Yeah I know what you mean, It’s gonna be such a tough assignment to top TDK. As long as there is no Robin I say he should go for it. I am not even sure if the Joker won’t be involved…if any one can fill Ledger’s shoes it’s Johnny Depp…I think he could do a fantastic job too…but they should perhaps show him as someone who is inspired by the original joker (heath ledger’s) not act as the same person…you know? It’s a tough sell, but in my opinion it could work.

Or they could bring two-face…we don’t ‘really’ know if he’s dead or not ya know!

Tricky one indeed.
A good villain is crucial but not the only ingredient needed.
I was so happy when I heard Venom was appearing in Spidey 3 until I saw how the film ended up. It just wasn’t enough.
I’m a Marvel fan so not well versed in Batman villainery, therefore I have no idea who to consider.
Hasn’t Catwoman allready been ruined?

I haven’t seen the film yet but it just doesn’t seem like a good idea to ever bring back the joker in this series (if it becomes one). Fans will compare and it will get messy.

A lot of things allso don’t translate well from comic to screen hence the change from colourfull spandex to black leather with x-men.
So just like Brad said the Riddler for instance is just to weak of a character for the big screen.
And god no, no Robin. Or Batgirl.

I think he has to do another batman movie. The ending of The Dark Knight left it too open to not.

I think I would be satisfied, but let’s face it there will be another one.
SPOILER AHEAD

Villian options: SPOILER: Is Two-Face really dead? Didn’t he just fall?

How about bringing back Scarecrow?

Penguin is a good idea with Hoffman

How about Harley Quinn? I would love a good female villian.

Catwoman is probably one of the most recognized villian in the batverse besides the Joker, so she seems like the most logical choice. Burton did a great job with it, but that Halle Berry movie ruined it.

Aren’t both MadHatter and Riddler variations of the Joker. So I would say no to both of them.

It always seems like the third movie is where the hero goes dark or maybe I’m just thinking about SM3.

BeautifulM said:

SPOILER AHEAD

Villian options: SPOILER: Is Two-Face really dead? Didn’t he just fall?

How about bringing back Scarecrow?

How about Harley Quinn? I would love a good female villian.

To answer your spoiler question. Yes, [SPOILER]Two-Face is dead. Gordon was speaking at what looked like a public funeral. Plus the decision at the end doesn’t have as much ummph or make as sense if Harvey Dent survived the fall.[/SPOILER]

I think Batman Begins explores all the themes that the Scarecrow represents. It’d be redundant..

Harley Quinn would feel like Joker-lite/retread if she was a stand-alone villain.

!!!!Spoiler Warning!!!

Sadly two face is dead but batman has a list of great villians (in my opinion)

the villians they can go with is problay Catwoman since there is no leading lady anymore since she rachel dies

The Riddler is an option probly another re-invented version and it might blow everybodies expectation away (look how everybody backlash when Heath ledger was signed in to be the joker then everybody praise him since its a different type of joker)

The Penguin aslong as they get Hoffman it’ll be great

And what about Hush??? he might be great and it will fit in, in Nolan’s Batman world

I agree No Robin or Batgirl

davidfrank said: To answer your spoiler question. Yes, [SPOILER]Two-Face is dead. Gordon was speaking at what looked like a public funeral. Plus the decision at the end doesn’t have as much ummph or make as sense if Harvey Dent survived the fall.[/SPOILER]

I think Batman Begins explores all the themes that the Scarecrow represents. It’d be redundant..

Harley Quinn would feel like Joker-lite/retread if she was a stand-alone villain.

You’re probably right, but I think it’s going to be hard to top the Joker, it WAS best to introduce him in the second film.

People are speculating that it will be the Riddler because he was in the Dark Knight. I guess we’ll have to trust Nolan, if he does a third one.

Bishop said: !!!!Spoiler Warning!!!

And what about Hush??? he might be great and it will fit in, in Nolan’s Batman world

I thought about mentioning Hush…and he definitely would fit in Nolan’s world…but he’s sort of a weak follow-up to the Joker. Yet, who knows? It could work.

