Which Batman villain do you wish had been brought to Nolan's movie universe?
Asked by
tedd (
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July 31st, 2012
Well you could debate it, but it looks as though Christopher Nolan is done making Batman films (though if you’re familiar with the grouping of graphic novels he pulled a lot of source material from, he’s given himself a way to make more—or just an outright Nightwing movie—but that’s another topic…). Personally I was pretty distraught that we would only see 3 movies all together, as there is so much potential to make the various Batman villains into gritty-real-world villains.
That got me thinking, which Batman villain/s would you have liked to see in the Nolan universe? Early on in the production of the last two movies there were rumors that we would see the Penguin (Philip Seymour Hoffmann was the supposed leading candidate) as an international arms dealer. There were rumors that Edward Nigma, aka the Riddler, would be brought in by the Gotham Police Department to hunt down Batman for the crimes he took the fall for at the end of the Dark Knight (Studio execs supposedly wanted Dicaprio for the role, even suggesting it to Nolan). There was even a rumor that Doctor Strange might make an appearance in the 3rd film, with none other than Robin Williams being considered for the part.
The Mad Hatter, Black Mask, The Penguin, The Riddler, Dr. Strange, Harley Quinn? It would’ve been especially interesting to see Nolan’s take on the more “supernatural” villains like Mr. Freeze, Killer Croc, Solomon Grundy, or even Poison Ivy. Who would you have like to have seen in a gritty real world universe.
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12 Answers
Clayface!
I was quite gratified that you-know-who showed up in this one, though, cause she’s one of the neatest villains in the ‘verse, being gray-hat and all. I liked the backstory they came up with for her, too.
@wildpotato Yah I liked the inclusion, though I wish they had brought back you-know-who’s you-know-what in more of a form of the comics… but still very cool. I knew about it from reading about the movie in production though, so most of the shock value was gone for me sadly. Though the way they introduce you-know-who was still a bit of a twist for me.
None actually. Nolan did a great job on his first Batman film. I was so grateful he redeemed the Bat from Schumacher’s caricatures. The sequel was satisfying but at that point, Nolan’s dark, angsty and realistic approach already started weighing down on me. The unimaginativeness of the third one just totally ruined his take on the franchise. Time for other writers and directors to tackle the Bat.
Any of Batman’s villains would be exciting for me to anticipate seeing in the next interpretation, as long as none of them have been presented before in any of Burton’s, Schumacher’s and Nolan’s films.
I personally think that Philip Seymour Hoffmann would have played a fantastic Penguin. I also would have liked to see a Riddler played by Johnny Depp (as I cannot picture DiCaprio in that role).
@mazingerz88 – I actually liked the dark depiction that Nolan brought to the Batman series. I think that it makes up for all the crap Batman movies before it (excluding Tim Burton’s Batman and Batman Returns). I wouldn’t mind seeing a reboot, but personally I think whoever does reboot Batman has their work cut out for them. Nolan has done a damn good job in my opinion.
@mazingerz88 Yah the dislike of the dark tone must be a matter of opinion. I really liked Nolan’s take. Batman begins was him starting out, finding himself and going on this young crusade against crime. TDK was him facing a worthy foe, and having to truly see if he stands up for his beliefs in the face of chaos and horror, the dichotomy with two-face is really awesome. In TDKR he has to bring to a conclusion all of the mess he has created, the escalation has come to a head and he in a sense has to destroy the beast he created. It also helps that Nolan pulled much of the material from my favorite Batman graphic novels (Year One, Long Halloween, The Killing Joke, TDK Returns/Strikes Again, Knightfall, etc).
I’d like to see some new villains too, but if you rule out everyone who’s been in one of the past movies…. you won’t have too much left to work with, lol.
@RandomMrAdam Sadly the reboot is already underway. They want to do a Justice League movie to cash in on the Avengers train, and they need a new, more PC, batman to fit that mold.
@tedd – This link indicates that Nolan will be involved when they reinvent Batman for the Justice League movie and Batman Reboot. Nolan’s Dark Knight had already shown he is willing to team up with other heroes (Cat Woman) – so I hope they keep a Batman similar to Nolan’s Dark Knight.
@RandomMrAdam Yah he has tacit involvement… He’s involved in Superman too. But he isn’t directing/writing them, hence it’s just going to have a light touch of his on it. Not nearly the same thing.
@tedd Oh I really dig the dark tone. It’s just me I know but it may have been overdone in this case. And maybe because the main villains in the second and third, though had slightly different motivations, executed exactly the same methodology in menacing the Bat! I felt like Nolan got trapped in franchised plot devices of his own making. I don’t know…the third was just no fun that’s all.
I’m quite happy with the villains that Nolan chose. Bane has been a long time favorite of mine ever since I first read Knightfall, and Joker has always been fun and lovable in his own quirky way to me especially after reading The Killing Joke. Two other villains I’d have enjoyed seeing are Hunter “Grendel” Rose (not a true Batman villain, but the crossover comic was astounding), and Dr. Thomas “Hush” Eliot.
I always liked Harley Quinn buy you probably couldn’t do her without the Joker and I doubt she would have suited Heath Ledger’s Joker.
The Mutant Leader; from The Dark Knight Returns was pretty intense, and from I miss Bane’s use of Venom.
Put the Mutant Leader on Venom, and you would have a nightmare!
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