The Batman: Villains We Want to See in the Sequel
As The Batman eyes half a billion dollars worldwide, it’s time to look to the future. What villains could Robert Pattinson’s sad boy Batman/Bruce Wayne face in the next film? Could Catwoman (Zoë Kravitz) come back and turn from ally to villain if The Batman is still clinging to vengeance instead of helping and rebuilding?
Director Matt Reeves has made it very clear during the press tour that he has a lot of ideas, and everything regarding the sequel is still in the planning stages. Both Reeves and producer Dylan Clark have confirmed a sequel is definitely in the cards at least. It’s just early days. For now, let’s wildly speculate! The following list contains the most likely culprits that will be in the sequel.
Will these villains terrorize Gotham?
The Penguin
The most likely villain to be hanging around Gotham is The Penguin (Colin Farrell under an excessive amount of make-up). Character actors are still weeping over this casting choice. HBO Max officially ordered a spinoff television series about The Penguin’s rise through Gotham’s criminal underworld. Reportedly, the show will begin right after the end of The Batman.
No official cast has been announced for the next movie, but let’s all assume that Farrell will endure hours in a make-up chair and prosthetics to cash that Batman check. The television series will shape how central The Penguin is in the future – will he be the main villain who Batman fights at some point? Or will he be lurking around, being shady and corrupt, popping up in every film (who knows how many movies DC will make in the R-Patz timeline)?
The Riddler
The Riddler (Paul Dano) is alive and well, making new friends at Arkham Asylum. Considering he’s the main villain of The Batman if he returns in a sequel he’ll probably be shuffled off to the side. Batman will check in with him and he’ll offer some sage villainous advice. Coincidentally, The Riddler is in the cell next to The Joker (Barry Keoghan) so when Batman visits Arkham to chat with The Joker, maybe viewers will catch a quick glance of The Riddler too.
The Joker
How many Jokers are too many Jokers? Barry Keoghan has some big shoes to fill. I, like many viewers, am a little Joker-weary. I think Keoghan is fantastic though so I’m hoping we can find a compromise. In the end scene in Arkham Asylum, when audiences catch a glimpse of The Riddler’s new smiley friend The Joker, it’s hard not to immediately jump to conclusions and start predicting the future.
However, Reeves recently told Variety that he has no idea if or when audiences will see The Joker again. He did not intend to pull a Marvel and set up The Joker as the next villain, but to emphasize that Gotham and its villains already existed before viewers met them. Reeves wanted to create an atmosphere where at any turn, “you might see a character in his origins.”
In another interview with The Cyber Nerds, Reeves confirmed a second HBO Max spinoff series. This one will be an Arkham Asylum horror show so maybe the show will be The Joker’s and The Riddler’s main playground and viewers won’t see much of them in the films.
Hush
Hush is a major villain in several Batman comic book iterations. The Hush whispers (pun intended – sorry) have quickly arisen after The Batman first premiered. Footage of Thomas Wayne’s mayoral campaign revealed that reporter Edward Elliot threatened Thomas Wayne. Elliot planned to expose Martha Wayne’s mental illness and stints in Arkham. Subsequently, Thomas Wayne accidentally had Edward Elliot killed by Carmine Falcone.
Thomas Elliot is Hush’s identity in the comic books. The same last names in the DC-verse are typically not an accident. In addition, the word “Hush” flashed across the screen during the footage. This sequence is the key rationale behind rumors of Hush being the main villain in The Batman sequel.
Court of Owls
The Court of Owls is a group that controls the underground of Gotham in the Batman comics. Some fans think this masked group will show up in the films because D.A. Gil Colson’s (Peter Sarsgaard) insistence that the corruption in Gotham goes so much deeper than Batman can even imagine might not be about Carmine Falcone, and could be alluding to the Court of Owls.
In an interview with Den of Geek, Robert Pattinson said the Court of Owls is the villainous group he is most interested in fighting as Batman. The rest of the cast jumped on him pretty quickly even when he insisted his comment is purely based on his desires and isn’t based on anything he’s been told. Suspicions have been raised.
Mr. Freeze
Mr. Freeze is a villain armed with a Freeze Ray in the comics who, thanks to a lab experiment gone wrong (where have we seen those before?), lives in a slightly ridiculous cryogenic suit. Rumors have begun circulating about a possible Mr. Freeze appearance based on a press event where Reeves said he’s drawn to writing “the grounded version of everything,” and then used the example of Mr. Freeze. This one’s pretty ground-less, but maybe Reeves ends up following his train of thought with Mr. Freeze.
Two-Face
There’s an opening in the District Attorney’s office now that former D.A. Gil Colson blew up. It might be time for Harvey Dent, aka Two-Face, to submit his resume for the role.
