A Third Batman Film has Been Officially Announced.

[deano_ue]

sadly nolan has painted himself into a corner with the uber realism, he has essentially blocked 90% of batmans rogues

[marhawkman]

I think riddler would be good if they did an anti-hero sort of angle.

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

If they riddler is done well, I think he would be fine.  Make him a real threat by actually having him outsmart Batman.  This version of the riddler doesn't always leave written clues, but he arrange the crime scene in order to misdirect Batman and the police.  When he does begin taunting them with actually riddles, make the riddles themselves deceptive.   The first answer that works is actually a trap or misdirection.  Riddler's playing mind games with Batman, and they work for most of the movie.  Towards the end Batman begins to figure out how he thinks and uses it to trick the riddler into giving him an actual clue that batman can use.

[Talavar]

I just don't think the Riddler is a good fit for Nolan's vision of Batman, no matter who was cast in the part.  As a major villain, what does the Riddler bring to a film?  Interesting heists?  Complex clues?  What's the threat to Batman and Gotham City?  The Riddler just doesn't have a motivation to create a level of danger that would match either of the previous movies.

Expensive thefts just aren't going to cut it after Ra's Al Ghul nearly destroys the city in Batman Begins, and the Joker unleashes a wave of killings and basically terrorism in the Dark Knight.  I guess they could change the Riddler to being some sort of serial killer, but I'd rather they use a different villain than change the character so much.  They could use the Riddler to attempt to unveil Batman's identity, but they've already toyed with that idea in the Dark Knight as well.

The only way I see the Riddler in a Nolan-Batman film would be as a supporting villain to someone more destructive.

[Mr. Hamrick]

I'll be the first to say. No Riddler please. His character doesn't exactly fit in with the existing world Nolan and company have built. I say they go with Harley Quinn and Catwoman. They aren't working together mind you, just have both of them in the movie.

Well, see, this is Nolanverse, and Nolanverse tends to recast characters in a new light anyway. Compare his Joker with the Mark Hamill Joker. They're very different characters. The Riddler could easily undergo a similar transformation.

Well as far as the Nolanverse... Penguin and Riddler to some extent were both referenced in the viral marketing material for The Dark Knight.  The former in the guise of an ad for The Iceberg Lounge and the latter in the letter to the editor, both in the Gotham Times.

Nashton reference is on the bottom of  http://www.thegothamtimes.com/issue2/page2.htm in the letters to the editor.  The Iceberg Lounge ad is here: http://www.thegothamtimes.com/issue2/page3.htm

[CarpeGuitarrem]

sadly nolan has painted himself into a corner with the uber realism, he has essentially blocked 90% of batmans rogues

Well, all he needs is a handful of Batman villains...I mean, technically just one villain, to make a good movie.

Plus the rumors that Two-Face will be back. (A nice case of "never saw the body", since we never actually saw him confirmed dead)

[Ajax]

Didn't Aaron Eckhart basically confirm that Two-Face is dead? Cause he asked Nolan if his character is dead and Nolan told out right yes he is.

I would like to see new villains (not seen in previous LA movies) in this installment, hence my suggestion for Harley and Talia. Plus both characters would work well in tying up the loose ends of the previous two movies.

[Failed_Hero]

Harvey Dent is Dead.  Two-Face may not be.

I am with Mr. Hammerick on this Hugo Strange and Edward Nygma would be the best foes for this third film.  Penguin as a cameo as a freakish mob

Hugo Strange: psychologist and criminal profiler brought in by Gotham PD to identify and capture Batman.  Strange becomes obcessed with Batman and eventually seeks to replace him.

Riddler: A To Catch Predator styled news anchor, who sensationalizes the polices attempt to capture Batman.  Secretly is working with the Gotham Mob to find Harvey Dent, and regain their lost fortune from the Dark Knight.

Oswald Cobblepot: Corrupt criminal mastermind and polictical boss who is using the chaos in Gotham to create a new Syndicate.

[Shogunn2517]

Here's a novel idea. 

Why not have Johnny Depp play the Mad Hatter?

[Mr. Hamrick]

Riddler: A To Catch Predator styled news anchor, who sensationalizes the polices attempt to capture Batman.  Secretly is working with the Gotham Mob to find Harvey Dent, and regain their lost fortune from the Dark Knight.

honestly, i hoped they were going somewhere in that direction with the Anthony Michael Hall character as far as Nygma goes.  have him as a minor but significant villain.

