Most Likely to Succeed: Who Is the Next Batman Villain?

The big question on everybody's mind is what the Nolan brothers are going to do next with Batman. Dark Knight was an unmitigated victory, with record-setting box office sales, and fans are expecting a sequel already.

Fortunately, the screenwriters have confirmed that they are working on the next installment of Batman, and they already have an idea of who the villain will be.

So who is it?

They won't say, yet. But it's pretty obvious which classic batman villains are a plausible match and which are obvious duds. We've put together our take on the possibilities and named the most likely successor to the Joker.



The Penguin - Something about a villain that looks like a chubby, flightless bird just can't be taken seriously. Taking on animal imagery isn't new (Batman himself being the most obvious example) but penguins are better suited to the Tim Burton universe than the one created by the Nolan brothers. We think the Penguin just can't be serious enough for the Nolans, but then again, we thought the same thing about the Scarecrow before we watched Batman Begins.

Mr. Freeze - Cool name (pun intended) but just a little too fantastical for a Dark Knight sequel. The newest Batman franchise has tried to remain as close to real life as possible (disregarding the fact that Batman somehow tapped into every cell phone in Gotham simultaneously and made them all into glorified dog whistles), and Mr. Freeze and his freeze ray may just be too implausible. Creepy psychiatrist with a nerve agent that causes paranoia: believable. Lunatic with a bunch of homemade gasoline bombs: all too possible. Bald man that requires subzero temperatures to live and uses an overhauled water pistol on people: not too likely.

Clayface - This is a definite no-go for the Dark Knight sequel. Clayface is just another Sandman waiting to happen. Ugh.

Bane - After the character was metaphorically kicked in the groin by Batman & Robin, we're just not sure he can be resurrected without horrible memories of nipple suits. This is a pass.

Poison Ivy - While she could be another victim of the Batman & Robin effect, Poison Ivy certainly might have an interesting reason to be in the movie after what happened to Rachel Dawes. But we're not expecting her to pop up in the Dark Knight sequel for the same reason Mr. Freeze won't: It's not plausible enough for the gritty and realistic world that the Nolan brothers have created. Plus, The Happening kind of ruined the whole evil plant idea. R.I.P. malicious crabgrass.

And the winner is...

The Riddler - Jim Carrey's hideous orange hair and green leotard aside, the Riddler might make good fodder for a Nolan film just because the character lends itself to some good plots. Obviously, the Nolan brothers would have to ditch the goofy side of the character. Make him more sinister, and suddenly you have someone who can create a lot of mayhem that requires some good puzzle solving to beat. It doesn't have to be silly; it simply has to be diabolical. If they do to the Riddler what they did to the Joker in Dark Knight, it could be a success. Just lose the leotard, boys.

UPDATE (7/23/08): A few coworkers pointed out the obvious absence of Catwoman in my rundown of possible Dark Knight sequel villains, some even claiming that there were obvious clues in the movie that she was coming up. Frankly, after the Halle Barry fiasco, I decided to never think of Catwoman again, as did many other Batman fans. However, the argument could be made that, similar to Poison Ivy, Catwoman could move in to fill the void left by Rachel Dawes.

Nice theories, but that doesn't take into account the fact that the screenwriters recently said that the next villain will most definitely, unequivocally, absolutely not be Catwoman. You may be dissapointed, but I'm just fine with it.

You can check out Dark Knight reviews on our TopTenREVIEWS movie site.

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