DC Cinematic Universe Experiment - Phase I

[Ayen]

I've always been fascinated by the cinematic universe Marvel created and thought it would be fun to do a similar experiment with DC. I know WB is kind of trying to do something similar to Marvel, although I personally think they're doing a crap job of it so far. Now I admit I'm not the biggest DC fan and I'm more familiar with Marvel, but I still love a lot of the DC Universe so I've been thinking about this for a while. Sorry if this should go in Timber Maniacs, feel free to move it if it does. Only reason I didn't post there is because this doesn't fit any of the prefix and the board won't let you make a thread without one.

DC Cinematic Universe Phase I

Let's pretend we live in an alternate universe where it has been 5 - 7 years since The Dark Knight Rises and for some reason Warner Bros. and DC have appointed me to head their DC Cinematic Universe. Why not? It won't be easy, and if we only have two films per year it'd take a while, but this is pretty much my outline for phase I.

1. Superman

What I'd do differently is base this Superman off of John Byrne's version for two reasons. Reason one: John does a good job of nerfing Superman's abilities and explaining a lot of problems people tend to have with Superman. Like having him use his superspeed to blur his face up when people try to take snapshots of him and his invulnerability being explained as an invincible barrier that strong enough foes could penetrate. He also had to hold his breath when flying out in space. Kryptonite is also rare in Byrne's version so it wouldn't be used as such a shameless plot device like it was in Smallville. He also really hammers in the last survivor of Krypton bit as neither Supergirl nor Zod ever make an appearance.

Reason two: Clark's personality in the Byrne's version is slightly different than what people are familiar with. He's more competitive and has no real tides to Krytpon. He considers himself more of a citizen of Earth than he does his home planet. It'd provide at least some new material when explaining his origin story since to my knowledge a lot of people are not familiar with the Byrne's version. As for choice of villains I'd make it be Metallo. He's strong enough to where he could match this version of Superman's strength to set up for some good fight scenes and when he needs the edge he has Kryptonite in his chest to smurf Superman up. I'd have Lex be more of a behind the scenes villain in this.

2. Batman

One thing I felt the Batman movies never quite got down was Bruce as the world's greatest detective. This was something we got in the cartoon show, but in the movies he'd usually just beat people up, use his gadgets, and occasionally be scary as hell, sneak about and solve riddles. I'd want to show more of his detective side to make this stand out from the other live action Batman movies. It's said the greatest Batman stories are mysteries, so I'd want to do something to the effect of Under the Red Hood and Mask of the Phantom. A villain where you don't know who the person under the hood is. I'm not sure who I'd have as the villain here, but already I'm leaning towards the Red Hood since a lot of people have taken on that mantle so there'd be some doubt with who it is. Though at the same time I really do like the idea of the Phantom character being used in a live action film.

3. Wonder Woman

Don't tell me this can't be made. I see plenty of fans male and female alike state they'd love to see a Wonder Woman movie. If they can turn Thor into a mainstream name then the same can be done with Wonder Woman if done right. I think the most obvious way to do it is to have it take place on the Amazon island of Themyscira and play up the Greek mytho. I think Circe could work as a villain. I remember her from DC Universe Online and she seemed pretty cool.

4. Aquaman

This is a hero that has a lot of baggage because people don't take him seriously. So we make them take him seriously. Put him in the New 52 suit, give him the Trident and have him smurf trout up by manipulating the ocean. Have the movie primarily take place in Atlantis and have the villain be Orm Marius. I'm a little hesitant to do this because it may be seen as Thor under the sea for general movie audiences but it's either him or Black Manta.

5. The Green Lantern

Yeah, I know. The last movie bombed. I think the main reasons for that was their stupid decision to have most of the movie take place on Earth and use a Green Lantern villain that shouldn't have been introduced so early. I guess you can argue Ryan Reynolds might not have been right for the role either, I can't really say. So I'd flip it. I'd have the movie be out in space with the Latern Corps as it should have been with Sinestro as the main villain.

6. Flash

This is probably the most difficult since Flash also fights in Metroplis, so he doesn't have his own unique location or anything, and his main super power is speed. We'd have to be pretty clever with our choices of special effects to avoid making people nauseous just watching a Flash movie. I'm also not sure how much of a presence his rogue gallery of villains has, but you know what? Smurf it. Time to embrace the absurdity. I'd just have the villain be Gorilla Grodd and make it Rise of the Planet of the Apes with Flash running around punching talking gorillas in the face.