[JeyNyce]

I like the Hugo Strange/ Riddler story concept.  I think they should throw Black Mask in there as well.

[marhawkman]

Riddler in the modern comics has actually become a gumshoe....

But for the movie, we can have him as his original persona of a guy who leaves baffling clues that require a genius to figure them out.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Didn't Aaron Eckhart basically confirm that Two-Face is dead? Cause he asked Nolan if his character is dead and Nolan told out right yes he is.

Yeah, I did some research, came up with this...guess that settles it.

[Mr. Hamrick]

Didn't Aaron Eckhart basically confirm that Two-Face is dead? Cause he asked Nolan if his character is dead and Nolan told out right yes he is.

Yeah, I did some research, came up with this...guess that settles it.

That said, Dent could come back easily in a non-Nolan directed Bat film and not undo anything Nolan did really.  Why? Because no one saw the body.

[thalaw2]

I would like to see Death Stroke the Terminator! 

[Mr. Hamrick]

I got an odd message this morning.  Take this only as a rumor but the announcement of the first villain of the new movie looks to be coming soon.  And it looks to be...

Spoiler

Catwoman

and if that is the case, I know two actresses that might be in the mix to play her and its not who you think.

Spoiler

Emily Blunt ...  who recently turned down the Capt. America movie part offer.  It is being speculated that this might be the reason.

Marion Cotillard was being speculated as well as being a strong contender.  She is currently working with Nolan on Inception.  I personally thing she'd make an awesome Talia but oh well.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

This seems rather appropriate...

[JeyNyce]

Like the Riddler & Harley, Catwoman just looks awful.

[Mr. Hamrick]

I actually kinda like The Riddler.  And I might could almost get behind the Harley one.  However, Catwoman is kinda bleh and looks a bit too steampunkish for me.

Having said that.  Would be nice to see all three of them in Batman 3.  I think Ellen Page would be interesting as Harley actually.

And I have an idea about something regarding who might be involved with the third Batman film as a villain but I can't say it.

I will say... look at the cast of Inception closely.

[BlueBard]

Would be nice to see all three of them in Batman 3.

No, no, no, no, NO!

I do not WANT to see three villains sharing screen time, especially not those three.  As cameos, fine.

One reason why the first few Batman sequels after Tim Burton's suffered badly, and one reason why Spider-Man 3 was not as successful as it could have been, is that the multiple villains just don't fit well together and wind up stealing plot time away from each other.

I don't care that multiple villains make the movie visually striking.  If the plot's a mess, I don't want to see it.

I simply can not see how they could tie Catwoman, the Riddler, and Harley Quinn together in the same movie without making a mess.  Two out of three, maybe.  Or maybe one in a major plotline and another one in a subplot that sets up a possible 4th movie.

[Talavar]

Would be nice to see all three of them in Batman 3.

No, no, no, no, NO!

I do not WANT to see three villains sharing screen time, especially not those three.  As cameos, fine.

One reason why the first few Batman sequels after Tim Burton's suffered badly, and one reason why Spider-Man 3 was not as successful as it could have been, is that the multiple villains just don't fit well together and wind up stealing plot time away from each other.

I don't care that multiple villains make the movie visually striking.  If the plot's a mess, I don't want to see it.

I simply can not see how they could tie Catwoman, the Riddler, and Harley Quinn together in the same movie without making a mess.  Two out of three, maybe.  Or maybe one in a major plotline and another one in a subplot that sets up a possible 4th movie.

Seconded.

And I've never been sold on Harley as a solo villain - her story is essentially a tragedy, and it's one that requires the Joker to tell.  Catwoman would work well as a secondary villain/love interest, but I'm still against the Riddler.  He's just not dangerous enough for a Nolan-Batman film, and no one has suggested how he could be, let alone without radically changing the character.

In Batman Begins and the Dark Knight, both Batman and the people of Gotham City were put in danger.  Whoever the villain(s) end up being, one of them at least will have to threaten both Batman and Gotham or the film will be an anticlimax compared to the previous two.  At this point, I'm not sure who that villain would be.

