OWF's BATMAN 3 wishlist

Ok, so presuming that this big annoucement we are waiting for in January from the newly formed DC Entertainment will include news on the proposed third Batman movie, and presuming that Chris Nolan has indeed agreed to return, then I have a few guidelines of ideas I wanna see improved on, expanded or freshly introduced come game time on Batman 3. Personally it should be said that I think in the coming weeks Warner Bros. will announce the next movie, but won't say whether Christopher Nolan is returning or give us a firm start date. They may roughly say they want it out by 2012/13, but they won't give us firm details I wouldn't have thought, not yet anyway. With that said, here's my guidelines for the future...

More Gotham Central

The Dark Knight did something I had been wishing all the previous Batman movies had - and that was introduce Gotham Central - i.e. the wider unit of the Gotham Police Department, the team that Jim Gordon is in control of. In The Dark Knight they gave us the corrupt Det. Wuertz, Det. Ramirez and Det. Stephens, the one cop who Gordon can trust. I wanna see this expanded on in the next movie, let's get another name in there and a few more scenes for these supporting players. Wuertz of course was killed by Harvey Dent in the last movie but Stephens survived, so he should return. Keith Szarabajka did a great job playing the honest cop too, so he must return. Ramirez of course turned out to be corrupt and it was her turning on Gordon that allowed The Joker to steal Harvey Dent and Rachel, and course the destruction of both. You would think she would lose her job and be sent straight to prison but of course she knows the truth behind Harvey Dent and how it was he, and not Batman, that killed those five cops - so she may be allowed to keep both, or at least her freedom in response to keeping her mouth shut. Gotham Central simply must play a big part in the next Batman movie as The Caped Crusader has become Public Enemy No. 1 after the events of the last movie, and it's there job to take him down.

Return of the Monorail!

Seriously, where did it disappear off to in The Dark Knight? They made such a big deal out of the monorail in Batman Begins, and it's an important part of the comics, of course. It is the constant symbol to Bruce of his father Thomas Wayne's efforts to bring hope to the people of Gotham, and I can't imagine it would just disappear. Bring it back God damn it!

Return of the Batmobile

Chris Nolan seems to like blowing up Batman's best gizmo's and accessories. We lost the tumbler in The Dark Knight and we briefly were introduced to the Batpod, which was cool. But Batman needs a Batmobile to roam the streets, it's essential. If nothing else it gives Lucius Fox something to do if he is building a new one. Will we see a tumbler styled Batmobile again? - I hope so. I mean the iconic look of Burton's batmobile is part of my childhood like everyone elses but it has to be the tumbler. It's cool, it makes sense in this world and I wanna see it again.

ISOLATION as the main theme

If Batman Begins was about fear and The Dark Knight was about escalation, then I would suggest all the signs point towards isolation being the next movie's theme. Batman's on the run, the Gotham Police force have to chase him, he has no-one except Alfred and Fox to turn to after trusting Harvey Dent and losing him, and after Rachel Dawes was murdered by The Joker. The whole city will blame him for the death of Gotham's White Knight, the symbol of hope. Commissioner Gordon likewise is in isolation. His team is full of corrupt cops (Detectives Ramirez & Wuertz betrayed him), his wife I would suggest is likely to be pissed at the whole "fake death" scenario Gordon came up with to trick The Joker, and the fact her son was almost murdered by Two-Face. I would like to see the Gordon family troubles explored and as he does in the brilliant Batman: Year One, I would like to see a lonely and highly pressured Gordon have an affair with a colleague from his department. This would be a perfect time to introduce Sarah Essen - a hot, leggy blonde, unlucky in love cop who falls for Gordon and our good Commissioner can't resist. Someone psychically like Kim Basinger from the first Batman movie would be a good bit of casting, maybe

A new Batcave!

The Batcave is an essential part of the Batman character. It is his true home, not just his place of work, and it is the most famous headquarters of any superhero character that's ever existed. It was fun to see a penthouse flat used in The Dark Knight and the garage headquarters but it's the Batcave we really wanna see this time around, and with the added distance from the events of Batman Begins it would now make sense if a Batcave is fully operational alongside a new Wayne Manor. I always enjoyed Tim Burton's Batcave, and maybe capturing some of the look of that cave would serve Nolan well. The above screenshot I believe comes from the video game Batman: Arkham Asylum, and a high-tech, completely furnished Batcave would be interesting, especially as I would suggest he has years to build it after the events of Begins. Lots of t.v. monitors, lots of computers, etc.

TOM HARDY as THE RIDDLER

Tom Hardy has been Britain's best kept secret for way too long now, and even I find myself under-estimating him everytime a new movie of his comes up. His performances as Bronson was truly remarkable this year. He did a De Niro at his peak and rarely do you seen an actor transform himself completely for a part the way he did. He tapped into something animalistic and raw, with a energy to terrify and he should be up for the Best Actor Oscar come awards time, no doubt. We already know he's up for the Mad Max role in a new George Miller outing, so maybe he's not the secret I thought he was. You'll next see him in Chris Nolan's Inception, and I'm hoping during the making of the movie the topic of discussion turned to The Riddler. Now I've made it quite clear before that I believe The Riddler is the best villain to go for in the next installment, specifically I would love to see him act as the orchestra to a serial killer plot, ala Se7en. I wanna see Batman pushed more as a detective this time round, than anything physical and The Riddler to just keep the problems escalating between the Gotham Police Force, the Public and Batman himself, adding to the theme of isolation. DISCUSS: WHAT'S ON YOUR WISHLIST FOR BATMAN 3?