I'd tie all the movies together by having Martian Manhunter in his usual observer role watching the heroes of Earth, kind of like Nick Fury in Marvel, and being the one to bring them together to take on a much bigger threat. This of course leads us to...

7. The Justice League

Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Green Lantern and Flash all in a movie with Martian Manhunter. I think my brain blew up. Villain? I can only think of one big enough to force all these guys together. Brainiac. And when I say Brainiac I mean the one from DC Universe Online so he can cause some serious trout on our heroes. Either that or Darkseid, but I feel it's too early to go Darkseid. Brainiac is a big enough villain on his own and can provide plenty of fodder for our heroes to fight.

Annnnnnd that's the end of phase I. Questions? Comments? I of course have no idea how successful any of this would be, and if I'm perfectly honest I think DC does better with individual stories than when they try to hold a stable continuity, but this was fun to make nonetheless

[blackmage_nuke]

Ive only seen the movies so forgive me if Im making any comic book blasphemies

I think the problem with DC heroes all we see is their superhero personas. Theres not enough unique characteristics in thier actual personalities that carry over between hero and person. Yes they have unique back stories but that hasnt lead to them becoming interesting people, just interesting heroes.

Whereas in the marvel universe you have smartass Tony, patriotic Steve, straight to business Hawkeye, Calm collected Bruce, thoughtjacker Romanov and Thor which I cant think of a one word personality trait for right now but 5/6 is good.

[Depression Moon]

Flash does have his own city that he protects. It's called Star City. I've never known him to patrol Metropolis. I think Superman shouldn't be the sole survivor of Krypton. To me, it just seems a bit weird that out of billions of people on that planet only a baby made it out. The amount of survivors should be incredibly small, but I'd like for a few other Kryptonians as well.

I really like the idea of exploring Batman's detective side as that hasn't been shown once in a live action film yet.
For your Green Lantern and flash, which version of these characters are you going with?

[Ayen]

Ive only seen the movies so forgive me if Im making any comic book blasphemies

I think the problem with DC heroes all we see is their superhero personas. Theres not enough unique characteristics in thier actual personalities that carry over between hero and person. Yes they have unique back stories but that hasnt lead to them becoming interesting people, just interesting heroes.

Whereas in the marvel universe you have smartass Tony, patriotic Steve, straight to business Hawkeye, Calm collected Bruce, thoughtjacker Romanov and Thor which I cant think of a one word personality trait for right now but 5/6 is good.

Yeah, outside of Batman they do rely on the superhero persona too much. The thing with Superman is Clark is supposed to be the guy you relate to, Superman is the guy you inspire to be. The interesting dynamite (at least in my opinion) is that they're one in the same.

Flash does have his own city that he protects. It's called Star City. I've never known him to patrol Metropolis. I think Superman shouldn't be the sole survivor of Krypton. To me, it just seems a bit weird that out of billions of people on that planet only a baby made it out. The amount of survivors should be incredibly small, but I'd like for a few other Kryptonians as well.

I really like the idea of exploring Batman's detective side as that hasn't been shown once in a live action film yet.
For your Green Lantern and flash, which version of these characters are you going with?

Did you mean Keystone City, by chance? Because when I look up Star City all I see is it being in affiliation with Green Arrow. They use to have Flash in Metropolis so many times in cartoons and video games I wrongly thought that was his home, too. My bad.

I was leaning towards John Stewart for Green Lantern and Barry Allen for Flash.

And I plan to break that Byrne's rule. That was kind of a dumb move on his part when I got to thinking about it more. Besides, I just thought up a wonderful long-term plan for Supergirl.

[Botchmun]

Flash is Central City, the problem with Flash is there are no actors capable of playing him in a live-action role. That and he's actually one of the most powerful characters in the whole DC universe thanks to some writers really exploring the extent of his Speed Force stuff.

Aquaman's biggest overlooked power is his Telepathy; Yes he can talk to the fishies and tell them what to do and all. He does this to people too, in fact one of the bigger cop-outs people could bring us is that Aquaman can very easily get out of any situation via professor X-ing them into a coma then punching them with his super-strength.

Also the big trick with Superman isn't necessarily to nerf his powers but to put faith into the character's ability to draw audiences. He's iconic even now, and I think adding a lot of unnecessary religious imagery (Superpope jokes aside) and baggage can detract from his story as an outsider, a god among mortals trying to protect them while adhering to a moral code that they'd find acceptable.

that's my two cents at least.

