Sunday, July 20, 2008

Villain List

You can check them out by category: just the big names, the gimmick/themed bad guys, the assassins, organized crime, and the rest of the villains. Or some characters who aren't villains at all.

Or by my opinion on how likely we are to see them: the best fits, the maybes, and the no ways.

Or just a big alphabetical list:

Amanda Waller
Amygdala - Aaron Helzinger
Azrael - Jean-Paul Valley
Bane - Update on Bane here.
Batzarro
Black Mask - Roman Sionis
Blockbuster
Calculator - Noah Kuttler
Calendar Man - Julian Day
Captain Stingaree
Catman - Thomas Blake
Catwoman - Selina Kyle - Update on Catwoman here.
Cavalier
Clayface
Clock King
Cluemaster - Arthur Brown
Cornelius Stirk
Crazy Quilt
David Cain
Deacon Blackfire
Deadshot - Floyd Lawton
Deathstroke - Slade Wilson
Doctor Death
Doctor Phosphorus
Firefly - Garfield Lynns
Great White Shark
Hangman
Harley Quinn - Harleen Quinzel
Holiday
Hugo Strange
Hush
Huntress - Helena Bertinelli
KGBeast - Anatoli Knyazev
Killer Croc - Waylon Jones
Killer Moth
Lady Shiva
Ma Gunn
Mad Hatter - Jervis Tetch
Magpie
Man-Bat - Dr. Kirk Langstrom
Matches Malone
Maxie Zeus
Monarch of Menace
Monk
Mr. Freeze - Victor Fries
Mutants
Orca - Grace Balin
Outsider - Alfred Pennyworth
Penguin - Oswald Cobblepot
Penny Plunderer - Joe Coyne
Poison Ivy - Pamela Isley
Ra's al Ghul
Ratcatcher
Reaper
Red Hood
Riddler - Edward Nygma/Nigma/Nashton
Romana Vrezhenski
Rupert Thorne
Scarecrow - Jonathan Crane
Signalman
Snowman - Klaus Kristin
Solomon Grundy
Sportsman - Martin Mantle
Superman - Clark Kent
Talia al Ghul
Tally Man
Ten-Eyed Man
Trigger Twins
Tweedledee and Tweedledum
Two-Face - Harvey Dent
Ventriloquist & Scarface
Whisper A'Daire
Zsasz

I'm usually working a day or two ahead, but if there's someone you'd like to see, leave a comment and I'll get on it ASAP.

And the non-villains, alphabetically:

Ace the Bat-Hound
Aunt Harriet
Bat-Mite
Batgirl - Barbara Gordon
Batgirl II - Cassandra Cain
Harold Allnut
Huntress - Helena Bertinelli
Jason Bard
Leslie Thompkins
Mackenzie Bock
Nightwing - Dick Grayson
Oracle - Barbara Gordon
Robin I - Dick Grayson
Robin II - Jason Todd
Robin III - Tim Drake
Robin IV/Spoiler - Stephanie Brown
Robin V/Catgirl - Carrie Kelly
Sasha Bordeaux

90 comments:

Pyrrhon said...

How about this, since the master list doesn't include it: take the 52 storyline and take Ramirez from The Dark Knight (who was really just Montoya without the sexuality or alcohol) and turn her into The Question. Then, she can investigate into Batman's identity, avenge the dead cops and other victims of the Joker (presumably firemen, doctors, nurses, national guardsmen, etc.). we don't know if her mother survived the hospital evacuation; her partner and career are dead; could build off the established themes of game theory, vigilantes, libertarianism, realism, and so on.

Unknown said...