Everyone here makes good points but Nolan has already said he is not going to use the penguin because who is to unreal (imdb The Dark Knight trivia). But i feel that not many people understand what the riddler can be. sure he is kinda like the joker but not really like the joker says in this movie he just "does things" no plan, but with the riddler its all about plans and leaving little riddles everywhere to fuck with you andto try and see if anyone is smarter than him. the best way to view him in a dark way without reading the some comics is in Batman TAS the first one that had the riddler was called "if your so smart why arent you rich?" and that is a dark story and if they could make the riddler liek that but darker and fit the theme of the movies i dont see why not because he can be very dark. as for hush he has a good story i feel with a good twist to it so like what davidfrank said it could work. I have nothing but faith in Nolan and his brother to write the best sotry they can and it might take some time but im willing to wait. time will tell. also what happened to two-face to me felt like it was ment to be i couldnt of been any happier

davidfrank said: To answer your spoiler question. Yes, [SPOILER]Two-Face is dead. Gordon was speaking at what looked like a public funeral. Plus the decision at the end doesn’t have as much ummph or make as sense if Harvey Dent survived the fall.[/SPOILER]

I gotta disagree with that.
If you notice, no coffin is shown at the funeral. Also the decision remains the same. They dont want Harvey Dent to be a bad guy, essentially. If hes dead, then he can die a hero, in the public eye. If he survived, and is put away in Arkham in his own little private cell, then the decision has the same impact, as far as the citizens of Gotham are concerned…then they can have the inevitable escape….

I also think they MAY have alluded to Catwoman…
The conversation about his new armor, about if it would hold back a dog, to which Alfred said, "Maybe a cat…"

Just a thought…

Everyone can rest easy knowing that there will be no Robin. Bale himself said that if Robin pops up the next film he will chain himself to his trailer and not go on set. It is on ign somewhere. Also for the third film I like the idea of the Penguin since we are left with a "dead" Harvey Dent and a Gotham that is chasing Batman. The Penguin represents bureaucracy gone wrong and I think it would be interesting to see how that could pan out. If Nolan went that direction where the Penguin was fueling the flames of hate for Batman in Gotham. Also a new take on the Riddler could be interesting if they could capture his narcissism and fit him into Nolan’s hyper-reality. Either way after a record breaking opening and rave reviews from critics and fans, there is no way he can not finish this trilogy.

ckybltz said: I gotta disagree with that.
If you notice, no coffin is shown at the funeral. Also the decision remains the same. They dont want Harvey Dent to be a bad guy, essentially. If hes dead, then he can die a hero, in the public eye. If he survived, and is put away in Arkham in his own little private cell, then the decision has the same impact, as far as the citizens of Gotham are concerned…then they can have the inevitable escape….

I also think they MAY have alluded to Catwoman…
The conversation about his new armor, about if it would hold back a dog, to which Alfred said, "Maybe a cat…"

Just a thought…

When Gordan and Batman are on the ground next to Two-Face’s body, Gordon says everything died with Harvey Dent. I don’t think there is any question on whether Two-Face survived.

Good catch on the Catwoman reference. I didn’t realize that until now.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is the best of the franchise and thats the third film (and last film) in my mind. Also I think clayface would be pretty cool, although hes not as much of a central villian in batman as a few others are.

vanny said: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is the best of the franchise and thats the third film

Not a comic-book film, my friend. Yeah and I’d love to see Clayface, but I just don’t see him working whatsoever in Nolan’s world.

Here’s an idea. In "Batman Begins" Bruce had to save the people of Gotham. In "The Dark Knight" bruce had to save Batman (and the people of Gotham). How about have Bruce, save Bruce? What villain could be used? Well how about one that hates Bruce, that doesn’t have super powers. "The Black Mask". Yes he’s lesser known, but he’s a "crime-based" villain that hates Bruce Wayne. So maybe the people of Gotham doesn’t need Batman, but perhaps Bruce finds himself needing Batman once again. Then, perhaps "The Black Mask" hires "The Mad Hatter", which sorta happens in the comic book series, to make distractions to lure in the Batman, so they can kill Bruce Wayne (obviously not knowing that Bruce is Batman-which is ironic). So…. OK, let’s have The Black Mask kidnap Alfred, and blackmail Bruce to perhaps kill Lew Moxon, who originally hired Joe Chill to kill his parents. The Black Mask does this for a couple reasons. 1) He knows Bruce has a personal vendetta against Lew Moxon. 2) Lew Moxon may be in competition with The Black Mask for power in the criminal underworld. 3) Having Bruce Wayne get convicted of murder would be great too. OK… So now lets throw in The Mad Hatter, The Black Mask hired him to make distractions by killing cops and whatnot by mind-manipulation techniques. So, Batman has to deal with that by means of obligation. But, he also has to deal with Lew Moxon, who perhaps finds out that Bruce Wayne wants him dead, so he hired Philo Zeiss, who is a genetically altered bodyguard (not super sci-fi, but borderline). So, basically this story would make Bruce Wayne split by duties. Does he deal with Lew for personal vendetta? Mad Hatter for obligation? Or The Black Mask who has Alfred? Therefore, we can start adding the infamous Rogues Gallery….