[Depression Moon]

Shoot Central City is what I meant, but Keystone is what ended up coming out.

[Mercen-X]

My Reaction to OP

Metallo. I'd have Lex be more of a behind the scenes villain in this.

I think it would be interesting to see the process through which Metallo is created to battle Superman. I think maybe he should just be a typical battle drone created by Luthorcorp, powered by Kryptonite, and he would then be programmed with a false biography, giving him not only the mandated directive of destroying superman, but a near-sympathetic all-consuming urge to cause him anguish.

2. Batman

Under the Red Hood and Mask of the Phantom. A villain where you don't know who the person under the hood is.

Phantasm... Phantom makes me think of the Opera or that guy in purple spandex. I think maybe the first Red Hood should be the first Red Hood: Joker. This would enable his establishment as a recurring villain if perhaps only in the form Al-ghul assumed in Dark Knight Rises (which was incredibly lame but would make a hell of a lot more sense for the Joker), imagine Bruce coming face to face with a situation where he is so greatly tempted to murder his enemy rather than leaving them for the police and having the Joker's voice inside his head laughing until you hear Bruce laughing just like him. Another possible choice is the Batwoman. Darker and edgier could make her a murderous version of Batman.

4. Aquaman

Black Manta.

I'm not fond of the other Aqua-villains, though that's mostly because I've never liked their designs. They've always looked ridiculously stupid. Black Manta as a villain, I, a jaded fan of Young Justice, would hope this would lead to the introduction of Kaldur'ahm, (and Garth and Tula) if perhaps just in mentioning.

5. The Green Lantern

I'd flip it. I'd have the movie be out in space with the Lantern Corps as it should have been with Sinestro as the main villain.

I've always like Nathan Fillion as the voice of Hal Jordon. I don't think he's too old to play him either. He may have to trim up a bit but it's not as if he'd have to do any strenuous stunts. GL isn't an acrobat, he flies.

6. Flash

I'd just have the villain be Gorilla Grodd and make it Rise of the Planet of the Apes with Flash running around punching talking gorillas in the face.

While they've rarely done Mirror Master correctly, I've always liked him when they have. I feel that of all of Flash's Rogues Gallery, Mirror Master is one of his greatest foes, followed by Reverse Flash/Zoom and perhaps Captain Cold (when he can aim).

Anyway, so I get that this is all about Phase 1 and that may be because it is more difficult to imagine how you would go about getting the project off the ground, but I want to mention the foes I would use for Phase 2.

For Superman, just like in Man of Steel, I would use Zod. I don't think I would use his army... just Zod. His plot would be to try to restore his fellow Kryptonians banished to the Phantom Zone. The reason I'd hold off on introducing the mighty Kryptonian army is because I'd want to use them as the enemy force the team would fight in the second JL. Another option would be to use Bizarro as another of Luthor's attempts to match and destroy Superman. As such, it would probably be a better choice to continue the theme of Luthor as Superman's enemy behind-the-scenes and I could still introduce Zod and his army as the enemy force of JL. Obviously, the third movie, I would love to see Luthor whip out his massive anti-Krypton suit and go head to head with the Man of Steel. Some may say the third movie should feature Darkseid, but I'd save him for the third installment of JL.

For Batman 2 and 3, Black Mask and Hush. Two more characters whose identities he doesn't inherently know, whose crimes he has to actively investigate, and who both have wanted a place in the cinematic universe for a long time. Also, they both hate Bruce Wayne.

Second and third Wonder Woman, Ares and... I don't know, I can't find another one I deem worthy. Maybe the first Wonder Woman movie could be the first Aquaman movie (a la the upcoming Batman/Superman). So Wonder Woman would first face off against Aquaman. Aquaman would later face off against Neptune or Ocean Master.

Green Lantern provides another, more epic opportunity for JL3. That being Blackest Night. As for GL 2 and 3, I would say Atrocitus and obviously Parallax.

As a villain for Flash in the second movie (if having gone the way of Mirror Master in the first), Gorilla Grodd, followed by Professor Zoom in the third.

Yeah, I skimped on providing some reasoning and plot and such but it's late here and I'm lazy.

[Ayen]

I was actually just coming here to talk about my Phase II ideas. I like a lot of the things you came up with, Mercen-X. I'd probably go with a lot of that if I was in a position to actually make these movies happen. That said I may as well write down the ideas spinning in my head or they'll never leave me alone.