There's a Batman game coming out next year, and because all the batman games till now have had a parallel storyline will that year's movie, I guess it will be the case next year.
The game's called Batman: Arkham Asylum and the characters are: Bruce Wayne / Batman, The Joker, Commissioner James Gordon , Barbara Gordon / Oracle
Waylon Jones / Killer Croc (an enormous, reptilian creature, towering over Batman),Edward Nigma / The Riddler, Bane, Harley Quinn, Mr. Zsasz, The Penguin, Mr. Freeze, The Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, Clayface, Man-Bat, Cluemaster, Catwomam and Two-Face.
As for catwoman, I think that Jennifer Garner, Jessica Biel or Uma Thurman would also work pretty good.

Unknown said...

On the note of Holiday, how about the Hangman? Falcone's family was never mentioned, and the idea of a killer going around killing cops and lawmen in revenge for the fall of the mob would be ideal in this case, especially if all those crimes end up being blamed on Batman. Just like you said on the Holiday page, the Riddler could be introduced as a secondary villain this way. It's the idea I had for Holiday, but the Hangman fits better in this situation... In this case, though, instead of Dent being the ultimate target (since he's apparently dead), Joker would be (though of course... that wouldn't be able to happen). The nature of the killings is almost entirely suspense, as, people are dying and no-one knows how or who, only that they're connected. The icing on the cake: at the end, the Hangman sets all of Gotham on fire.

Pros: Fits in the universe, easy to implement, Hanging theme is very dark. villain is very psychological. Could be entirely suspense / from the shadows, allowing the tension to become thicker and thicker to the point of exploding, especially since it's full of plot twists...

Cons: Hanging theme might be hard to implement, especially if the crimes are pinned on the Bat. A villain who does not directly appear for the bulk of the movie runs the risk of being uninteresting. After The Joker, a straight serial killer might not cut the mustard.

Bill said...

I don't have a whole lot of villains left to get to, but Hangman's on the list. I will say that my general issue with Hangman is that I just didn't enjoy Dark Victory all that much. Hangman is a better fit for a movie format than Holiday though, just because the structure of 12 different Holidays over the course of a year doesn't fit a ~2 hour movie very well.

Unknown said...

On the topic of Clayface... how about the idea of him, instead of being literally made of clay, being a character who is famous as a master of disguise, able to "change his face as if it were clay," who is either after Batman as an assassin, or, an alternative plot I was thinking of... he is trying to con the riches out of or, for a more psychological foe, trying to outright replace (there is a Batman villain who does this, but she only appeared in one book) important people in Gotham.

Pros: Fits in the universe, another suspenseful foe, a good homage to the comics in several ways, can be used in either a psychological or truly mercenary role. Another completely enigmatic character.

Cons: The term master of disguise is barely used today without a parody behind it, and, plus the plot probably wouldn't carry for a full movie.

ChocolateMoose said...

I love and agree with your breakdown of most of the potential villains for the movie.

What about the Clock King?
I know this character was used as a villain for other comics than Batman which could be a big con.

But I was thinking you could turn the Clock King into someone who's really Obsessive Compulsive (since Batman villains tend to have a metal disorder of some sort) and always has a meticulous plan, timed right down to the second. I can't think of a decent back story but it could be a fun thing to experiment with. It'd be really intriguing to see the Clock King to fall apart by Batman putting something really simple out of place and the OCD really handicapping him. So his strength would be his weakness.

Of course I don't think this could qualify as a prime Villain, but it's just something I've been tossing around in my mind.

I wouldn't mind Harvey Bullock's story being incorporated. Start to show the cops cleaning up their act because of Gordon's leadership.

They could really do some cool stuff with Arkham Asylum.

I get the feeling the movie would be about Batman redeeming himself in the eyes of the public after the ending of the last movie.

I really just hope they make a third movie. I trust Nolan to do something amazing with it.

Ray said...

Good job you're doing here.
My favorite constellation of villains for the next movie would be Rupert Thorn and Hugo Strange in a nod-off-plot to the classic Englehart/Rogers tale. Perhaps augmented my some physical challenge like Deadshot or Amygdala and an injoke-cameo by someone like Cornelius Stirk. (BTW Thorn and Stirk are two villains you haven't covered yet, if I am not under misapprehension)
Keep up the good work

The Clark Knight said...