[Mr. Hamrick]

I didn't say having all three as major villains of the film.  Harley would have to be a cameo at best.  But her in a cameo would bring some sort of closure to The Joker which I have heard was the intended villain in this one prior to Heath's death.  I had heard about n actual scene that was intended to be in the second film that would've sat her up but dropped because of Heath's death.  (It would've re-established Arkahm too.)

As for Riddler, I've always thought of Riddler as the Secondary villain at best.  Catwoman is a wildcard... have her in a few scenes as a thief and introduce her as Selina Kyle.  You have your romantic subplot.  But she is still a secondary villain.

The most important thing to remember about a third movie is where the second ended.  It ended with Batman taking the fall for Harvey murdering those cops as Two Face.  Thus, the police are after Batman.  Batman is still the hero. 

The theme of the second film was the "escalation" between the new kinds of criminal element in Gotham and between Gotham's war on the crime families.

As for three villain, apparently someone is not counting the amount of villains that have been in the first two films.  Batman Begins had Rha's Al Ghul, The Scarecrow, Mr. Zsasz and Falcone.  Technically, there was Ducard as well but given the reveal at the end...  it was basically FOUR VILLAINS!  The Dark Knight had Joker, Two Face, Marconi, and The Scarecrow.  That is FOUR VILLAINS.

It is entirely possible to put four villains in the third film if you play it right.  And honestly, there should be four... and could be five.  Again, the fourth and fifth would be cameos, no more than a scene or two.

Main villain = Primary threat of the film.
Secondary villain #1 - costume villain from Bat's rogue gallery.  maybe teamed with first villain but probably not.  This would depend on who the villain is.
Secondary villain #2 - mob villain.  Now, the fun part here is that there are two Bat villains that are "costume" villains and mobsters. 
Fourth villain - shown to illustrate the increase in "costume villains" or "freaks" in Gotham.  Could be anything from Zsasz being out of jail and on the loose to another Bat villain being taken in to Arkahm and thus reintroducing Arkahm.  If it is Zsasz then the villain might be more of a cameo.
Fifth - a cameo that would only be if there was a Harley nod and thus tying up the loose end with Joker due to Heath's death.  I would love to see the scene I heard about that might have been cut from the 2nd email.

[BlueBard]

As for three villain, apparently someone is not counting the amount of villains that have been in the first two films.  Batman Begins had Rha's Al Ghul, The Scarecrow, Mr. Zsasz and Falcone.  Technically, there was Ducard as well but given the reveal at the end...  it was basically FOUR VILLAINS!  The Dark Knight had Joker, Two Face, Marconi, and The Scarecrow.  That is FOUR VILLAINS.

Ok...

Batman Begins.  The Scarecrow was part of Ra's plan to destroy Gotham, though he started doing his own thing once his part was revealed.  It fit the plot.  One plot.  Falcone was certainly a bad guy, but he wasn't the focus.  I don't remember a Mr. Zsasz.  I count TWO major villains and the plot was constructed in such a way that they didn't steal screen time from each other.

The Dark Knight.  Actually, haven't seen the movie.  Did read the novelization.  As I recall, Scarecrow isn't seen at all after the first half.  He's a subplot at best.  Aside from him, there were lots of bad guys but only TWO major villains: The Joker and Two-Face.  Two-Face doesn't appear until the second half and he's really a part of the story being told around Bruce Wayne/Batman and The Joker.  He doesn't count as a villain before that because Harvey Dent was one of the protagonists until he got blown up.  Even then, he's still more the Joker's victim than anything else.

I will give you that it would be theoretically possible to have a whole cast full of heroes and villains that works if the producers/directors/screenwriters can concentrate on developing a believable plot in which they all actually fit instead of giving in to the temptation to write them in to satisfy the marketing types.  The X-Men franchise did a fairly good job of this... until X-3, anyway.  I'm hoping that the Avengers movie will also do a good job of this.  Ditto for a JL movie.  But we've all seen the train wrecks that tend to happen when writers don't respect the source material and/or try to juggle too many plot lines at once.  In the movies AND in the comics.

My hope is that Nolan continues to focus on the plot and characterization as well as the visuals and is able to stay away from throwing in random villains for name recognition and flash.