Good idea? or not?

For anyone that reads this site regularly you know I don’t know anything about comic books outside of the films. However, from what I have seen that Black Mask character looks impressive.

I would also be interested in seeing Nolan’s take (a realistic take) on The Riddler as well as The Penguin as long as it doesn’t involve massive brain wave machines sponsored by Nielsen or penguins with rockets on their backs.

I skimmed over all of the comments and did not see anyone mention this villain…

But what about Deadshot. He could be cool cause Batman is not a fan of weapons and that is all Deadshot uses. It could be an interesting game of cat and mouse with him.

brad i can promise you that if they put the riddler in there it would be amazing because he has alot of stories with him. its just to bad they wont use freeze becaus eof him not being that true to life but his story has so much depth and darkness to it. but im telling you i read that Nolan saying he has no interest in using the penguin. also its mr fox that makes the cat remark jsut for anyone whos trying to catch it

davidfrank said: When Gordan and Batman are on the ground next to Two-Face’s body, Gordon says everything died with Harvey Dent. I don’t think there is any question on whether Two-Face survived.

I actually think its possible that Harvey is alive. If he’s dead, I’m cool with that too, but Nolan could’ve made it certain that he died by showing an actual coffin of actually saying it. He chose not too. Maybe just to get us talking about it, but he did show Batman throwing Maroni off of like 3 stories, about the same height Harvey fell, and all that happened to him was a broken ankle or something like that. I think he showed that on purpose. It’s possible that the fall didn’t kill Harvey. That’s all I’m saying.

Also, I think that interview with Nolan talking about Penguin was fake. Hoffman would be an awesome Penguin. And the Riddler would be great in a Nolan world. He could be a serial killer like the Zodiac. He could leave clues or riddles so Batman and the police can catch him.

I didn’t get to see it three times like some people, but in the hospital room, didn’t Harvey/Two-Face say that Harvey Dent was dead, and that only Two-Face was left?

Harvey can be dead all he wants, but that still leaves room for the Two-Face persona to remain.

My question is, will they be able to present the equivalent of the moral struggle that Bruce went through? I’d hate to see them simply recycle it, or do without. It was a large part of the movie from where I was sitting, so they need something similar in a third.

ckybltz said:

I also think they MAY have alluded to Catwoman…
The conversation about his new armor, about if it would hold back a dog, to which Alfred said, "Maybe a cat…"

Just a thought…

that is a very good point and observation. i agree, nolan should do a catwoman story…but should be very very careful to pick the actress to play such a key role such as they did with Ledger.

SPOILERS BELOW
‘
‘
‘
‘
‘
‘
‘
‘
‘
‘
‘
‘
‘
‘
‘
‘
‘
‘
‘
‘
‘
‘
‘
‘
‘
‘
‘
‘
‘
‘
‘
‘
‘
dont get me wrong the movie was amazing but think about this idea. they end it with the joker hanging his head out of the car window, dent in the hospital and the final shot is batman standing in the rubble. then we open up part 3 with the hospital scene. i LOVE the film the way it is but i think if nolan had really been loking to do a trilogy he would of gone along the lines of that. i think that it would be tough to do a third one because you would lose the political aspect that this one had and it would be a step backwards to "batman vs a villain".

chewbaca69 said: dont get me wrong the movie was amazing but think about this idea. they end it with the joker hanging his head out of the car window, dent in the hospital and the final shot is batman standing in the rubble. then we open up part 3 with the hospital scene.

