Anyone who knows me knows that I love Christopher Nolan’s take on the Batman mythology, particularly The Dark Knight. But recently, I have heard and seen some awful rumors that I am not going to give the dignity of all the different online articles that are spreading rumors about the Batman 3 (2012) movie. They are pretty outlandish if I say so myself and very speculative. I would like to say, here on this blog, that I think it is a bad idea to make the Riddler the supervillain for the third Nolan Batman movie. I think the desire to see the Riddler is driven by persons who do not want to see the Joker, but who want to see someone Joker-esque. I believe Heath Ledger’s performance speaks for itself. I like how while the first two films contain the basic same core of characters, I felt like the stories took place in two separate worlds. Batman Begins is a post-9/11/2001 drama where a society struggles against an atmosphere driven by fear. The Dark Knight took on a more religious and anthropological tone, looking into insights about humanity, about scapegoating the Other, notions of heroism, human decision making, as well as the typical political debate over law & order versus chaos and freedom. The moods of both films are dissimilar and I do not want the third one to be a continuation of the the Dark Knight, but have its own world within the Christopher Nolan Batman Universe.
The guy who did Inception and The Prestige could do some pretty subtle and twisty things with the Riddler, wouldn’t you think?
We shall have to see. I have not seen Inception yet, but The Prestige was amazing.
Unfortunately, the 60′s tv show, for all the good it did for batman, left the Riddler looking like a second rate Joker. At his best, via comics, the Riddler is a deeply complex anti-hero, a detective-mind on par with Bats, and a panache for solving things, and forcing others to do the same. he doesn’t have to be the silly laughing blunder head. He could be a cerebral dark side to batman’s light. Perhaps both solving the same mystery, but for different reasons. Still, I will have to say I agree, there are probably better villains to chose from for the third movie. The problem is, all of them were made to look silly as hell in previous movie incarnations. I bet Nolan could do an amazing mr. Freeze, though. My choice for untapped Batman villain: Solomon Grundy or Black Mask.
Yeah I think the only way it would work if Nolan somehow make a 2 hour movie about the Riddler being an additional detective/hero with Batman, then the last 30 minutes or so turns out to be a sinister “bad guy.” The Black Mask I need to read up on, but his story would be intriguing, a rival rich man since in the Nolan world, Wayne’s wealth has not been an issue yet except for Batman’s identity. Oh, I also forgot to add: No Mad Hatter either. Not acceptable.
Clayface would be fascinating but there is a risk in the storyline of having an actor turned villain, risking the serious mood of the Nolan world.
One of the things I always appreciated about batman was that he was a human man. He was from this planet. He wasn’t chosen and gifted superhuman abilities. He was just a guy with a ton of money and a vendetta for justice. Like iron man. Not like spiderman, superman, green lantern, etc (those guys are fine too, but you see what I’m saying).
This always made the idea more realistic. His rivals were usually criminally insane people, but people nonetheless. He wasn’t a superhero. He’s a hero. He’s a guy who isn’t an unstoppable force, he’s a man who struggles and aches when he has bullet wounds and car crashes. But he triumphs. Creating a super powered villain for this man to combat takes away from the real feel of this world…to me anyway.
You are right, Tusk M, a super powered villain in the Nolan trilogy would be awkward.
agreed. that is why clayface may not be the best choice for Nolan’s Batverse. Still, they may have to dabble in the super eventually, since they are planning a JLA movie with all of these same actors (Bale, Reynolds, whoever plays supes, flash, WW, etc…)
Thank-you!
I love The Dark Knight as well and hope the new movie has a new spin to it. Hopefully no riddler.