. now, i’m not trying to be bossy or anything, but it would be great if they got someone who wasn’t completely into the comics as a kid cause i love it when people put their own twist on characters.

Comment by Nikki | July 17, 2008

I hope it will be the Penguin .. but come on .. nobody can play better than DeVito .. but than again .. Nicholson is just a pale shaddow now ……

Comment by Batman Villains | July 18, 2008

Come on the Black Mask makes perfect sense. He’s a dark murderer with a personal relationship to Bruce Wayne.

Comment by Ben | July 20, 2008

You could definatly tell that it seemed as though the joker was meant to be in the 3rd film.they left him at the building and you never saw what happened to him.why dont they just show him like in a dark cell in arkam where u cant see his face and let him make a laugh or sumthing and that be it…and its hard to say if 2 face is dead.they were so worried about covering up what he had turned into the funeral could easily be turned into a fake funeral to save harvey’s name. but i think that 2 face is actualy dead and plays the same type of role scarecrow did in the 1st film…i wouldnt mind seeing the black mask..he could have an old friend come back into it and then have mysterious murders or what not start happening.and it goes on from there…

Comment by John | July 22, 2008

why not ahve somebody like killer croc in an opening chase scene, kinda like goblin 2 in spidey 3. Have Ra’s Ah gul come back, and it was him who put Dent’s body in a lazerus pit to revive him. he could be using dents political knowledge to get what he want’s. Throw croc back in towards the end fihghting Ra’s. and at the very end the alarm goes off in arkham, the cell dorrs open and you hear the Joker’s laugh in the dark.

Comment by madhatt3r | July 23, 2008

“I VOTE FOR TIA DALMA FOR POISON IVY…SHE IS A GREAT CHARACTER ACTRESS. JUST IMAGINE HER GREAT ACTING WITH HER CHOCOLATE SKIN AND DREADS OR BRAIDS WITH VINE AND FLOWER TATTOOS EVERYWHERE…WITH HER DOUGHY EYES TELLING BATMAN THAT SHE IS SAVING THE EARTH…from people like bruce wayne…. see there is a method to my madness

VOTE TIA DALMA FOR POISON IVY”
(from a different blog with good points)

.i totally agre with Naomi Harris as poison ivy.she would be great and it would add diversity. she was scary as hell in pirates and given nolans input she could be great they could change ivy around. and i agree with the tattoes which could symbolize her obsession with plants seeing how in today would people get tattoes for reasons. but these markings could be covered when she is isley. but adding he whole cr8z environment-al chick would fit into nolans world and having giving her poison in which she uses on anyone in the way of her cause would be kick *** if done right. the poison could cause demonic illusions of ilsey being poinson ivy with the whole plant control going on but not really happening. or maybe she could get her plant powers[which i would really hope for] without being silly. but i think Naomi Harris would be great instead of jolie im tires of seeing her.let her raise her kids.

I VOTE NAOMI HARRIS.
anyone who feels the same way. spread the word.
you never know what could happen.

Comment by dmarrow | July 23, 2008

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