Just remember that Zsasz has been introduced in Batman Begins already.

Unknown said...

Since Martinez was basically a version of her that they could use as corrupt, do you think Renee Montoya would still be a probable character? Enough to merit an analysis, maybe?

On that note, if you're still doing good guys, Bullock definitely deserves a page.

Unknown said...

I think that Michael Clark Duncan would be AWESOME as Bane

The Fantastic Joe said...

Hey, just want to post and say I really am loving this blog. I really admire all the work you've put into it, and it's really fun to see your take on all of the different characters, and where they might fit in a potential third installment. That said, I have a request for you, although not a villain: Vicki Vale. Keep up the good work.

Anonymous said...

in my opinion,

bane, twoface, and scarecrow should be the main bad guys.

and maybe you can throw in deadshot.


i really liked the dead shot in Batman: Gotham Knight.
the animated one.

it was quite intense even for a 30 minute episode.

Anonymous said...

I think that the Penguin, Riddler, and Rubert Thorne should be the main villains in The Dark Knight Returns. Penguin as a freak mob boss who Batman is hunting as he is supplying money to the mob with the money that his parents had is a great idea. Thorne is a corrupt police man who appoints Riddler to hunt down Batman.
Theme is isolation and redemption!

Anonymous said...

I think that the Penguin, Riddler, and Rubert Thorne should be the main villains in The Dark Knight Returns. Penguin as a freak mob boss who Batman is hunting as he is supplying money to the mob with the money that his parents had is a great idea. Thorne is a corrupt police man who appoints Riddler to hunt down Batman.
Theme is isolation and redemption!

Anonymous said...

I think that the Penguin, Riddler, and Rubert Thorne should be the main villains in The Dark Knight Returns. Penguin as a freak mob boss who Batman is hunting as he is supplying money to the mob with the money that his parents had is a great idea. Thorne is a corrupt police man who appoints Riddler to hunt down Batman.
Theme is isolation and redemption!
Cast:
Penguin: Paul Giamatti
Phillip Seymor Hoffman
Riddler: Johnny Depp
Guy Pierce
Russel Crowe
Thorne: Bourne 3 main villain
Billy Bob Thorton

Greenlite said...

Wow u did a lot of work man, good stuff^^

In short my storyline'd be the new detective the Riddler manipulating gangs, cops, media & ppl's emotions to knock over Gordon and lead the hunt against Bat.

He also does a deal with Black Mask(the mean tiger who mauled the other gangs) which the police ignore BM's illegal activities/trades while he helps hunting down Bat.

Then have "Gilda" publicly supporting Bat & build a deep relationship with Bruce, gets murderered (so Bat might snap like Harvey), or ala "Hush". She then reveals her ID is Gilda Dent(Harvey's comic wife, can be his Ex here) working with Riddler & BM to avenge for his Ex only to find out Bat is the good guy then gets wounded again for a tragic ending ala Romeo&Juliet.

Don't really know how to fit this in but I want to have a Maximus Gladiator ending where Bat either sacrifices himself or has his ID exposed so he has to retire, becoming Gotham's most respected & powerful man who works with Gordon to build an incorruptable system, so this is Batman symbol's legacy and a fitting way to finish the trilogy.

Greenlite said...

ah, Black Mask tried to discredit Batman by framing him with murders. How about that, follows up nicely into the third film.

Anonymous said...