DC Cinematic Universe Phase II

My endgame for Phase II is a Darkseid encounter in the next Justice League movie. This would probably go under a lot of criticism because Darkseid is a big villain and would probably be best left for the third Justice League movie if you were going for a trilogy. However if you knew the evil things in my mind for Phase III you would want me to use Darkseid now.

Superman 2

The first thing I would do is break Byrne's "Last Survivor" rule and introduce Supergirl. This version of Supergirl would be based more off the New 52, with one obvious costume design flaw I would have to rectify before she even appears on screen. I think I would cast Chloe Moretz for the role too since she seems the perfect fit for this version of the character. The hair, the aggression and the actress proved she can do plenty of different ranges in various movies so I think the mantle would be safe in her hands. May have to suffer through a couple of Hit-Girl jokes, but it'd be worth it. Now my bias towards Supergirl is clear because I haven't thought about actors for any of the other heroes and villains. I have no idea who'd be good for any of them. I'd hire people who know what they'll doing to take care of most of that.

Supergirl would also be introduced in the same manner as she was in the New 52. Realizing she is no longer on Krytpon she's consumed by rage and starts taking it out on anything that stands in her way. This leads to a confrontation with Superman who tries to talk sense to her. Since Darkseid is the endgame I would introduce the Intergang group with Bruno Mannheim using Apokolips' technology whipping Superman and Supergirl forcing the two to have to come to terms quicker if they want to stand a chance. Meanwhile I see Lex having a dick measuring contest with Bruno since Lex has it in his mind that he will be the folly of Superman and is eventually the one who sabotage Intergang allowing Superman and Supergirl to pick off the rest and run off with some of their technology to study for himself. Lex Luthor with Apokolips technology. I think I just felt a cold chill run up my spine. Do not despair! Because Superman also gets his hand on some of this alien technology and sends it to the only person on Earth he knows can learn more about it.

Batman.

Batman 2

Alfred informs Batman that he has a package from Superman and immediately begins researching the tech Superman acquired. Ever since the Justice League Bruce has kept an ear on global events so he already knows about the incident in Metroplis from the last movie. Oh, you're probably wondering who I chose for the Red Hood. The Joker is the obvious choice. That's why The Joker is not my choice. I love Joker as a villain, don't get me wrong, but I feel his story and relationship with Batman has been told so many times with Tim Burton, Chris Nolan, the cartoon, the animated films, comics and the Arkham series, and told so well that I don't think it needs to come to life in another movie. I swerved it and made The Red Hood Slate Wilson who becomes Deathstroke (part of his mask gets dirty after his beating in the last film inspiring the Deatkstroke persona). Deathstroke was hired to infiltrate Gotham and eliminate Batman, by whom remains to be seen. But the employer have sent another to eliminate Batman before making his move.

Dun! Dun! Dunnnnnn!

Since I didn't choose Phantasm (so sorry for botching the spelling, it's been forever since I watched the movie) in the last one I decided to go with them in this movie. The Phantasm has no love lost for criminals either and is just as hard on them as Batman is (with the notable difference that the Phantasm will kill them without a moment's hesitation) whereas Batman has that no kill rule thing going on. As a bit of a departure from the original Phantasm that for the most part didn't talk, I see the few times the Phantasm does talk being to mess with Bruce psychology. Pointing out the logical flaws in his moral code and how he has just as much to do with the state of Gotham as the criminals he refuses to put out of their misery. The whole reason Bruce Wayne is Batman (apart from his parents) is because of injustice and corruption in the police force, and then he leaves the same criminals he hunts in the hands of those same people? Obviously the Phantasm wouldn't monologue so you'd have to be careful how you'd go about their dialog because too much talking ruins the character in my mind.

To make matters worse, thanks to Intergang Apokolips technology is now available on the Black Market. And the worst possible place for it to move to would be Gotham and in the hands of so many different criminals. This would allow me to at least list several members of Batman rogue gallery by name, anyone who would be interested in getting their hands on the technology. So, alien technology is being passed through the hands of criminals, some unknown enemy is trying to kill him through the Phantasm and Deathstroke is still at large because of Batman trusting his fate to the police and judicial system making Phantasm's criticism sound. Eventually before the film ends Batman is going to pass what he knows to Green Lantern allowing for me to move on to the next film.

3. Green Lantern 2

Green Lantern, with the Lantern Corps and the assistance of Martian Manhunter, finds Apokolips and begin investigating the planet. I feel that Darkseid needs at least one movie to have time to build as a character and villain before the next Justice League movie, so Green Lantern will allow me to do this since they're primarily the space crew anyway. This will probably piss off a lot of Green Lantern fans as the movie might feel like filler, but come on, guys. It's Apokolips. It's Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter versus freaking DARKSEID! Nobody thinks that's cool? *ducks under sharp objects* I guess not.

Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter (and whatever remains of the Lanterns that came with them) manages to escape Apokolips by the... I forget how the saying goes, but they are NOT in good shape. Darkseid allows to let them go to spread the word of his coming, blah blah blah. Darkseid gives the order to his commanders to prepare. They are heading for Earth.

4. Wonder Woman 2

Okay, so, by the end of Justice League Diana opts to remain in America as a representative for Themyscira operating in Washington allowing for all the political stuff that was explored in the comics to happen. Tension is high from Brainiac's invasion, the appearance of alien tech and the island in the middle of nowhere with Amazons and magic doesn't exactly give them warn fuzzy feelings. Diana is there to ensure them that Themyscira is not a threat. Unfortunately for her there's a certain god hell bent on becoming relevant to today's society again. Ares. I don't know how Wonder Woman comics portrays Ares, but I see him relishing in all the new found ways the world has to wage war with each other. With the threat of aliens and dark magic, Ares offers several world leaders guaranteed victories in battle against their enemies in return for praise, ushering in a return of people worshiping the god of war making him stronger and causing them to attack Themyscira as their first conquest. So... Yeah. Welcome to America, Diana!

5. Aquaman 2

After the war with his brother was won, the man who would become Black Manta would seek vengeance on the emotionless sea and its king, Aquaman, having been caught up in the crossfire of the war between brothers. I would have him lead his masked army and become the force to be reckon with that he was in the comics and give Aquaman a hard time. I haven't decided to what extent Black Manta got caught up in during the previous conflict, either being injured to a point where his suit is the only way for him to live or his home being destroyed through collateral damage, either way Aquaman would feel responsible and you can take it from there.

6. Flash 2

Poor guy, he always seems to be last on these. Anyway, I decided on Professor Zoom for the second installment, but haven't ruled out Mirror Master. I mentally kick myself for not looking up Flash enemies before as I'm sure I would have used Mirror Master in the first movie, but I'm also liking the idea of leaving him as the big villain to wrap up the Flash trilogy. Professor Zoom would adopt his Reverse Flash persona and frame Flash for several crimes around Central City turning people against him (I guess the citizens are just going to forget about his helping hand in the Justice League, did this turn into the Marvel Universe?) since the world doesn't know many people who can move at that speed other than Superman. AND NO ONE WOULD THINK SUPERMAN WOULD DO ANYTHING BAD! Poor Flash. Anyway, Flash would investigate, fight Professor Zoom and clear his good name that never should have been put into question in the first place. Stupid people. MURICA!

7. The Justice League 2

This time the Justice League will be joined by Supergirl and the introduction of the Green Arrow! I wanted to include Green Arrow in one of the build up movies, but I had no idea where to put him, so he gets his introduction here. Darkseid has come to Earth and declares himself Supreme Overload or whatever the smurf. His disciple Bruno Mannheim and Ra's al Ghul. DUN! DUN! DUNNNNNNNNNNN! Darkseid has manipulated the League of Shadows and is the tie in to Ra's immortality in this universe, making them believe that Darkseid will bring in a new age void of crime. It becomes more apparent that they have been brainwashed. The League of Shadows has been making moves for Gotham for some time and will be revealed as the ones who sent Deathstroke and the Phantasm after him. It's Justice League versus Darkseid and his disciples! Many people on Earth would be revealed to have already been brainwashed through earlier inflitration of Earth turning against the Justice League during the encounter. Hrm, maybe that's why the people of Central City was so willing to believe Flash has turned.

As you can see I took several creative liberties this time around. I can only assume that I was fired and someone else was hired to take my place.

[Botchmun]

Flash can get away with "Spiderman Syndrome" and have multiple villains in one of his movies, Captains Boomerang and Cold plus Mirror Master would make for a great trio. Dedicate a good chunk of screen time to the three of them working off each others in comedic situations as well as showing Flash being a smartass capable of running circles around them.

[Ayen]

More like "Batman Syndrome" since Spider-Man only had two movies where he had more than one villain. But yeah, I almost forgot comic book heroes used to have more than one villain at times.

