10 Batman Movie Villains Reimagined For The DCEU

Doing the rounds in Arkham.

josh gad penguin
DC Comics

The cells of Arkham Asylum are filled with some of the most memorable rogues ever to grace the comic book page, from the devilishly psychotic Joker to the Venom-fuelled powerhouse known as Bane.

Batman has faced off against these nasties across multiple mediums more times than anyone care to count, and yet fans never get sick of seeing them reinvented.

The Dark Knight's movie outings have, in all fairness, a mixed track record when it comes to bringing his foes to the big screen, with Heath Ledger's Joker at one end of the spectrum and Arnie's Mr. Freeze making ice puns at the other.

When the Caped Crusader returned to cinema after a short hiatus in last year's Batman V Superman, the reboot switch was flicked, paving the way for the superhero's most iconic villains to be reimagined for a new age.

In the current DC Extended Universe continuity, we already have our Clown Prince of Crime and Harley Quinn, but it remains to be seen which other Bat adversaries will be added to the fray and what form they will take.

Ben Affleck's Dark Knight has a solo outing pencilled onto the roadmap at Warner Bros, and that brings the opportunity to revisit some of the great movie villains of old and present them in an all-new light.

10. Saw-Esque Riddler

josh gad penguin
DC Comics

Jim Carrey turned in a parody of a performance as The Riddler in Batman Forever, but then again, so did every cast member in the Joel Schumacher films.

Edward Nigma is, however, a villain ripe for reinvention, and a grittier take on the character would slot snugly into The Batman, even if the film ends up R-rated.

Instead of a bloke garbed in green who says things like "riddle me this", the rebooted Riddler could be a villain cut from the same mould as Saw's John Kramer.

Obviously he should be less sadistic, but a puzzle-obsessed baddie who matches the Caped Crusader on the intellectual front could be an interesting challenge for Batfleck.

From the cryptic clues he'd leave lying around, to the deadly traps he could snare the Dark Knight in, the Riddler would be a fitting baddie in a noir detective-themed movie, which is what The Batman is supposedly gunning for.

As for who could play the rebooted Riddler, how about Sneaky Pete's Giovanni Ribisi? A straight-laced portrayal from him would blow the bad memories of Carrey right out of your brain.

He ticks every box from a physical standpoint and always has an air of 'more than meets the eye' about him.

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Contributor

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