Posted
by Eric Melin
July 24, 2008 at 8:32 a.m.
Batman's New Archvillain: Who's Next?
OK, so after this past week, a lot of things are wrapped up for "The Dark Knight."
1. The biggest-grossing weekend ever in America: $158 million 2. The biggest non-holiday Monday ever: $24.6 million 3. The fastest movie to gross $100 million ever: 5 days 4. At the conclusion of the film (SPOILER ALERT!), Batman is wanted for multiple murders, including two police officers, and is universally hated by Gotham, in order to save the reputation of Harvey Dent. 5. We can assume then that Christian Bale must have some ulterior martyrdom behind his arrest Monday night in the U.K. because Batman would never beat up his Mom and sister. 6. With Heath Ledger forever burned in the minds of cinemagoers worldwide as the Joker, he is now irreplaceable in the series. 7. Which begs the question: Who's next?There it is: the unlucky number seven.
Obviously, (and no pun intended) being "dark" works for director Christopher Nolan's Batman. From the way things are left in the movie, his Batman saga is only going to get darker. The screenplay already got very political in nature, exploring the fickle will of "the people" and juxtaposing it with one man's fascist (and illegal: spying on the entire city!) method of bringing about justice, so there's no reason to think Nolan, Bale and company will lighten anything up or change the "world" of Batman too radically. Maybe the next installment will be about torture...The Joker fits in well with the Batman in this crime-infested setting where citizens are driven to madness by their deteriorating situations. Like Bruce Wayne, the Joker has no superpowers. The most dangerous thing about him is that he has no rules. How Nolan and his co-screenwriters will top the Joker for sheer dramatic premise without getting too supernatural? The last thing they want to do is break the reality they have carefully crafted; one that's just a step away (granted, with masks and James Bond-like machinery and technology) from gritty cop shows like "The Wire" and "The Shield"?
Well, I guess we can rule one guy out. Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you the least likely villain to appear in the next Batman movie: [Killer Croc][1]!I suppose if Nolan can reinvent the Joker after no less an actor than Jack Nicholson made him so memorable, he is capable of just about anything. The Penguin would fit right in as one of Gotham's new crime bosses, since organized crime has such a stranglehold on the city. The Joker really made those guys look pretty impotent, though, if you ask me. It was good to see Eric Roberts back, but he wasn't very threatening.Mr. Freeze was ruined by Arnold Schwarzenegger and seems too ridiculous to live in Nolan's Gotham. With the death of (SPOILER ALERT!) Rachel Dawes, "Batman 3" could use some female action, though, so maybe Catwoman (deliciously devilish in the hands of Michelle Pfeiffer and deliriously dumb in the hands of Halle Berry) is up to bat. If Berry's recent flop is too new in people's memory, Nolan may be better off going with Poison Ivy (played by Uma Thurman in one of those horrible Joel Schumacher bat-nipple movies) or Talia al Ghul (the daughter of "Batman Begins"' Ra's al Ghul, played by Liam Neeson).
My guess? It's been long enough since Jim Carrey played him and he didn't do too bad a job: the Riddler. He may not have the complete anarchic insanity that the Joker (who will probably be locked up in Arkham Asylum by now) has, but his diabolical cleverness could lead to more crazy traps and games to be sprung on Gotham, questioning their moral character even further.Considering that "The Dark Knight" was written by the guys who also wrote the deep, labyrinthine logic of "Memento" and "The Prestige," coming up with a whole new set of puzzles for the Riddler to hoist upon the Batman would be a great follow-up that wouldn't alter the fabric of Gotham's reality too much. (The Joker must have planned really, really far in advance for any of the shit he pulled off in "The Dark Knight" to have worked that well.) I just don't think they'll be able to use any of the likenesses seen on TV or in the movies so far. The one to the left is the least offensive one I could find.What do you think? [1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killer_Croc" title="she's a killer queen
Comments
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gavon (Gavon Laessig) says…
In my humblest of opinions, I think you're too quick to dismiss Killer Croc. Granted, on paper he's about as silly as Man-Bat, but if done well he can be terrifying (his portrayal in Grant Morrison and Dave McKean's "Arkham Asylum," for example). At the very least, he could be a cool thug or side villain.It's really hard to say which villain they'd use, because we have no idea what theme's they're aiming for in the next film. "Batman Begins" was all about fear, so Scarecrow was a logical choice. "The Dark Knight" was about anarchy and madness, so The Joker was perfect. Until we know in what direction the franchise is going, we're adrift. Now, if they decide to go in an opium smoking/child molesting direction, Mad Hatter is a lock.Another thing we might consider (uber major spoiler alert) is that Two Face isn't really dead. Keeping with the whole notion that they're salvaging Harvey Dent's reputation, they may have just locked him up in Arkham and thrown a mock funeral. Don't want Two Face running around and getting bits of melted face goo on what Dent stood for, and all. All in all, my vote's Catwoman combined with a rogue's gallery of Ras al Guhl (probably not dead), Scarecrow (not dead) and Two Face (guessing he's not dead).
