Because we really don't talk about Batman enough do we? The future of the various Marvel franchises seem all worked out at the moment. James Vanderbilt is finishing his script for Spider-Man 4 which I would be almost willing to put my house on the main villain being The Lizard. The Mandarin looks like he will be going toe-to-toe with Iron Man in the next movie with several hints to the idea that he could be the major player behind the shady strategy of Stark Enterprises. Thor will have his Loki - Captain America will have his Red Skull - but what of DC and their superhero sequels, specifically The Caped Crusader himself. Now I know this all just speculation at this point because we are yet to know the fate of Two-Face or The Joker who are the main focus of next month's The Dark Knight but still, it's fun to imagine what could be ahead.
Can you feel the excitement building towards
The Dark Knight? I always know the anticipation is mounting when I talk to people I know outside of the online community actually approach me to talk about a film a couple of months before it's due out. Sadly, I think this was accelerated somewhat by the tragic passing of
Heath Ledger but awareness is certainly high in the U.K. but one topic that keeps coming up. Where will Nolan go next for his villains? To celebrate the release of
Batman Begins on Blu-Ray (released July 14th), we discuss and debate below...
Catwoman
Well we've already seen a cracking and faithful portrayal of the character from
Michelle Pfeiffer in
Batman Returns and also lest we not forget (and WB sure won't) the dreadful stand-alone
Catwoman movie that starred
Halle Berry in 2004 which was a box office disaster, failing to recoup it's $100 million production costs. But it's Catwoman. Batman's only love interest that has ever worked in the previous movies - because she is so much more than just a pretty face. She is a thief, a girl on the wrong side of the tracks and the only woman who can really dig her claws into Bats but of course she ain't all bad and we can sympathise for this villain because she maybe didn't get the breaks in life.
NOLAN'S WORLD: Only takes a woman dressed up in a costume who is a compulsive thief and a troublemaker but I'm not sure she could work as a main villain. After showcasing The Joker, a movie revolving around a petty thief may feel kinda tepid.
MY CASTING:Shannyn Sossamon... she missed out on the role of Wonder Woman in the JLA movie but this American actress is too much of a tomboy to win a role like that. Which is why she is perfect for Catwoman, who was always beautiful but maybe unable to attract the right man because she's such a tough and powerful women. She also needs to carry something of a vulnerability in her eyes - Sossamon has that and I could imagine her having lightning hot chemistry with Bale. She is slim, long legged and looks flexible. Perfect!
THE RIDDLER
Riddle me this... Riddle me that. Who thinks Edward Nygma would make a great foil for the Bats? I do. I would LOVE to see a
Christopher Nolan directed full on detective version of Batman. How about a serial killer movie like
Se7en where The Riddler leaves clues out of a compulsive need to have people guessing over his crimes and he almost wants to be caught like
Kevin Spacey. Nolan did a wonderful job with the detective movie
Insomnia and no movie has yet to really show the detective persona of Batman. In the comics, Ra's calls him the world's greatest detective. I would love to see that actually portrayed on film...
IN NOLAN'S WORLD: Guy in a green suit, with question marks? Maybe make him wear a black suit with one green question mark? Nolan stayed faithful to the look of the Joker, I don't think The Riddler looks any worse or campier in concept?
MY CASTING: Casey Affleck - A great actor, for a start but unlike many previously given this role I would have a hard time seeing him play it camp - which is a good thing. We've already seen he can play obsessive (as Rob Ford in
Jesse James) and will make the role far more sinister and terrifying than a goofy
Jim Carrey.
TALIA AL GHUL
For me, one of the biggest tragedies of
Batman Begins was the pathetic love interest of new character Rachel Dawes as played by
Katie Holmes and to be resurrected on screen by
Maggie Gyllenhaal. It wasn't just because her character was severely underwritten, badly acted, executed and totally pointless and detracting from the story but they could have easy put an exciting femme fatale in there. A dangerous, elusive women who Bale falls for resulting in severe consequences. We may not have even seen the consequences until the next movie and known of her true identity of who she really was.
IN NOLAN'S WORLD: Sure she could work. It's just a shady femme fatale, a girl who wears clothing that shows off her assets. I think she will make a great villain in future movies if they ever decide to use her. A pissed off young lady because of the death of her father, she vows revenge by seducing Bats to eventually turn on him and a son storyline down the road I wouldn't oppose to either.
MY CASTING:Rachel Weisz. Now I know that the character is written of European flavour but the
Liam Neeson/
Christopher Nolan version of Batman clearly shows a Irish actor playing
Ra's Al Ghul. So Brit
Rachel Weisz would be fine, I could easily buy her as the daughter of Neeson and she can play seductive and villainous... something which was rumored a while back when she was talked about for
Sin City 2.
MR. FREEZE
Ok, so it goes without saying he would have to be portrayed completely different to Arnie's embarrassing performance in
Batman & Robin. But for everyone that has seen the awesome
Batman: The Animated Series and the episode entitled
Heart of Ice, you will know that there's a way to portray this character that will go above most one note comic book villains. He is tragic, deeply flawed human being who just can't get over the pain of losing a loved one. Does that sound familiar Mr. Wayne?
IN NOLAN'S WORLD: How about a mad scientist who has no problem killing others in order to fund and find a cure for his dying wife? Not too far fetched and I don't think you need the outrageous suit for that. Now that would work? Not sure, it's the most interesting Batman storyline in a Nolan universe but this is not a villain to be scoffed at.
CASTING: Robin Williams. If the character doesn't have to look like he does in the comics then I see no one better than Williams. I'm going to bring up
Insomnia again but if anyone has seen that movie can testify, he makes a great psychological villain.
Look for Part II coming tomorrow, where we look at THE PENGUIN, POISION IVY, MAD HATTER and MORE!Remember, Batman Begins is released on Blu-Ray on July 14th 2008 and is available to pre-order from Amazon right now priced at £15.98
