The Batman (2022)

Well, there are already idiots in clown make-up running around. For all we know, it'll take a couple of big adventures till the wannabe circus act comes to the front or something.

Or maybe they're taking cues from Batman Returns by having the Penguin have circus-themed goons?

Batman has the literal best rogues gallery in comics (alongside Spider-Man and The Flash), it's absurd that they keep using and reusing the Joker when there's plenty of other interesting characters in there.

Batman has the level of rogues that he could honestly just do as MCU Spider-Man has and completely avoided using previously-used rogues and he'd probably be fine. Previously used were: Joker (twice), Ra's, Bane, Scarecrow, Two-Face (twice), Penguin, Riddler, Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy.

So a pretty solid row of villains but villains who haven't been used yet include:

• Hugo Strange
• The Court of Owls
• Professor Pyg
• Hush
• Doctor Hurt
• Mad Hatter
• Ventriloquist

Batman's rogues gallery has a lot of depth. Use it.

Like I said. I would love a movie with Hugo Strange as the main villain.

I object to a Professor Pyg movie on the grounds that it would give me nightmares.

Edited by KnownUnknown on Aug 23rd 2020 at 11:16:59 AM

Kite Man as the Big Bad when?

No love for Clayface?

I know Harley Quinn is big, but honestly they could get a lot of leverage from exploring un/derused Batman villains. This is one of the most famous comic book rogue galleries for a reason, have fun.

Clayface would need a decent amount of CG to work properly. You think he’d be the main bad guy or The Dragon for someone?

If they play up his shapeshifting powers, Clayface would make a good Dragon for a more scheming character.

The court of owl sound something better for television, given is a ancient conspiracy and whatnot, on the other hand talos could work very well as movie villian in the form of dreaded like winter soldier.

You could definitely make Clayface work as the main villain of a movie, but probably not the only villain of a movie.

Play up themes of his own loss of identity with Bruce's questioning if he's really Batman who sometimes dresses up as Bruce Wayne, or the other way around. Then for good measure emphasize how Clayface is a real physical challenge for Bruce so he has to think his way to a solution instead of just finding where Clayface is and punching him a lot.

If you got a good enough actor (or actress, really) for Clayface, it could definitely work.

Play up the tragedy of Clayface (like in his first appearance on the Animated Series) and Mr. Freeze (ditto) and there'd be a decent amount of a good actor to sink their teeth into. Hell, Ron Perlman and Michael Ansara proved that already. There's a reason the DCAU got so many big name voices.

I would love to see a really *good* version of Clayface's Shapeshifter Swan Song done in live-action/CG. Complete with the reveal that it was — yes — ACTING all along.

If we are going more into the horror-department, I would love to see Man-Bat one day.

It'd be interesting to see how Killer Croc or Solomon Grundy would be handled in the big screen.

Croc is introduced throwing a big rock at Batman from out of nowhere.

Not just any rock,a really big rock!

I don't think that they should take villains that are currently active in the DCEU.

One of the best things about Man-Bat is that most of the time he turns out to be heroic (or becomes so eventually - essentially the opposite of The Lizard), so if we got him in a film I'd prefer him to be either a Decoy Villain or even Not Evil, Just Misunderstood.

Also, the sweetest, most adorable abomination of nature that is Aaron Langstrom deserves an adaptation someday.

Edited by KnownUnknown on Aug 23rd 2020 at 1:10:56 AM

Clayface would be interesting if they continue to play up the detective aspect of Batman. He's trying to track someone who can look like anyone he wants....

> the sweetest, most adorable abomination of nature that is Aaron Langstrom deserves an adaptation someday.

First time I've heard of this kid bat,and I'm intrigued,I could see an adaption ending up on CW or a kid friendly batman cartoon

Also, it would be nice to have a villain where Bruce's victory is in getting the guy help or therapy instead of having a disposable movie villain

Aaron's great. Even if his origins are kind of fucked up. Langstrom and is entire family got turned into Man-Bats and lost control, and nobody knew about it for like years. By the time Robin found out about it and saved them, they had another kid who was born a Man-Bat and could never change back. Then he got a massive dose of Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome.

Course, he never shows up these days. But if he got into a movie and people like him, that could change. I always thought he'd make a great Young Justice character.

It be way cool if owl card really is a hint to the existence of the Court & the film nds by building them up.

Ancient conspiracy is always fun.

A Clayface-focused element movie could also borrow elements from his rather memorable showcase in The Batman in the pretty great two-parter "The Rubber Face of Comedy/The Clayface of Tragedy". While that take borrows some from the traditional Two-Face take (Bruce's old friend turned to monster) it is sufficiently different, I think, particularly if you go moreso with Basil Karlo rather than Ethan Bennett.

A later episode, "Meltdown", even had a very sweet bit where Clayface is put on trial for his crimes and Bruce essentially organizes his defense, gets him free and gives him a job as he reforms. Which is more than I can say for his success rate with Two-Face, regrettably.

A couple of thoughts:

I quite liked the trailer, even though I'm very much someone who goes for lighter and softer stories.

Although it was just a brief appearance, I quite liked Jeffrey Wright's Commissioner Gordon. It's nice to see Gordon as the Unfazed Everyman Watson to Batman's Holmes.

And I definitely liked Patterson's Batman, even though I don't really like scenes of Batman (or anyone) beating the holy hell out of criminals. I agree that he had kind of similar energy as Keaton in which Bruce seems like kind of a weird guy, but an unthreatening one, and Batman is a scary weird guy. Along these lines, the voice when he goes, "I am Vengeance" struck me as more of the Conroy approach than the exaggerated deep voice that Bale used as Batman.

Speaking of the "beating the holy hell out of criminals", I can give that a bit of a pass based on the similar logic of how prisoners are stereotypically told to beat up the toughest guy on their first day and then they'll be safe after that.

I didn't recognize Colin Farrel as Penguin. When I saw him in the trailer I was thinking Bob Hoskins in gangster mode, and then I remembered Hoskins is deceased. But that is exactly how Penguin should come across.

Re Clayface and Killer Croc, my thought (which relates to my preference for lighter and softer stories) is that similarly to King Shark, there should be a contrast between a normal (even friendly) personality and a disturbing appearance and brutality in fights. And I'd similarly be interested in using elements of Ethan Bennet and Hagen/reimagined Karlo, in which Clayface is redeemed.

But yeah, I could also easily see Clayface as being a quite frightening antagonist.