Hey, Oliver--thanks man for the thumbs up!
First of all, Two-face is dead. It doesn't add anything to bring him back. In "The Dark Knight", Two face is a tragic character more than a villain.
As for Joker--yes, the character was great, Heath Ledger was great, so yes and no. If yes, bring in Daniel Day-Lewis and Harley Quinn.
Scratch that idea about Rupert Thorne. Here's how "The Dark Knight Returns" or "Gotham City" should be:
The mob is taking the streets back one by one with automatics in an all-out war with the police. The police are rendered unable to operate because they're being stretched thin fighting the mob and Batman. Gotham is worse than ever, even worse than before Batman came, which makes Bruce wonder what difference he has made.
Bruce is dating Selina Kyle, and during the movie, has conversations with her on rooftops when she is Catwoman--tight leather, no bikini. Casting for her is Julianne Moore.
Batman investigates into where the automatics are coming from, and discovered they are being transported by means unknown from London to Gotham by a billionare known as Oswald Copplepot. aka. The Penguin. Batman heads to Gotham to capture Penguin, but Penguin is too well protected. Batman barely escape with his life.
The next day, Penguin orders a meeting with Bruce Wayne at an expensive restauraunt. Penguin tells Bruce about his outcast from society. Penguin says that he knows who Bruce is, that he did not kill cops. Penguin says that he is only preserving what he has left--his money--and the only way to preserve that is dealing with the mob. Batman is protecting what he has left--his morals. Penguin says that that he is trying to place himself in the only possible back in Gotham society--to join the mob. Enraged at Penguin's words, Bruce returns to Gotham, which is what Penguin wants.
Batman returns to a rebuilt Wayne Manor and Batcave, but finds that Gordon was forced to tighten his grip on Batman, forcing Fox to stop giving Batman technology. As a parting gift, Fox gives Batman the Batboat.
Penguin comes to Gotham, because since the Joker has caused so much damage (burning the money), he has decided to take matters into his own hands with his talent and knowledge at banking. Penguin organizes even the smallest gangs with the prospect of money. That night, Batman intervines in a mob meeting in which the Penguin has put shipped automatics in armoured trucks and captures two gangsters, but is unable to save them when police arrive and open fire. Batman chases the mob people, while being chased by police--utter chaos leaving destruction in the streets. The mob escapes via boat in Gotham Harbor, where Batman discovers that is their base of operations. Batman escapes easily.
Gordon, secretly suspecting Bruce to be the Caped Crusader, hires Edward Nashton, a brilliant detective to find Batman. Nashton decides the best way to find the Dark Knight is to lure him out with fake crimes that seem like they were done by the mob and leaving riddles--pushing the limits of the law. Gordon reluctantly accepts.
The next day, armed men charge into Wayne Manor, shooting Alfred in the legs. Alfred is put in the hospital, driving Bruce to the point of desperation.
That night, Batman intervines another mob meeting, but is captured by the police. Gordon orders that Batman's mask not be taken off. Gordon interrogates Batman, pretending to asssume Batman's assossiation with the mob.
Batman tells Gordon the mob's base of operations before being put into custody. Secretly, Edward Nashton unmasks Batman, but doesn't tell anyone. Batman then escapes.
Edward Nashton and Gordon have gotten into a quarrel about whether they must break the law discreetly to find Batman.
The next day, Alfred tells Bruce about his plans to retire and leaves. another shipment is underway. Batman intervenes, and the boat begins to sink. Penguin attacks Batman with his henchmen, and pins him down, revealing plans to unload automatic gunfire on the approaching police. Batman throws Penguin out a window, killing him and defeating the henchmen. Before he can escape though, Riddler shoots him, but Catwoman tries to kill Riddler and almost succeeds. Batman disables her badly and asks her whether she'll tell anyone his idenity. She says no, puts a gun to her head, and pulls the trigger. but in anger, Batman stabs him many times till Edward is dead.
Gordon arrives at the scene and despite bitterness towards Batman, lowers his weapon. Batman vows never to kill anyone again, and Gordon promises to unclench Gotham's fist around Batman as much as he can. Batman leaves and the movie ends.
Sorry it was so long.
And again, thanks Oliver!

twinedan said...

Your list is not complete. There are several villians from the old 1960's Batman show, aside from the usual 4.