matt (Matt Armstrong) says…
[polite spoiler warning why are you reading this if you haven't seen the movie anyway seems pretty silly to me but hey thats just me i don't read things about what's next when i haven't found out what's now but whatever]Eric, I really don't appreciate you bugging our car on our drive home from the movie last night. I mean, the man above me and a handful of others had the same debate. Anyway!I completely agree with the Penguin, he fits with the Mob scene. They have to bring in someone who can keep the Joker under control, and the writer's can handle that if they write Oswald as scheming as he is in some of the books. After all, he's the only villain that doesn't just compete with Bats in the smarts department, he's actually smarter, as long as he can keep his ego in check. Catwoman can easily come along with Penguins story, and provides a MUCH more interesting replacement for Rachel Dawes. But then again, viewers may see it as a re-do of Batman Returns. Plus, Nolan's gone on record saying that he approached Phillip Seymore Hoffman to play him (but that it would be hard), and in the viral marketing there was a Gotham newspaper advertising the Iceberg Lounge.I was thinking about it last night, and my little nerd fantasy came up with this; Two-Face +Ra's Al Ghul from the Lazarus Pit= The Joker's Death & Solomon Grundy (As in the Long Halloween). Those men are father and brother figures to Batman. Could be interesting. Plus if Harvey dies Gavon can get his precious Calender Man.
awas1980 (anonymous) says…
Deadshot is cool, at least as second tier villian. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadshot
Joel (Joel Mathis) says…
How about Tommy Lee Jones, playing a thinly disguised version of himself as a supervillain-slash-superactor whose role in an earlier Batman movie was thoroughly out-acted by a brash young upstart?
bwoodard (Bill Woodard) says…
Too bad Victor Buono is dead, or we could have him reprise King Tut. Even better, Art Carney as The Archer.All kidding aside, I think the Riddler is a good bet for the next one, but I think it'd be more interesting if they mined the comic deeper and brought up a really scary sociopath like Dark Mask, who would be more on Joker level.
bwoodard (Bill Woodard) says…
Sorry, I meant Black Mask.
BobDarkAvenger (anonymous) says…
Bring back Danny Devito and the Governator as Penguin and Mr. Freeze respectively. Pepper the dialogue with bad ice/penguin puns and Twins references; then slap some nipples on the bat suit and you're good to go.
feeble (anonymous) says…
+1 for the Riddler. It fits Nolan's MO. I wouldn't mind seeing Bane, but not as the 'roid head from the B&R. I think the lazarus pits are too sci-fi for Nolan's Gotham. I wouldn't mind seeing Rutger Hauer's character from the first film come back as some kind of upper level henchman or main villian.
MillerDavis (anonymous) says…
I think that while Killer Croc could make a side villian in the next movie a much better choice would be Soloman Grundy. Killer Croc is too far out to be taken seriously in this new series of uber-realistic films. I think that the Riddler would be a great new antagonist for Batman in the next film. In Batman Begins, Batman was forced to become a man who became a concept and in the Dark Knight the Joker was a concept (evil) in the manifestation of a man. The Riddler would be the perfect character to blur the lines they have drawn regarding good and evil. I think a really good Riddler would be Ben Foster from Alpha Dog and Archangel in the third installment of the X-men series. And you guys are right about a new love interest needing to be introduced for the third installment. I think that Catwoman is played out and Poison Ivy was turned into a one trick pony with her poison lipstick so Talia would be a very suitable alternative which could also answer the question regarding the "death" of Raz.
ihatejohntravolta (anonymous) says…
i've been hearing nerd-rumors that david hyde pierce might be up for the riddler.
scary_manilow (anonymous) says…
They should leave it as-is and forego a third movie. Killing off Dent was a stupid move (Two Face was shoehorned in and completely miswritten)-- had they let him live , I could see there being a third movie, as there was much room left to develop his post-accident character into the proper crime boss he became in the comics. With that storyline squandered, I say they should let the franchise die while it's ahead.
md_pinks (anonymous) says…
You guys are killing me!what about bane!Drug addiction seems to be a very easy storyline to weave into the reality of the new Gotham and at one point he's Ra's righthand man in the comics. Plus it would be another score for Nolan in terms of a serious update to the franchise. (see Batman Forever)I mean come on, he broke the damn bat!
monkeywrench (Tim vonHolten) says…
i disagree about the lazarus pit. its absence (and the way nolan completely fucked the ra's al ghul mythology) was a shortcoming of batman begins. i think the pits would only have added a dark tone that no director has even come close to yet; not even nolan.regarding the next villain, i'd really love to see iggy pop as bane. i'm only half joking. those veins!and since we'll have to wait a few decades in the timeline for the carrie kelly robin, i'd love to see the newest batgirl. she's the coolest thing to happen to comics since spider jerusalem.