[JeyNyce]

I can see it being done with Hugo Strange as the main villain, helping the police track down Batman and to figure out who he is.  Hugo could be "creating villains" to analyze Batman, hence Harley Quinn or any other villain.  They would have a minor role in the movie.  At the end Hugo would escape and continue to analyze Batman.  If they ever make a Batman 4, you can used The Wrath and at the end the Wrath would end up being Hugo Strange. 

[Mr. Hamrick]

Ok...

Batman Begins.  The Scarecrow was part of Ra's plan to destroy Gotham, though he started doing his own thing once his part was revealed.  It fit the plot.  One plot.  Falcone was certainly a bad guy, but he wasn't the focus.  I don't remember a Mr. Zsasz.  I count TWO major villains and the plot was constructed in such a way that they didn't steal screen time from each other.

My hope is that Nolan continues to focus on the plot and characterization as well as the visuals and is able to stay away from throwing in random villains for name recognition and flash.

Mr. Zsasz was only in one scene.  He was used to establish the precedent of sending the villains to Arkahm even if they were not crazy.  Go back and watch the courtroom scene.  The actor playing him was the lead singer of the band James.  A cameo appearance to further the plot involving Scarecrow that would also set up a plot point involving Falcone.  

Scarecrow had one scene in The Dark Knight that basically wrapped up the fact that he escaped in Batman Begins.  It was a wrap up scene and nothing else.  That's all it needed to be, though.

I have no doubt that Nolan will continue to focus on plot and characterization.  My point is that given the way the previous two films work, it is entirely possible for Riddler, Harley, and Catwoman to figure into the plot somehow.  I don't think Harley will, however.  The only villain that I am fairly sure we will see is Catwoman.

A side note, the website talking about Catwoman being in the third film removed the post about it.  It has been replaced by a note about The Scarecrow perhaps having a cameo in the third film as an Arkahm Inmate.  The article said that when asked Cilian Murphy said that all Nolan had to do was ask and he'd do it in a heartbeat.

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

If they do do an Arkham scene, there would be room for cameos for any number of Batman villains.  You could fit in as many as a dozen or so minor ones seen for a split second in the background.  That would be fun for the real fanboys.

[Mr. Hamrick]

If they do do an Arkham scene, there would be room for cameos for any number of Batman villains.  You could fit in as many as a dozen or so minor ones seen for a split second in the background.  That would be fun for the real fanboys.

Bingo!  And that would be an ideal way to leave a door open for a Joker and even Two Face return in a non-Nolan Batman film

[Cardmaster]

If they do do an Arkham scene, there would be room for cameos for any number of Batman villains.  You could fit in as many as a dozen or so minor ones seen for a split second in the background.  That would be fun for the real fanboys.

So long as it's done better than all the needless fanservice cameos in X3... sheesh, heh.

[BlueBard]

I'm fine with cameos.  Those ARE fun, and they don't turn the plot into a train wreck.  

When I say that I don't want three or more villains in it, I'm not counting cameos or bit parts.  If the main protagonist doesn't have to deal with them in any meaningful way then they're just interesting scenery.

Where we get into trouble is when the writers decide that each of the major characters need their own major plot line.  That's when it gets harder to keep it together and stay focused on telling ONE story.

Iron Man 2 managed to pull off a rather tangled plot (IMO), and it easily could have gone the other way.  Some people didn't think it was executed very well.  That's the danger of trying to cram too much in to one movie.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

I could easily see Batman 3 featuring a massive number of villains in (rather) smaller roles, with a main, central villain. Why? Because it's the capstone. It's the one that firmly sets Batman's mythos in motion. I don't think the third film can end with the city cleaned up, because Batman isn't a one-shot story. So it's going to have to end with him seen as the hero, having defeated a major villain or plot, also fully capable of stopping crime in Gotham City. Maybe this is where Dick Grayson could come in, you never know. But you're also going to have to have a rogue's gallery for him to face.

Since the theme of escalation was shown through Batman 1 and Batman 2 (explicitly in 1, subtly in 2)...well, we have the first real example of a supervillain in The Dark Knight. The Joker: a costumed supervillain. This opens the door for a flood of costumed supervillains. Maybe the mob collapses, leaving a power vacuum. Villains step up to fill that vacuum, and voila! you have the Batman mythos established.