Monday, July 13, 2009

A Riddle Wrapped In An Enigma...


There's a lot of talk going on about the next Batman film and who should be the villain...

Everyone is trying to figure out who could possibly top the performance of Heath Ledger's anarchist Joker. I think it's being approached from the wrong point. If you want to know who has the best chance of being a fly in Batman's ointment, wouldn't it be good to go to the source? Or at least understand where that source is coming from? With that said, I'll just say this... the man that is most likely going to write the next Batman film is Jonathan Nolan, the screenwriter of "The Dark Knight" and brother of the film's director, Christopher Nolan. Now if he is going to be the man behind the typewriter or keyboard, then his taste come into play, so couldn't/wouldn't what he's interested in inform us as to the direction he could take? The choices he would decide on...

Riddle me this: Who is Jonathan Nolan's favorite Batman villain?

I'll give you a hint. It's not the Joker, Penguin or Catwoman. Need another hint?

If so, you're trying way too hard...

32 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've been saying this since the day Dark Knight came out.

Look at the dude Mr. Reese (mysteries). He is 'responsible' for the destruction of a hospital, had a run in with a psycho, and is likely really put off by all that.

He knows the answer to the greatest riddle of them all "Who is Batman" and I think he looks the part...

Likely wrong, but yeah lol. If they do go that route he has certainly been set up for it.

Major Problem said...

Who the hell is Mr. Reese?

Luke said...

I doubt Reese (or the bankteller, or one of the cops, or any other character from TDK) will become the villain of the next film. Although I agree that the Riddler would be one of the best choices.
Chris Nolan's already said he never plans on using The Penguin or Catwoman, and that only leaves so many recognizable-by-the-masses Batman villains. The Riddler fits the bill plus he'd be easy to fit into the realistic Gotham City that Nolan has built.

I wouldn't get too excited about any of this though. Nolan's next film is Inception, not Batman 3, so we probably won't be hearing any official news on this for another year or two.

Anonymous said...

The Riddler is most deffinately the answer.

Kevin Bruehl said...

Of importance of villains, the Riddler is next in the film series unless they should bring Two-Face back. David Hyde Pierce is the best Riddler, no one else can be as quirky or have his eccentric behavior. Nolan, choose David Hyde Pierce, because he's the best one to pull it off convincingly.

Anonymous said...

Remember the line in TDK when Bruce asks, "How will it hold up against dogs?" and Fox says, "It should to fine against cats?"

Doesn't that seem to foreshadow catwoman as the next villian? If not, why put that line in the movie?

MissMegs said...

David Tennant has been lobbying hard for the chance to play the Riddler. It's his dream role.

Anonymous said...

Nolan said he didn't want to have Penguin because he isnt "real" enough. Nolan is a FUCKING IDIOT.

Penguin is a mob boss. Thats it.

Nomanisan said...

Anyone saying Nolan is an idiot, is an idiot.

Dave said...

Rumors abound, but I'd love to see Tennent (as opposed to the other rumored Riddler Depp) take on the role as the Riddler. He'd be absolutely fantastic.

E.nigma said...

The Riddler is Joker-lite.

Geekhunter 1388 said...

Jonathan Nolan, who wrote the best example of the Joker would disagree with you.

I'll go with his opinion, not yours.

Anonymous said...

Nomanisan,

Actually prove me wrong in my point, you jackass. Don't just mindlessly defend Nolan because he made good Batman flicks.

He said Penguin isnt realistic. Back up this assessment.

Rodan Rodan said...

Who's the guy in the pic?

Hostile17 said...

@Rodan Rodan - I believe that is screewriter Jonathan Nolan, who SHOULD be writing the next Bat-film.

Hostile17 said...

Personally I'd like to see Mr.Freeze done right...classic villian deserves a second chance becuase Arnold is def no Mr. Freeze. It would be really awesome to see a Bat-Villian that hasn't been done before, though...maybe Black Mask, Clayface or the Ventriloquist. How about Hugo Strange? Maybe use Matt Wagner's recent mini as a basis for the story...Batman's first encounter with Super-powered enemies?

Earnie Culpepper said...

While I love the "Batman: The Animated Series" version of Mr. Freeze, he doesn't work in Nolan's world. At least, the one he's created for Batman. We'll have to wait for a more fantastic representation by another director. If Nolan were to have a guy freezing Gotham I think most people would think he Nuked the Fridge. So Freeze will have to wait.

Mistah Freeze said...

Chill out, dickwad.

swatsi said...

Hostilities on this blog are increasing..

I would like to see Riddler.

But I wouldn't mind Catwoman or a new version of Penguin or an new intepretation of Mr Freeze.

It may even be best to choose a lesser known villain.

It'd kinda be a shame we're not going to get a little more of Two-face.

I'd imagine they'd follow suit and have maybe two villians, like Joker\Two-face & Scarecrow\Ras Al Ghul ????

Harvey Two Face said...