Black Widow
Falseface
The Archer
The Siren
The Sandman
Ma Parker
Lola Lasanga
Shame
The Puzzler
King Tut
The Clock King

There are more, and I'm sure they can be found online.

Bill said...

Oh yeah there are dozens and dozens of villains I haven't done. I didn't want to do the ones who only appeared in the 60s TV show, which most of those are (I think King Tut just appeared in the comics recently for the first time).

My goal wasn't really to cover every single Batman villain ever (I'd spend the rest of my life doing research for that), just to cover the ones with a decent chance of appearing, plus the ones I found interesting or amusing.

Anonymous said...

Deacon Blackfire, from Batman : the cult, or a character like him.

Anonymous said...

Title: Gotham City
The Dark Knight Returns
Riddler: Johnny Depp
Russell Crowe
Penguin: Phillip Seymour Hoffman
Paul Giamatti
Catwoman: Julianne Moore
Titles are the Batsymbol appearing on a brick wall before being obscured by smoke.
The beginning of the movie starts with a terrorist attack on Wayne Enterprises. The mob is taking the streets back one by one with automatics in an all-out war with the police. The police are rendered unable to operate because they're being stretched thin fighting the mob and Batman. Gotham is worse than ever, even worse than before Batman came, which makes Bruce wonder what difference he has made.
Batman investigates into where the automatics are coming from, and discovered they are being transported by means unknown from London to Gotham by a billionare known as Oswald Copplepot. aka. The Penguin. Batman heads to Gotham to capture Penguin, but Penguin is too well protected. Somehow they were expecting him. Batman barely escapes with his life.
The next day, Penguin orders a meeting with Bruce Wayne at an expensive restauraunt. Penguin tells Bruce about his outcast from society. Penguin says that he knows who Bruce is, that he did not kill cops. Penguin says that he is only preserving what he has left--his money--and the only way to preserve that is dealing with the mob. Batman is protecting what he has left--his morals. Penguin says that that he is trying to place himself in the only possible back in Gotham society--to join the mob. Enraged at Penguin's words, Bruce returns to Gotham, which is what Penguin wants.
Batman returns to a rebuilt Wayne Manor and Batcave, but finds that Gordon was forced to tighten his grip on Batman, forcing Fox to stop giving Batman technology. As a parting gift, Fox gives Batman the Batboat.
Penguin comes to Gotham, because since the Joker has caused so much damage (burning the money), he has decided to take matters into his own hands with his talent and knowledge at banking. Penguin organizes even the smallest gangs with the prospect of money. It is revealed the person who tipped them off that Batman was coming was Catwoman. Catwoman was a burglar for hire given the name by the London Times for her trademark costume. Catwoman also destroyed most of the evidence needed to incriminate the Penguin. Catwoman however double-crossed Penguin because she has a new contract with someone who wants whats left of the evidence. That night, Batman intervines in a mob meeting in which the Penguin has put shipped automatics in armoured trucks and captures two gangsters, but is unable to save them when police arrive and open fire. Batman chases the mob people, while being chased by police--utter chaos leaving destruction in the streets. The mob escapes via boat in Gotham Harbor, where Batman discovers that is their base of operations. Batman escapes easily.
