Batman 3? (Dark Knight spoilers included)

I know we have two Dark Knight threads already, so I want to take a different approach. By the way, DARK KNIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!




Loved The Dark Knight, but got me thinking. How the hell do you top that? I guess my main thought is who would be the villain.

Two-Face is dead, so he's out. I think it would be unfair to have someone else play the Joker. A new actor wouldn't be able to play the part outside of Ledger's shadow, no matter how well that actor would do. I don't think audiences would buy into Scarecrow as a main villain at this point.

I'm a huge Batman fan, and most villains wouldn't fit the tone of the new movies. Riddler wouldn't seem right. Penguin would be kind of lame. Poison Ivy and Mr. Freeze aren't down-to-earth enough

The best option is having Liam Neeson return as Ra's al Ghul. He's the only villain that could be a bigger threat than The Joker. I half expected him to show up at the very end as the one that unleashed the Joker. Ra's wants Gotham to fall, and that would have set up Batman 3 perfectly. And I know he died at the end of Batman Begins, but Ra's isn't that easy to kill.

Too bad Heath Ledger's dead. I would love too see Batman vs. Joker: Round 2.

 

One thing you DON'T want to do is have too many villains. The third part of a series like this always suffers from that (just look at Spider-Man 3, or Batman Forever, which is when the first Bat franchise started to fall off the cliff).
The Penguin might work as the new mob boss in town, kind of like he is in the comics. Obviously, with the Joker captured and the mob families shattered, there's a power vacuum in Gotham. He could step in. The Riddler is another obvious choice as a follow-up to the Joker, and could be presented as a Joker knock-off struggling for respect.
Otherwise, Catwoman is an obvious choice. With Rachel dead, she becomes the new love interest and a kindred spirit for Batman/Bruce -- all while she manipulates him for her own ends.

I'd like to see a good version of Bane -- the anti-Batman Bane who pushed Batman to his limits, not the crappy, mindless, first-time-around movie version. Bane could work, too. After all the Arkham inmates escaped in Batman Begins, Batman has spent a couple years slowly hauling them all back in. Then Bane comes along and unleashes hell on Gotham again by letting them all out to test Batman. The story would follow the "Knightfall" arc.
Only problem is, you'd have to find a place in the story for the Joker. A smaller part, maybe just a few scenes, might work to keep whoever plays him out out Ledger's shadow.
And, yeah, I know what I said earlier about too many villains. But this would work because none of them would be the main threat. Bane would be the puppet master, pulling the strings. The others are just cannon fodder in their battle. Spend 30 or 40 minutes in the middle of the flick with Batman rounding up the loonies, maybe throw a few lesser-known guys in there like Mr. Zasz or The Ventriliquist, then have the big fight at the end against Bane. It could work.

Here's a decent story talking about this stuff...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25681350/

 

Bane would be AWESOME!

 

I guess another question would be if we'll see Robin show up.

 

There won't be a Robin. Pretty sure Nolan has already said the sidekick won't be in his universe. Maybe as a computer whiz or something for Bruce..

 

Killer Moth!

 

Frankly, I wish there wasn't a villian in the third film.

With the tone and direction this series has taken, I'd love to see an installement where Batman is the "villian" and the movie attempts to show Gotham trying to move on from their savior/hero. You could call it "Shadow of the Bat" of "The Fall of Batman" or something similar and I'd eat that up.

But, if you absolutely have to go the villian route, bring in Catwoman as a person who captures Batman's heart and the Riddler as someone who f*cks s*it up. I'll also note that I thought the first half of Batman Forever did a great job of introducing the character before then proceeding to blow it all to hell.

Just keep Penguin out of it. I can't see that character being done in any way but lame.

 

Didn't one of the Spidermans already do that?

I wouldn't mind if the Scarecrow was one of the main villians in the next movie, but obviously they would need something more. Bane would be perfect, but he was wasted in Batman and Robin as Poison Ivy's lackey...in the comics he's so much more than that and I think Nolan could tap into it.

 

Wait, is Two-Face really dead? I sure didn't see anybody check a pulse and Batman survived the same fall. Okay, he has the suit on, but he got up pretty much unharmed.

Sorry, not counting him out just yet.

 

They were practically having a memorial for him. I'm guessing he's dead.

 

I hope he's not a goner, but I can't see how (in this Nolan inspired universe) you could justify a "Oh, no, he's not really dead, folks" kind of turn.

That's why I doubt we'll see any more of Ra's.

I say let's bring on the Riddler folks!

 

I hope Two Face is dead. He's too much of a one-note villain.
Bane, if done well (and who could doubt this franchise at this point) would be pretty cool.