[Mercen-X]

Looking back at the suggestion of Martian Manhunter forming the Justice League, I think Green Lantern would make more sense. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Martian Manhunter are all solo players and are usually hesitant to be part of a team effort. While the same could be said of Flash and Green Lantern, I feel that Flash would be happy to throw in with a larger group. Meanwhile, GL is responsible for an entire sector, Earth being less than a blip on the interstellar charts. Makes sense he would assemble the Earth's mightiest defenders to protect the world when he's off throwing down against the likes of Parallax or the Qwardians.

[sharkythesharkdogg]

This is a fun idea.

I'd like to see your Phase II ideas for Aquaman, Wonderwoman, and Flash tie into the JL phase II story arch a little more.

It seems Wonderwoman is probably doing an okay job of that. Just the idea of Ares with the Bloodaxe eventually bumping heads against Darkseid might be interesting.

[Ayen]

Looking back at the suggestion of Martian Manhunter forming the Justice League, I think Green Lantern would make more sense. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Martian Manhunter are all solo players and are usually hesitant to be part of a team effort. While the same could be said of Flash and Green Lantern, I feel that Flash would be happy to throw in with a larger group. Meanwhile, GL is responsible for an entire sector, Earth being less than a blip on the interstellar charts. Makes sense he would assemble the Earth's mightiest defenders to protect the world when he's off throwing down against the likes of Parallax or the Qwardians.

Yeah, probably. Only reason I thought of Martian Manhunter was because of his role as an observer.

This is a fun idea.

I'd like to see your Phase II ideas for Aquaman, Wonderwoman, and Flash tie into the JL phase II story arch a little more.

It seems Wonderwoman is probably doing an okay job of that. Just the idea of Ares with the Bloodaxe eventually bumping heads against Darkseid might be interesting.

I need to flesh those out, just not sure how I would with Aquaman and Flash yet. It's a bit more difficult tying in six movies together instead of four like how Marvel is doing.

[Mercen-X]

Realistically, the actual films would be narrowed down to bear essentials just like the Marvel version. Superman and Batman are the musts just like Iron Man and Captain America. Green Lantern (except in my version where he is the JL's founder) would be like Thor, not essential, but hard to work around. The Avengers added Hulk to its roster despite the fact he normally would not have become a member until much later. JL could theoretically do the same so as to make it easier to film a fourth movie minus the difficulty of creating a story for Flash, Aquaman, or Wonder Woman. Characters they could opt for include Hawkman, whose story seems to be an interstellar genderbend of Wonder Woman (too lazy to analyze), Red Tornado, the first machine superhero, Zatanna, bringing magic into the mix, or possibly even Booster Gold (just for the lols). Combining the magic with the gold, they could make a Doctor Fate movie. I don't know who Doctor Fate's enemies are, but I imagine Klarion or Morgan LeFay could match spells with him. Then again, perhaps Doctor Fate is simply the unifying force which brings the Justice League together.

[Mercen-X]

I wasn't sure this warranted its own thread, so I'm highjacking this one.

I like many of the suggested actors on this list though there some names I don't recognize such as Suchet and Pompeo. Bill Nighy may be a bit old for Freeze, maybe the Ventriloquist. I would switch Alessandro Nivola for Crispin Clover whom I think does creepy better than darkly funny. I haven't seen JD in much other than Burn Notice so I can't really speak on how he'd perform as a villain, though Burn Notice does delve into territory similar to Leverage wherein the characters must act in some cases as villains, but I don't know how much one can learn of an actor's potential from such situations. I also like Julian McMahon, but I found his last two portrayals of the villain Doctor Doom to be torturously stiff. Jules is more a casual actor. His take on "the Source" in Charmed worked much better than his rendition of Doom (probably because it was a television series).

I don't know what to say on the matter of Martin Short as Mad Hatter, Robin Wiliams as the Ventriloquist, or Kate Beckinsale as Catwoman, but as for Batista... well, it's actually a fairly obvious match, but unfortunately unlikely as of his recent casting as Drax the Destroyer. Typically, those from sports entertainment don't tend take on multiple roles of any actual importance. So far, Dwayne Johnson is the only exception and despite not having an accent, there's a greater chance we'd see him cast as the steroidal Bane of humanity.

As to Jaime Pressly as Harley Quinn... I guess I can see that. I'm not sure how much I like her beyond My Name Is Earl though.

Two-Face, Joker, Catwoman, and Bane have already been featured in Nolan's trilogy, so I see no harm in mentioning a choice for Scarecrow here. I think either Nicholas Hoult, Andrew Garfield, or Dane Dehaan could make decent replacements for Cillian Murphy.