That would have been fantastic, however it’s a bit too dark and would have never happened. Fun to think about that idea though, it would have made it epic.

chewbaca69 said: SPOILERS BELOW

dont get me wrong the movie was amazing but think about this idea. they end it with the joker hanging his head out of the car window, dent in the hospital and the final shot is batman standing in the rubble. then we open up part 3 with the hospital scene.

That sounds like a great end and start for a third. I was a bit surprised when the film didn’t end after

–SPOILERS—

Rachel’s death. If they had gone from the rubble scene to the last confrontation between Batman and Joker in the building and ended the film at the hospital, with the last scene between Gordon and Harvey where we see his burned face for the first time, and Harvey makes Gordon say Two-Face, it would have been amazing. Saved all the scenes of Two-Face going around killing for the beginning of the third and have Two-Face as the main antagonist. But then we wouldn’t had had the "Because he’s the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now…and so we’ll hunt him, because he can take it. Because he’s not a hero. He’s a silent guardian, a watchful protector…a dark knight." Maybe Nolan has already an idea of what he will do in a third film where Batman will be the hunted.

–SPOILER END—

TDK is definitely going to be tough to surpass, but the good thing is that it is not impossible. I have faith that if Nolan sticks with the Batman franchise he will continue to (hopefully) produce quality products. Too bad he did not briefly introduce Dr. Harleen Quinzel. because that would have been a great way to potentially flesh the character out in a third installment of the franchise. She could have been a psychiatrist that the police force brought in to try to get to the bottom of "who" is the Joker and then eventually face the Joker one-on-one when they are trying to figure out where Dent and Dawes’ whereabouts. Her interest in him would have been subtle, and almost a bit flirtatious, as she becomes enamored by his warped mind. Of course that is if I were to have introduced her character in TDK. By the time the third movie would come out in turns out she has decided to take on the role of the Joker’s personal psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum where he would attempt to toy with her mind. Little does he know that she is indeed infatuated with him and wishes to join, and even surpass him, in all that he has done. She becomes his own "harlequin."

Aside from Harley I would like to see Catwoman, b/c she iconic to the Batman universe and would be a great leading lady. Even though most people do not seem to think kindly of this femme fatal I think with the proper writing and direction Poison Ivy could definitely be pulled off. Like I said it is a matter of good writing and direction, and I have faith that Nolan with his writing crew could introduce her effectively. Maybe not as the main villain, but a cohort of sorts. In a way she resembles the philosophy of Ra’s Al Ghul in that they are both to a certain extent environmentalist. However, with Ra’s he prefer to only extinguish societies that appear to not be functioning, whereas Ivy would like to eliminate society on a greater scale. To a certain extent she is far more dangerous than Ra’s. Honestly I would not necessarily portray her in that complete manner. I would feed off of the storyline in which she took care of Gotham’s orphans. In the original story there was an earthquake and she transformed Gotham’s largest park, that was once a place filled with trash (literally, figuratively, metaphorically, etc), into a safe haven for teh children that had no where else to go. To compliment Nolan’s universe I would have Ivy be a well known scientist that was making breakthroughs with botany in terms of developing new medicines that could rebuild cells and whatnot. Since the hospital has been demolished by the Joker, Ivy would volunteer to serve at the hospital. While she’s there she discovers that some of her serums might be able to aide a lot of these people with their ailments when all of a sudden another scientist by the name of Dr. Jason Woodrue decides to take credit for her discovery. At first she is able to maintain her stability, until she finds out that he has decided to bank off of her serum. Cost was never a concern for her, all she wanted was to help people, and now the good that she has created has become tainted by greed. Later she finds out that the good doctor has been altering her serum to kill people, a sort of anti-Dr. Kevorkian, and this drives her a bit mad. She decides to play dumb and share with him another serum that she is developing and without him realizing it he becomes the first test subject and then she begins to target all of his predecessors. I don’t know … I’m just throwing something out there for others to consider and stem from this.