Gordon hires Edward Nashton, a brilliant detective to find Batman. Nashton's motivation is simply justice: "This city deserves the truth." Trying to find the murderer of Harvey Dent. Nashton has a theory: comparing Batman sightings with mob sightings, he says the only way that Batman could have all this technology would be for him to have been hired by a rival mob of the main mob. Nashton decides the best way to find the Dark Knight is to lure him out with fake crimes that seem like they were done by the mob and leaving riddles--pushing the limits of the law. Gordon reluctantly accepts.
The next day, Penguin's armed men charge into Wayne Manor, shooting Alfred. Alfred is put in the hospital, driving Bruce to the point of desperation.
It is revealed that
That night, Batman intervines another mob meeting, but is captured by the police. On the way to the prison, Gordon orders that Batman's mask not be taken off. Riddler interrogates Batman in the car, pretending to asssume Batman's assossiation with the mob.
Batman tells Gordon the mob's base of operations before being put into custody. Nashton during the interrogasion asked Batman riddles, thus earning the name the media gave him "the Riddler." Secretly, Edward Nashton unmasks Batman, but doesn't tell anyone. Batman then escapes.
Edward Nashton and Gordon have gotten into a quarrel about whether they must break the law discreetly to find Batman. Although Nashton is seen as a person offering a new legitimate Gotham, away from all the vigilantees, it is revealed that Riddler is a person unsure of his beliefs.
The next day, Alfred dies. Another shipment is underway. Batman intervenes, and the boat begins to sink. Penguin attacks Batman with his henchmen, and pins him down, revealing plans to unload automatic gunfire on the approaching police. Batman asks Penguin about the rival mob, and Penguin only says it exists. Batman throws Penguin out a window, injuring him and defeating the henchmen. Riddler interrogates Penguin. Because Penguin knows who Batman is, he tells Riddler, and convinces him of Batman's connection with the rival mob. Riddler again doesn't tell anyone.
It is revealed that Catwoman's new employer was Bruce Wayne. At a new Wayne Manor, Riddler arrives and questions Bruce. Selina Kyle attacks Riddler but to stop the fight, Batman accidently breaks Selina's leg. He says "Will you tell the police who I am?" She says no, grabs Riddler's gun, puts it to her forehead, and pulls the trigger. Batman tries to escape, but Riddler calls reinforcements and they apprehend Batman. While being taken into custody, many people are shown watching, hating him for killing Harvey.
At the end of the film, Gordon talks to Bruce and thanks him. Gordon says Gotham is changing to a way of law and Bruce smiles. Bruce says he'll plead guilty, even though Gordon offers him immunity. Gordon asks what are they going to do with the rival mob. Bruce says "I'll donate all my money to the police force, so you can fight the mob as men of the law."
Gordon thanks him once again and the movie ends.

