7 Great Batman Villains (Still Yet To Appear In A Film)

Batman undoubtedly has the best rogues gallery in all of comics and no other superhero, with the possible exception of Spider-Man, has such a deep catalogue of great villainous characters to pull from. From the physical threat of Bane and the intellectual prowess of the Riddler to the psychological nightmare of Scarecrow and the anarchic chaos of The Joker, all bases are covered.

Matt Reeves’ upcoming The Batman film, starring Robert Pattinson as the Dark Knight, will be the ninth live action solo outing for the character, who has also co-starred with Superman and appeared in two DC ensemble movies (Justice League and Suicide Squad) in recent years.

As a result of this ubiquity on the big screen, the vast majority of Batman’s most iconic adversaries have made their film debuts – Reeves’ adaptation will make use of villains previously used in Burton/Schumacher era rather than previously unseen ones.

This, combined with the fact that the likes of Suicide Squad and Birds of Prey have drawn hugely from the secondary ranks of Batman antagonists (making use of the likes of Deadshot, Black Mask, Mr. Zsasz and Killer Croc), would indicate that the source of villains for use in the future is running thin, but this couldn’t be further from the case.

Here are seven brilliant characters (or groups) that have not matched wits and fists with the Caped Crusader outside of comics or other media (such as animated films or the incredible Arkham series of games) yet.

Part of what makes Batman so appealing is his depth as a character. His civilian identity as Bruce Wayne has always proven fascinating for writers and directors to explore in comics, films and games, with the aloof playboy persona he presents to the public being the true mask that he wears. This is in stark contrast to many of his superhero counterparts, whose characters are frequently as dull as dishwater when you take their powers and outfits away.

Rare is it that a villain has a gripe with Bruce Wayne specifically rather than Batman, however. A notable exception is Hush, who quickly made an impact to the Batman lore upon his 12 issue limited series debut in 2003, rapidly leaping above longer serving foes in terms of prominence.

A childhood friend of Bruce who secretly longed for his parents to die (as Bruce’s had) so he could inherit their fortunes, Hush becomes envious and eventually murderous over time. To that end, his appearances often make use of his abilities as a world class surgeon, with the ‘Heart Of Hush’ limited series and Arkham Knight having him perform plastic surgery on himself to impersonate his childhood companion and attempt to destroy his company and reputation.

Replicating this would certainly be something different, though marketing a Batman film without much Batman in it could be difficult. Hush allows his origins to be explored from another angle, however, whilst being a genuinely terrifying presence on screen.