Batman 3 is titled "The Dark Knight Rises"

[Rhom]

I didn't think Batman went for killing blows...

Okay, that's the sum total of my contribution to the pending nerd rage in this topic. :wink:

I always liked the rumors of the Penguin as an international arms dealer played by Phillip Seymore Hoffman, but I know it won't happen. I also like the thought of the Riddler as the villain, but I suppose thats out too.

In the end, I'll have faith in Nolan. When I first heard that Ras al'Ghul was going to be the antagonist in Batman Begins, I groaned a little bit. I thought there was no way that the general movie going public would be interested in an immortal enemy that dips a bit too far into the fantastical. But Nolan pulled it off with stunning success and then proceeded to redefine the Joker for a generation. So even if he pulls out the Govuhnator as Mr. Freeze, I'll have faith.

[drawkcabi]

If we're talking about adamantium Wolverine I think Batman would figure out how to go the magnetic route then destroy him before he recovers, if we're talking about bone claws then he'd have another plan.

I agree just tell us the baddies for crying out loud.

[Ixodes]

Although I would like to have his paycheck, I would hate to be in Nolan's place right now. The expectations are insane. Every line of script, every plot twist, every little planning decision -- everything's under the microscope with crazy expectations. To produce the best of your craft under this pressure is no small feat.

[Trebla]

Methink the title is leading for the eventual "The Dark Knight Falls" with the aging Bats kicking the Big Blue School Boy's ASS!

[drawkcabi]

Methink the title is leading for the eventual "The Dark Knight Falls" with the aging Bats kicking the Big Blue School Boy's ASS!

Never gonna happen.

[red snow]

I'm still trying to think which villain(s) he will go for. I get the impression that Nolan wants to keep things "realistic" meaning characters like Mr Freeze, Clayface, Poison Ivy, Man-bat etc are out of the window. Out of the more "street level" villains there's the Penguin but i think he works better as a higher up using minions. The Mad hatter could work as some kind of master manipulator and mind control through gadgets isn't too much of a push given Nolan used Scarecrow.

My personal favourite would be to use Scarface/Ventriloquist as I think that kind of character would really fit well into Nolan's Batman. Plus they could play the ambiguity of whether he was possessed or not. John Lithgow could nail the part.

There's rumours floating that they are casting for a female lead and i think most are thinking they may be looking for a catwoman. How about Harley Quinn? She could work well and could also bridge the void of the absent Joker (who was clearly supposed to be in a sequel). They could graft some of the Joker's story onto her as the Joker pointed out he had a small army of people he'd damaged. No idea who could do justice to the Harlequinn role as it will be a tricky one to get right though.

The Red Hood could make a good villain for a film but that would require a film with Robin in it first and a serious reworking of his dying ressurrection.

[Rhom]

I'm still trying to think which villain(s) he will go for. I get the impression that Nolan wants to keep things "realistic" meaning characters like Mr Freeze, Clayface, Poison Ivy, Man-bat etc are out of the window.

My initial gut reaction is to agree with this... but as I mentioned above, Ras al'Ghul would have been someone I put into the "not realistic" category as well. He certainly made that one work.

No idea who could do justice to the Harlequinn role as it will be a tricky one to get right though.

True... but 3 years ago I would have said that the guy from 10 Things I Hate About You and Brokeback Mountain would be a horrible Joker. :dunno:

The Red Hood could make a good villain for a film but that would require a film with Robin in it first and a serious reworking of his dying ressurrection.

True, but some sort of Joker impersonators or sympathizers (along the lines of your Harleyquinn suggestion) could work.

[Tyrellius]

The Batman doesnt kill, he'd lure Wolverine and trap him in an adamantium box which would be buried somewhere in the Batcave. OR! He'd invest heavily in someway to convert adamantium into a gaseous form and once again lure Wolverine into an area that'd spray Wolverine with the adamantium, then use a cooling agent to have the adamantium freeze rapidly, encasing Logan in an adamantium shell.

Bham! Wolverine statue anyone? He'd then display the statue in his Batcave somewhere.

[Ski the Swift]

I reckon The Scarecrow will make a return as well.

[red snow]

My initial gut reaction is to agree with this... but as I mentioned above, Ras al'Ghul would have been someone I put into the "not realistic" category as well. He certainly made that one work.

The thing with Ras al'ghul is that once you drop the resureection pit he's relatively normal (just bond villainy) but I see your point. Poison Ivy could ne some psycho eco-terrrorist rather than control plants, Mr Freeze could freeze people just not with a gun and clayface could just be an actor with a ton of masks. In many ways getting scarecrow to work shows Nolan can "normalise" the villains quite well too.

True... but 3 years ago I would have said that the guy from 10 Things I Hate About You and Brokeback Mountain would be a horrible Joker. :dunno:

That is an excellent point. Maybe there's some hot looking young female actress who usually does romcoms and the like with some real acting chops just waiting for the chance. Hopefully Nolan doesn't do his "favourites" trick and cast Ellen Page, although give her a few more years to grow out of always being Juno and she could actually work really well.

True, but some sort of Joker impersonators or sympathizers (along the lines of your Harleyquinn suggestion) could work.

That's an option but they would have to tie it in to Bruce/Batman's past in order to deliver the same level of guilt he felt over Jason Todd. Thinking about it in terms of the film, Two-face would be the best choice as there was the sense that Bruce/batman let Harvey down. I'm now trying to remember if Nolan has said that "Harvey is dead" or "wo-face" is dead. Maybe he's bringing Echart back but not as two-face? The other out-there option would be for Rachel not to be dead and she could become Harlequin in some really twisted way (did we ever see the body?).

[palin99999]

I thought it would be cool if an Azrael type character would rise up as the "White Knight" to chase down Batman.