I agree Two-Face needs to return. I never bought that he died at the end of DK. Something just seemed amiss and with Batman on the lam it's pretty obvious Gordon and him are covering up Dent's "faked" death and Two Face is alive in Arkham. There's no way he's dead after just transforming into Two Face. Aaron Eckhart gave an amazing performance. Nolan would be a fool not to bring him back and resolve the DK storyline with Two Face/Harvey Dent.

Major Problem said...

Two Face is dead.

Dead.

DEAD.

Get over it.

Anonymous said...

Paul Bettany as the Riddler. In my dream world, anyway.

Bruce Wayne said...

I believe in Harvey Dent.

Anonymous said...

I would love to see Depp in the Green Jacket, but I guess we'll see if it happens.

Anonymous said...

Depp would be the obvious predictable choice if this were Burton's Batman. Nolan likes to cast against type. It won't be Depp.

MissMegs said...

While I agree with the above that I would prefer not to see Depp as the Riddler & don't think Nolan will cast him, I'm not so sure about Nolan preferring to "cast against type". Cristian Bale is pretty commonly a darkly tragic hero, as is Michael Cane the wise mentor who commonly gets the 'I told you so'.

I'm still holding my breath for a Tennant Riddler. Mmmmmm...David Tennant Nerd Crush.

Batman said...

I hate the riddler!

Anonymous said...

I'm curios who do you think would play the Joker? Jim Carrey is my guess.

Anonymous said...

I would really care about this question -- if I were still 10 effing years old!

Luke said...

I think Swatsi's right, Nolan's Batman films have featured multiple villains so far, so I excpect this trend would continue in a third film. I could see us getting a recognizable villain such as The Riddler and then maybe one or two somewhat-lesser knowns like Black Mask or Deadshot.

I also agree that Nolan likes to go for less obvious casting choices. While Bale may be well known today for playing tragic heroes, that wasn't the case when he got the part. At that point his best known roles (as an adult) were villains (American Psycho, Shaft). In any event, he was a major departure from the A-List stars who mad most recently played the part.

Heath Ledger was definitely cast against type as the Joker, Gary Oldman was originally going to be cast as a mob boss (Falcone?) but Nolan thought it'd be interesting to see him play a hero for once. Likewise Nolan has also said that he specifically cast Liam Neeson against type because he felt the audience wouldn't suspect him as being a villain. Of course some of the actors, like Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman play their usual sort of roles, but I think as far as the leads in the series go, Nolan has demonstrated that he likes to look past the obvious choices.

If The Riddler is a villain in the next film my top choices would be:
1) David Strathairn
2) Ralph Fiennes
3) Paul Bettany

Tinman said...

Just thought I'd put my two cents on the status of Batman 3...

Rumors abound that Christopher Nolan will not be taking the helm of Batman 3. These rumors are shed only because of what Christopher Nolan has said in interviews and such, and it is speculated by the public that he will not return to Batman because he was so distraught by the death of Ledger, not only because it was a personal loss, but the Joker WAS going to be the villain in the next film. The other evidence that gives us clues as to why he may not be returning is because it is known that Warner Bros. has backup directors in mind, like Zack Snyder for instance. Nolan is also working on another film called "Inception", which was rumored to affect production on Batman 3.

Yes, the death of Ledger did "rock (Nolan) hard", and he was convinced at the time that he would never return to the franchise. It is unknown if he still feels that way, but currently, Chris is working with brother Jonathan and David S. Goyer
for the story of Batman 3. Yes, it's true that Warner Bros has backups should Nolan terminate his role, but as of right now they do expect him to return. In February, it was reported that the WGA has only Christopher attached to the film. And for the record, reps of Zack Snyder have said that he isn't interested.

As for who the villain will be, it's either much too early to tell or rumors could re-abound very soon, as soon as the story is decided upon and it's time to write the screenplay. On the negative side, we won't be seeing the film actually hit theaters until 2012 at the earliest, 2013 at the latest. Fingers are pointing at the Riddler (to be honest, what Honor said about Jonathan favoring the Riddler was the first time I ever heard that), but as for who will be playing him, you can say who you'd like to wear the green suit, but any rumors involving casting (yes, this includes the Cher-Catwoman theory) is almost entirely fan-based speculation. Sure, 'higher-up
people have teased about it, but I personally believe it's nothing to be taken very seriously.

But I digress, it seems at this point highly likely that Nolan will return to direct, and so-probable-it's-almost-definite that he'll write the screenplay.

Anonymous said...

Nolan has said that those third movies in trilogies seem to be the weakest of the group. However, there is a third movie lying there, waiting to be made to finish Nolan's take on Batman and his mythology. With Ledger's death, it's assumed that the Joker won't return, but stranger things have happened. Frankly, Daniel Day Lewis would make a great Joker....or any other villian. So who knows? Let's just hope Nolan decides to go for it and give it his best shot. It can't be any worse than Spiderman 3.