Whoops! I got too carried away with wanting a female villain that I almost forgot about these guys:

The Riddler: Only if he were to be portrayed in the way that Spacey’s character was played out in Se7en. He would have to be very keen, cunning, manipulative and most of all calm. He would be the exact opposite of the Joker in his approach, but just as scheming and dangerous as him at the same time. It’s all about the approach and who he’s going to target. The Joker made it clear that he was like a "dog chasing after a car," whereas the Riddler has something in mind and even though it may be planned everyone will still be left stunned and traumatized.

Hush is a definite contender along with Black Mask.

it is possible that the hint-hint in the movie could have made an opening for catwoman, but for the penguin, scarecrow, riddler, or bane and ivy, i think that Nolan would go with another charactor that has never been done before. I dont think harvey dent is dead at all from a fall so he could bring something to the table for the trillogy. the third movie needs a brand new villian that has never made it to the big screen. if nolan could manage to direct the huge beam of attention away from the joker and onto some one new, then he could have a chance to break the 3rd movie curse. let’s face it, would you have any other person to play Jack sparrow besides Depp? Ledger made the same cohesive conection with the joker and you cant reproduce that with anyone else.
I would go with scarface (the ventrillaquist villan) because it seems darker and its more reallistic cause he’s not super human in any way and batman can fight him by hiself with no need for robin or batgirl. we all know the devistation of the other movies with the robin and batgirl feassco. Hey i wouldnt mind seeing that guy working in the bank at the beginning of the movie with the shotgun, show up in the third movie. i dont remember if joker left him for dead or finished him of before he walked away, but that guy is a professional actor and there has to be a reason why he would choose a movie with such a small part. I dont know. there’s so many limitations since ledger died.

This is going to be a big post, sorry…

The people of Gotham already want batmans blood, he placed all the blame on himself over the deaths of the men Harvey brutally murdered. Why not have Riddler be dangerous in the next film in a different way (this is going to sound similar to Batman Forever, just not as cheesy). Have him know Batmans identity. The Riddler was always highly intelligent, so make him appear a hero to Gotham by handing over Batman to the people, toying with Bruce Wayne all the way. I don’t mean let him expose Batman in the beginning but have him discover Mr. Waynes terrible secret and blow his antics wide open and outta proportion (making it seem a lot worse than it really is). Batman would need to fight for his place within Gotham, make people see The Riddler for who he really is: a manipulative, cunning, and evil criminal mastermind. Can Batman stop the false belief that Riddler is clouding Gotham under or will Gotham itself be Batmans reaper?
…I hope not :-SS

Have Riddler dress in a silk-emerald suit (darker greens) and gold custom ‘?’ cufflinks. Have him with a trademark cane and to be a lot older than Bruce Wayne.

(Riddler knows who Batman is in this scene but Bruce Wayne doesn’t know this. They are also at a public gathering (to make things worse) and Batman is about to be exposed…)
RIDDLER: "No, no, no… Realise Mr. Wayne, I see the problem, and the problem is about to be put to rest… This thing, it’s been staring us all in the face for far too long… The people of Gotham deserve to know the truth, they deserve to know when they’ve been betrayed, they deserve fair treatment and no more lies, no more riddles. That’s what they deserve…"
BRUCE WAYNE: "…what they deserve is a chance to find truth themselves, no smoke and mirrors standing in their way. You could never understand because you’ll only ever find the truth in every lie you’ve ever told. In every question and riddle you claim truth but are only ever lying to yourself and that makes you a hypocrite."
(angered Riddler leans closer to Bruce and whispers)
RIDDLER: "…everything dark and light or black and white hey Bruce? No shades of grey here? That simple really? Well guess what?"
(quieter now)
RIDDLER: "…I know what you are…"
(Bruce backs off and looks in shock at Riddler, Riddler looks at him confused. Tension building as people look on)
RIDDLER: "Something I said must have startled Mr. Wayne. My apologies… (puts his hand out to shake, Bruce doesn’t want to) …where was I? Oh yes… Citizens! Gotham will no longer live in terror of this Batman! The time has come for him to pay for his crimes."
(Bruce starts walking back keeping a close watch on Riddler while still being cautious of people around him watching)
RIDDLER: "TONIGHT! We will witness the birth of a new Gotham! One free of masked monsters cowering in the dark… Tonight Gotham is reborn! Now I do hate building suspense but… I must… I have been advised to ‘milk’ this ceremony! (everyone laughs nervously, awaiting the news) so keep watching… you may be as suprised as Mr. Wayne here, knowing what I know………. I know who The Batman is… and you soon will too! (everyone shocked)"

Or this even, how good would these sound?
Quotes that Riddler could say:

"I have a question for you, no actually more of a riddle. Why are the skies over Gotham so… dark?"

