I know many fans are excited to know who will be the villains on Batman 3. So now here is a sneak peek revelaed by IGN in the news below. (Credits to IGN.com)
Now that Inception’s Tom Hardy has been cast in Christopher Nolan’s Batman 3, fanboy speculation has reached critical mass. So who will he play in the highly anticipated follow-up to The Dark Knight?
All we know at the moment is that it will be an unnamed “lead role,” though it seems fairly certain that Hardy — who is also supposed to take over in the title role in the fourth Mad Max film — will be playing a villain. But which villain… well, that’s far from clear.
Over the summer, rumors had pegged Hardy as being under consideration for the role of Riddler. But there are many other baddies in the pantheon of Bat villains who he might be playing. Here are a few who we think might be possibilities…
Let’s get the obvious one out of the way first. It seems as though everyone assumes that Nolan and his writers Jonathan Nolan and David Goyer are going to choose from the most popular members of Batman’s rogues gallery for this next film. So after the Joker and Two-Face, who of course were in the last film, who’s the best known? The Riddler is certainly up there, and he also seems a better fit than, say, the equally well-known Penguin.
And yet… why are we assuming that Nolan is going to go with a bad guy who even your grandma can identify? The director utilized Ra’s al Ghul in Batman Begins, far from a known quantity in the mainstream, so who’s to say that the rather obvious and pedestrian choice of the Riddler will happen for this next film?
Having said that, if Hardy does turn out to be playing Edward Nigma, we can expect the character be a darker and more realistic variation on Frank Gorshin’s beloved puzzle-master. We’re thinking the version seen in Hush, a genius in his own right. Certainly we know that Hardy can play a good villain — say what you will about Star Trek: Nemesis, but his turn as Shinzon was pretty creepy.
Nolan has said that the villain of the film may not be a “name,” and Professor Hugo Strange would sure fit that bill. Given the filmmaker’s interest in the psychological side of superheroing, not to mention how Strange has worked with mobsters and crooked politicians in the comics — themes that are endemic to Nolan’s bat-universe — this character could fit very well into the tapestry that Nolan has created.
In the modern continuity, Strange is a psychologist who was hired to help apprehend Batman — which could tie into the Caped Crusader’s fugitive-from-the-law arc that began at the end of The Dark Knight. He also manages to discover Batman’s secret identity, again tying into an aspect of Bruce Wayne which seems to deeply interest Nolan (the dual persona of the man). The character will also show up in the eagerly awaited Batman: Arkham City game, which will make him more recognizable to the casual fan too.
Here’s a character who once attempted to replace Batman as the protector of the streets, though he was ultimately thwarted when it was revealed that he was actually angling to take over the Gotham criminal world.
Also known as Floyd Lawton, Deadshot is a ruthless assassin and sometime member of the Suicide Squad, the DC universe’s version of the Dirty Dozen (only dirtier and with super powers). He’s a no-joke kind of villain, ruthless and deadly, and about as far from the Burton/Schumacher bat-films as you can get. Which is surely where Nolan likes to be. Plus, we know from Inception that Tom Hardy is really good with big guns.
Also known as Roman Sionis, Black Mask serves as a sort of parallel Bruce Wayne — born into money, but disfigured and insane, he turned to a life of crime. That would include, at one time, abducting members of the Wayne Enterprises board (Lucius Fox, anyone?). He’s sort of the bridge between mobsters and supervillains that would help keep Nolan’s film grounded.
Black Mask also has had a history with Catwoman, who rumor has it will also be in the film. Word on the street — and take this for what’s it’s worth at this early stage — is that as Batman recedes into inactivity in the wake of The Dark Knight, the Catwoman rises to battle the criminals who remain in his wake. Now in the comics, Black Mask went after Catwoman’s family for her interference in his plans and — get this — killed her brother-in-law and made her sister eat her husband’s remains.
As is often the case with Batman’s foes, Calendar Man is fixated on a particular topic of interest — in this case, dates. Often portrayed as being of the smalltime caliber of crook, the exception to this rule came in the excellent Batman: The Long Halloween, where he was a much more nefarious sort. As Batman hunts a serial killer down, Calendar Man advises the hero from Arkham Asylum, playing his own game of cat and mouse with Bats along the way.
We saw Batman fight the Joker in a battle of wits in The Dark Knight, when the Clown Prince of Crime was in police custody and Batman interrogated him. Using Calendar Man in Batman 3 in a manner similar to how he is portrayed in The Long Halloween could let Nolan take this concept and run with it… though hopefully Multiple Miggs won’t be around to throw anything at Batman.
In the comics these days, Dick Grayson is Batman and Bruce Wayne… isn’t (long story). But this isn’t the first time that Bruce has let the mantle of the bat fall to someone else. Back in the early 1990s, after the villain Bane broke Batman’s back, Bruce had no choice but to appoint a new Dark Knight — the hero formerly known as Azrael. All gussied up in a technologically enhanced suit of bat-armor, this character became the new Batman… until he went off the rails (people got killed and whatnot!) and Bruce was forced to reclaim the gig for himself.
This could track with the basic premise we’ve heard about Batman 3, as mentioned above. If Batman gives up on crime-fighting early in the film, perhaps he appoints a new Bat. Or maybe a new hero simply rises from the crime-ridden streets of Gotham to fill the void left by the true Batman’s departure. Either way, a Tom Hardy high-tech Azrael/Batman versus a Christian Bale old-school Batman could be pretty sweet… and it would also be a topic of interest for Nolan with the whole “how far is too far to protect Gotham” argument.
Speaking of which, Hardy might also make for a good Bane. The character, so terribly mis-portrayed in the hateful Batman & Robin, can actually be pretty scary. A monstrous, ‘roided-up killer, Bane’s physicality isn’t too far off from Tom Hardy’s character’s in the violent Bronson.
Also, there’s pretty much no chance of Uma Thurman showing up in Batman 3 to boss Bane around.
Like Black Mask, Hush — a.k.a. Dr. Thomas Elliot — goes back a long ways with Bruce Wayne. A childhood friend of Bruce’s, Elliot grows up resenting Bruce and the Wayne family because Bruce’s dad saved Elliot’s mom’s life. (Again, long story.) This leads to his taking on the persona of Hush and going after the Bat.
This is another character that serves as a parallel for Batman — rich, highly intelligent, skilled, and generally just good at everything. Except for being a good guy, that is, and therein lies the rub.
Now wait, don’t laugh. Obviously we’re not expecting Nolan to give us a Burgess Meredith style Penguin, quacking about in a tuxedo and with an umbrella. But the character, one of the best known of Batman’s enemies, can be handled in a more mature, less laughable way.
Just look at the “No Man’s Land” storyline from the comics, where the Penguin — Oswald Cobblepot (might have to modify that name too) — is a businessman with ties to the criminal underworld. Better if he’s not called “the Penguin” at all in the film, or at least not in his presence, but certainly we’d know that this is who Hardy is meant to be.
Another potentially outlandish character, Clayface can be done in a more sophisticated and realistic manner. Typically in the comics the Clayfaces (there have been several of them) are shapeshifters, and obviously that’s never going to happen in a Nolan bat-movie. So how to portray him?
Well, first you cast an ace actor, which is what has already happened with Hardy. Then you play up the “man of a thousand faces” aspect of the character rather than the clay thing. In fact, Hardy already played Eames, the Forger, in Inception — a character who assumes the forms of others. Clayface has also been depicted in a sympathetic light at times, which would be an interesting way to go with the villain of the new film (think Harvey Dent from The Dark Knight), only he’d be the antagonist for more than the last 15 minutes.
Any comments or insights? Post your picks below!
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