The Dark Knight Sequel - SPOILERS

[Bunny]

After the great success of The Dark Knight, Nolan has decided to make a second sequel to the Batman Begins saga. Both Johnny Depp and Phillip Seymour Hoffman are the possible villans for the third installment.

That was taken from Christopher Nolan's Wikipedia page in the section titled "King of Gotham". I'm a fan of both Depp and Hoffman, so I'm interested to see where these rumors will go. Granted, it's Wikipedia and cannot always be trusted, but I think the combination of Depp, Hoffman, Bale and Nolan would make for a pretty fantastic movie.

[The Fat Bioware Nerd]

No I was there, I was just not caring about what you meant. Catwoman is the next villan, I solved the mystery with a clever jab at the lameness of batman returns. This thread can be closed now.

I'm just saying if Katie Holmes can be replaced then Heath Ledger can be replaced that's all I'm saying.

Also Catwoman isn't a credible threat to Gotham the way Ra's Al Ghul and The Joker are.

[Bunny]

I'm just saying if Katie Holmes can be replaced then Heath Ledger can be replaced that's all I'm saying.

You're forgetting the part where Holmes is a horrible actor and Ledger was not.

[bipper]

No I was there, I was just not caring about what you meant. Catwoman is the next villan, I solved the mystery with a clever jab at the lameness of batman returns. This thread can be closed now.

I'm just saying if Katie Holmes can be replaced then Heath Ledger can be replaced that's all I'm saying.

Also Catwoman isn't a credible threat to Gotham the way Ra's Al Ghul and The Joker are.

With teeth.

I clearly ignored what you said as you clearly ignored what I said. If you would have read what I said, my reasoning for not recasting was because of Heath's incredible acting. And you retort with Katie Holmes?

And Cat woman is a huge threat to gotham, as he has batman "kitty" whipped. It would also explain her vendetta against batman, their love interest, and so on. When the hell did Guy Faux, come into this movie anyways?

I'm just saying if Katie Holmes can be replaced then Heath Ledger can be replaced that's all I'm saying.

You're forgetting the part where Holmes is a horrible actor and Ledger was not.

A genius amongst ye!

and after reading:

After the great success of The Dark Knight, Nolan has decided to make a second sequel to the Batman Begins saga. Both Johnny Depp and Phillip Seymour Hoffman are the possible villans for the third installment.

That was taken from Christopher Nolan's Wikipedia page in the section titled "King of Gotham". I'm a fan of both Depp and Hoffman, so I'm interested to see where these rumors will go. Granted, it's Wikipedia and cannot always be trusted, but I think the combination of Depp, Hoffman, Bale and Nolan would make for a pretty fantastic movie.

I am amazed. This is amazing. I would enjoy the third immensely, if this was the case.

[Slothy]

I'm just saying if Katie Holmes can be replaced then Heath Ledger can be replaced that's all I'm saying.

You're forgetting the part where Holmes is a horrible actor and Ledger was not.

Agreed. Katie Holmes just kind of got in the way with a pretty boring performance. Ledger not only gave what is, in my opinion, the definitive performance for his character, but really made the movie as good as it was because of it. If the Joker hadn't been awesome, The Dark Knight wouldn't have worked at all.

[Goldenboko]

I'm just saying if Katie Holmes can be replaced then Heath Ledger can be replaced that's all I'm saying.

You're forgetting the part where Holmes is a horrible actor and Ledger was not.

I thought she did a good job in Batman Begins tbh.

[The Fat Bioware Nerd]

Once everybody said Jack Nicholson was a great actor and nobody would be able to top his performance as The Joker and look what happened, Heath Ledger came along and he proved everybody wrong. There's another great actor out there who can play The Joker, Nolan just has to find him.

Also what is Catwoman gonna do besides steal jewels? I heard Catwoman is just a jewel thief in the comics and that's why Tim Burton changed her persona for Batman Returns. If Catwoman is gonna be in The Dark Knight sequel Chris Nolan will have to change her persona.

By the way what should they call The Dark Knight sequel? I think it should be called The Batman because the actors in Nolan's films have been using those words to describe Batman very often.

[Big D]

While it's not a particularly cool thing to say, I think the Joker could be re-cast fairly well. Ledger's face was disguised with makeup and prosthetics, and he used an unnatural voice - two factors that'd make it easier for someone else to take over the role, especially if the sequel takes place a couple of years later when he might feasibly have longer hair, or other differences in his appearance.

Anyway, leaving aside the Joker and assuming he's languishing in Arkham... in the film, he had a massive impact on the city and became known to everyone living there. You can't be that much of a celebrity without attracting fans. Harley Quinn, perhaps? Not much of a 'supervillain' on her own, but she'd work as one of several antagonists.
The Riddler strikes me as too much of a half-asses Joker, not different enough in his concept, so hopefully they'll leave him out. Same goes for villains like Poison Ivy and Doctor Freeze, who have 'actual' superpowers - the Nolan films are doing the right thing by avoiding genuinely supernatural elements like those, I think.