[red snow]

I thought it would be cool if an Azrael type character would rise up as the "White Knight" to chase down Batman.

Azrael definitely wouldn't come across as camp, which i think is the reason Nolan and Bale don't want Robin in it. Plus the whole religious right aspect of Azrael could be intersting too. They'd have to tread that line between him being better or far, far worse than Batman.

[MercenaryChef]

If they ran into each other without knowing each's abilities, Wolverine would have the advantage but Batman would be smart enough to get away long enough to study Wolverine and devise a plan to beat him. Basically his usual tactic with any adversary that gets the upper hand on first meeting.

I'm kind of tired of the Wolverine love, never much cared for the character really. Anyway, I think aside from the core group of fans that have been around since his debut, Wolverine's popularity is so right now while Batman's is timeless.

You know when I first heard that Johnny Depp was going to play the Mad Hatter I thought they were talking about him being the villian in the next Batman movie, never occured to me they meant in Alice in Wonderland. :ohwell:

I hope that if they do Dr. Strange than they also have Bane and vice versa. I know Bane in the comic books does have some savvy but he is mostly brute force, while Strange is diabolical but doesn't have much in the way of physical acumen. I like seeing Batman fight a foe that forces him to use his intelligence as well as his skills, if they use two different villians to achieve that it would work for me if done well enough.

great post, sir!

i agree completely on the love of the timeless batman. and yeah, bats would mop the floor with wolverine. let no one suggest otherwise. he is too fucking smart. come on, he took down grendel, a predator, and has plans in place to kick superman's ass. i think wolverine would not prove to be much of a challenge.

*nerd off*

[Jaxom 1974]

The other out-there option would be for Rachel not to be dead and she could become Harlequin in some really twisted way (did we ever see the body?).

That's an intriguing thought...if it could be done without stretching believability...

Azrael definitely wouldn't come across as camp, which i think is the reason Nolan and Bale don't want Robin in it. Plus the whole religious right aspect of Azrael could be intersting too. They'd have to tread that line between him being better or far, far worse than Batman.

Do they really think Robin is too campy? I'd think Robin could be done in a very serious manner in the right hands, such as Nolan's...

[Original Ned's Bones]

Azrael definitely wouldn't come across as camp, which i think is the reason Nolan and Bale don't want Robin in it. Plus the whole religious right aspect of Azrael could be intersting too. They'd have to tread that line between him being better or far, far worse than Batman.

I always thought this would be a good storyline, given how TDK ended.

Nolan has already flat-out stated that there will be no Robin and he also eliminated Mr. Freeze as a possibility. Batman-on-film.com is a great source for Bat 3 news. They were never wrong on the other movies, and are very good about seperating fact from rumor. They are filming exteriors in Chicago again, and will be doing interior shoots in New Orleans. Nolan has stated that WB agreed to not use 3D filming at his request.

I get the feeling that Catwoman will be in this one. No source, just my gut.

[Nephrite]

and has plans in place to kick superman's ass.

Yeah.

As far as the movie villain goes, I'm not surprised it's not The Riddler cause... really? Riddler?

When did he become one of the top Bat-villains? Sure, he's iconic. But so is Wonder Woman. People can recognize them, but that's it. Neither has anything on their CVs to warrant that much attention. Can anybody name one great Riddler story? The same goes for Penguin.

And people keep mentioning Hugo Strange. Cause he could "totally work in Nolan's gritty realism".

Hugo Strange who's first or second appearance had him create giants that Batman mowed down with a machine gun? Yeah. That could work. :D

[polishgenius]

That is an excellent point. Maybe there's some hot looking young female actress who usually does romcoms and the like with some real acting chops just waiting for the chance. Hopefully Nolan doesn't do his "favourites" trick and cast Ellen Page, although give her a few more years to grow out of always being Juno and she could actually work really well.

It totally needs to be Summer Glau. She's got both the acting chops and the screen presence to pull off the role and hold her own against some heavyweights, and she can pull off Harley's acrobatics to boot...

And people keep mentioning Hugo Strange. Cause he could "totally work in Nolan's gritty realism".

Hugo Strange who's first or second appearance had him create giants that Batman mowed down with a machine gun? Yeah. That could work. :D

Well, he's used the R'as Al Ghul who's immortal due to magic pits granting resurrection, and the Joker who prances around with acid-spraying flowers...

I'd quite like to see Simon Hurt.

[Matrim Fox Cauthon]

Nolan has already used my two favorite Batman villains (Ra's al Ghul and Joker). The only one of my favorites left is Mr. Freeze, but that's a no-go. The DCAU completely turned Mr. Freeze around from a campy villain to a sympathetically tragic one in an Emmy-winning episode.

Who's left in the iconic Rogues' Gallery?

* Azrael

* Bane

* Catwoman

* Clayface

* Clock King

* Firefly

* Harley Quinn

* Mr. Freeze

* Killer Kroc

* Mad Hatter

* Man-Bat

* Penguin

* Phantasm

* Poison Ivy

* Riddler

* Talia al Ghul

[Cantabile]

I'd greatly enjoy seeing Harley, as a continuation of the Joker's arc. Either way I doubt the fanbase will be disappointed; too much pressure for anything but greatness in the film's choices, I hope.

[Nephrite]

Well, he's used the R'as Al Ghul who's immortal due to magic pits granting resurrection, and the Joker who prances around with acid-spraying flowers...

Yeah, those are things that Nolan left out.

If you cut out giants from Strange's story you have nothng left. The guy hasn't even appeared in a story for 35 years.

I'd quite like to see Simon Hurt.

I'd love to see Hurt. But, they could fill 3 movies with that stuff.