"[to Batman] I’ve always wanted to know something… if everything has at least one meaning behind it. Is there a meaning in what I call your ‘maddness’?"

"[to Batman] Ask yourself something and riddle away your existence"

"[to Batman] I want to know one thing, how do you feel? How do you feel now you are Gothams villian?"

"Murder tastes awfully sweet… but, I’m more into the act of understanding… understanding a reason behind why I enjoy the desire to see people fail at getting away with it…"

We never saw a body or a funeral for miss Dawes, I hope she will have survived and will return in the shape of catwoman. Nine lives… She would probably be bitter that batman killed her fiance and went to save Dent instead of her at the explosion. Maggie would make the purrfect catwoman, she was phenomenal taking over from katie holmes. These films need more women in them!

First of all, leave the dead for dead. No more two face no more Dawes.. they’re gone. The Joker is still alive and I hear they have some additional footage of Heath they might be able to use in film three… so tie up that loose end if you really have to, but as far as I’m concerned he can rot in his cell without another peep also.

Where to go from here: next up is the Catwoman. But not the obvious choices like Angelina Jolie… oh no. I want to see Reese Witherspoon be nice and nasty. She is so happy go lucky typically but when you see the few glimpses of her devious side it’s enough to make you fear her and fall for her. She is such a talented actress and could really play out the prostitute side of Miller’s idea or just be the classic jewel thief. Either way Nolan has some wiggle room to play with the moral dilemma of the sweet and innocent type of girl turning down right nasty when given the opportunity. Reese is the only actress out their in my opinion who is talented enough to give the Catwoman something she hasn’t had before: the girl next door who just might have to hurt you if you cross her.

Likewise the only real choice from there is the Riddler (film Four). I say film four because the Riddler would seem redundant after the Joker, however with a little time and space he could be different enough not to seem like a knock off. But ONLY played by the charmingly psychotic Johnny Depp. Less cartoonish than Carrey and certainly has the playful yet sadistic side that we only slightly saw in Willie Wonka. Throw that in with the fore mentioned Spacey from Se7en sort of twisted puzzle resulting in death and you’ve got someone that might even surpass Ledger.

The ending is left much too open. i believe they’re looking for a new one. Opinions: two faced is gone, too small a character in series to keep dwelling on. We need a new female role- possible Rachel Dawes coming back in a new guise (her death isn’t certain. No body- no trace. Nothing. and her feelings with Harvey and Dent are cloudy. But we need someone new. Maybe Selina/Catwoman or Julie Morrison. Joker’s not dead and neither is Scarecrow- but are at assylem where is when Dr. Harlequin enters series in comics, struggling to better understand them both after her own shady past. But Joker can never be redone and Scarecrows pathetic attepts in TDK took him out as a candidate for a bigger villian. I do feel another female is needed though- for Brue’s sake. He’s being hunted now and will have to learn to cope with being hunted and hated and at same time AND MOST IMPORTANTLY WHICH STILL NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED he needs to learn to quit hating himself and get over mistakes made. Brue needs to learn to live with Bruce, which he hasn’t been able to do yet. He simply has overtaken batman to occupy himself from himself. Too much hurt. Perhaps a female’s attentions or some self realization can help. Not enough resolution. I agree with bringing a smaller less known villian into play.

Oh and I agree against Robin and Commissioner Gordon’s daughter is too young to be Batgirl (although I did like the twist that her paralyzation brought). Just because Harvey’s gone doesn’t need to take away from the political aspect. But a final Batman would/should open up questions of higher goodness and true responsibilities in ethics on a greater scale than simply cleaning up city crime. This one already started with that in showing that if given the right tools ppl can be trusted to improve their standard of living yet. there is hope in humanity to take over and not need a Batman (evidence of Ferry and batman imperrsonators). Let Bruce find peace in himself and humanity.