I've always found the Penguin uninteresting and unentertaining, plus he's just not that different from the various mob bosses who've already been seen and vanquished in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. So I guess that leaves a few options open, but the one who comes to mind the most would be Catwoman. As a thief rather than a crime lord, she'd make for a different kind of enemy compared to the earlier films, but she's still got enough of a mystique to be a strong and refreshingly ambiguous villain. As long as they completely ignore Halle Berry's film and skip the "possessed by the spirit of a cat god" thing. Now, I don't think that movie was as terrible as most people do - but I much prefer Nolan's way of grounding his characters in the real world, even the larger-than-life enemies.

[Coma]

I was discussing this with a friend. I do think that Bane would work well.

[The Fat Bioware Nerd]

Deadshot could probably work in Nolan's film because he's just a sniper and Bane could possibly be a guy who's pumped up on steroids...But Bane and Deadshot aren't enough you need one more villian.

[Coma]

I'd probably say Catwoman as a side villain/love interest. Since Poison Ivy is out of the question due to the whole superpower thing. And Penguin will not be used. Nolan said he wanted to avoid the Penguin, because all the Penguin is, is a dude with lots of money who can command birds. Not the greatest villain.

[The Fat Bioware Nerd]

I'd probably say Catwoman as a side villain/love interest. Since Poison Ivy is out of the question due to the whole superpower thing. And Penguin will not be used. Nolan said he wanted to avoid the Penguin, because all the Penguin is, is a dude with lots of money who can command birds. Not the greatest villain.

You know The Dark Knight sequel would really come full circle if (SPOILER)Harvey Dent/Two-Face came back because then Gotham PD would know that Batman is not a killer...But Two-Face is dead and people can't come back from the dead.

[Bunny]

You cannot say with 100% certainty that (SPOILER) Two-Face is dead and cannot come back in the sequel. His "death scene" was ambiguous enough to warrant a possible return, along with several people connected to The Dark Knight, including a producer and Aaron Eckhart himself, saying that he may not be dead and could possibly return for the next movie.

[The Fat Bioware Nerd]

You cannot say with 100% certainty that (SPOILER)Two-Face is dead and cannot come back in the sequel. His "death scene" was ambiguous enough to warrant a possible return, along with several people connected to The Dark Knight, including a producer and Aaron Eckhart himself, saying that he may not be dead and could possibly return for the next movie.

(SPOILER)Well if Selina Kyle could survive a seven story fall I guess Two-Face could survive a four story fall.

[Ouch!]

Ever since I heard the rumor regarding the Riddler and the Penguin as the next villains to be featured in Nolan's Batman series--played by Depp and Hoffman, no less--I've thought it's a pretty fantastic idea.

The Riddler is a villain driven primarily by an obsessive compulsion. His core defining trait is that he must leave a clue to his crime beforehand. The reason for this compulsion varies in different visions of his character from the comics, and I'm sure Nolan could find one that would be sufficient and consistent with the theme he's aiming for. As long as the Riddler maintains this compulsion, Nolan's free to make him as dark or twisted as he desires without risking damaging the character. Unlike some other Batman villains, he's fairly malleable in that regard and therefore very conducive to new media.

The Penguin, on the other hand, is a mob boss. I'd expect Nolan to stay away from the Danny DeVito characterization of the Penguin. While some people may think having the Penguin as a mere mob boss would be stale and rehashed, I think they're neglecting another important part of the Penguin's role in the comics. The Penguin, at a point, opens a lounge which is most obviously a mere front for seedier activities. However, Batman gives the lounge a grudging seal of approval. This is because the Penguin serves as an informant on occasion regarding the happenings of Gotham's underground.

Consider Batman's position at the end of the Dark Knight. He's a complete social outcast--a villain as far as most of Gotham is concerned. He can no longer rely on the police to be at his side--they're chasing him. This is the perfect time for the Penguin to show up.

The real brilliance of the combination of the Penguin and the Riddler, however, is how well they compliment one another. The Riddler is defined by an obsessive compulsion which requires him to leave various clues in the form of riddles as to what his next objective is. If Batman cannot rely on police intelligence to solve the riddles, would the Penguin not be an amazing source of information? It would certainly be a reluctant alliance--perhaps a mutually beneficial but mutually hostile symbiotic relationship. The Penguin would provide information to help Batman take down the Riddler--the likely more dangerous and more immediate threat--in exchange for Batman's acceptance of the Penguin's less-than-legal activities.

I think when people dismiss the Penguin they're too quickly dismissing him as merely a mob boss when really Nolan could focus on other aspects of his character to avoid it becoming a rehash of what Batman Begins and The Dark Knight have already exposed. Also, last I checked, the Penguin doesn't actually control birds, he just loves them. Other than that, he's a fairly normal guy (although sometimes he's shown with a sort of waddle as a result of a bad hip, which combined with his pointed nose and love for birds, explains his nickname).