Anonymous said...

Title: Gotham City
The Dark Knight Returns
Riddler: Johnny Depp
Russell Crowe
Penguin: Phillip Seymour Hoffman
Paul Giamatti
Catwoman: Julianne Moore

Titles are the Batsymbol appearing on a brick wall before being obscured by smoke.
The beginning of the movie starts with a terrorist attack on Wayne Enterprises. The mob is taking the streets back one by one with automatics in an all-out war with the police. The police are rendered unable to operate because they're being stretched thin fighting the mob and Batman. Gotham is worse than ever, even worse than before Batman came, which makes Bruce wonder what difference he has made.
Batman investigates into where the automatics are coming from, and discovered they are being transported by means unknown from London to Gotham by a billionare known as Oswald Copplepot. aka. The Penguin. Batman heads to Gotham to capture Penguin, but Penguin is too well protected. Somehow they were expecting him. Batman barely escapes with his life.
The next day, Penguin orders a meeting with Bruce Wayne at an expensive restauraunt. Penguin tells Bruce about his outcast from society. Penguin says that he knows who Bruce is, that he did not kill cops. Penguin says that he is only preserving what he has left--his money--and the only way to preserve that is dealing with the mob. Batman is protecting what he has left--his morals. Penguin says that that he is trying to place himself in the only possible back in Gotham society--to join the mob. Enraged at Penguin's words, Bruce returns to Gotham, which is what Penguin wants.
Batman returns to a rebuilt Wayne Manor and Batcave, but finds that Gordon was forced to tighten his grip on Batman, forcing Fox to stop giving Batman technology. As a parting gift, Fox gives Batman the Batboat.
Penguin comes to Gotham, because since the Joker has caused so much damage (burning the money), he has decided to take matters into his own hands with his talent and knowledge at banking. Penguin organizes even the smallest gangs with the prospect of money. It is revealed the person who tipped them off that Batman was coming was Catwoman. Catwoman was a burglar for hire given the name by the London Times for her trademark costume. Catwoman also destroyed most of the evidence needed to incriminate the Penguin. Catwoman however double-crossed Penguin because she has a new contract with someone who wants whats left of the evidence. That night, Batman intervines in a mob meeting in which the Penguin has put shipped automatics in armoured trucks and captures two gangsters, but is unable to save them when police arrive and open fire. Batman chases the mob people, while being chased by police--utter chaos leaving destruction in the streets. The mob escapes via boat in Gotham Harbor, where Batman discovers that is their base of operations. Batman escapes easily.
Gordon hires Edward Nashton, a brilliant detective to find Batman. Nashton's motivation is simply justice: "This city deserves the truth." Trying to find the murderer of Harvey Dent. Nashton has a theory: comparing Batman sightings with mob sightings, he says the only way that Batman could have all this technology would be for him to have been hired by a rival mob of the main mob. Nashton decides the best way to find the Dark Knight is to lure him out with fake crimes that seem like they were done by the mob and leaving riddles--pushing the limits of the law. Gordon reluctantly accepts.
The next day, Penguin's armed men charge into Wayne Manor, shooting Alfred. Alfred is put in the hospital, driving Bruce to the point of desperation.
It is revealed that
That night, Batman intervines another mob meeting, but is captured by the police. On the way to the prison, Gordon orders that Batman's mask not be taken off. Riddler interrogates Batman in the car, telling him he "knows" about Batman's assossiation with the mob.
Batman tells Gordon the mob's base of operations before being put into custody. Nashton during the interrogasion asked Batman riddles, thus earning the name the media gave him "the Riddler." Secretly, Edward Nashton unmasks Batman, but doesn't tell anyone. Batman then escapes.
Edward Nashton and Gordon have gotten into a quarrel about whether they must break the law discreetly to find Batman. Although Nashton is seen as a person offering a new legitimate Gotham, away from all the vigilantees, it is revealed that Riddler is a person unsure of his beliefs.
The next day, Alfred dies. Another shipment is underway. Batman intervenes, and the boat begins to sink. Penguin attacks Batman with his henchmen, and pins him down, revealing plans to unload automatic gunfire on the approaching police. Batman asks Penguin about the rival mob, and Penguin only says it exists. Batman throws Penguin out a window, injuring him and defeating the henchmen. Riddler interrogates Penguin. Because Penguin knows who Batman is, he tells Riddler, and convinces him of Batman's connection with the rival mob. Riddler again doesn't tell anyone.
It is revealed that Catwoman's new employer was Bruce Wayne. At a new Wayne Manor, Riddler arrives and questions Bruce. Selina Kyle attacks Riddler but to stop the fight, Batman accidently breaks Selina's leg. He says "Will you tell the police who I am?" She says no, grabs Riddler's gun, puts it to her forehead, and pulls the trigger. Batman tries to escape, but Riddler calls reinforcements and they apprehend Batman. While being taken into custody, many people are shown watching, hating him for killing Harvey.
Gordon fires Edward Nashton, saying "I will never again put you into a position to hurt Gotham again."
At the end of the film, Gordon talks to Bruce and thanks him. Gordon says Gotham is changing to a way of law and Bruce smiles. Bruce says he'll plead guilty, even though Gordon offers him immunity. Gordon asks what are they going to do with the rival mob. Bruce says "I'll give all my money to the police force, so you can fight the mob as men of the law."
Gordon thanks him once again and the movie ends.

Anonymous said...

Title: Gotham City
The Dark Knight Returns
Riddler: Johnny Depp
Russell Crowe
Penguin: Phillip Seymour Hoffman
Paul Giamatti
Catwoman: Julianne Moore

Titles are the Batsymbol appearing on a brick wall before being obscured by smoke.
The beginning of the movie starts with a terrorist attack on Wayne Enterprises. The mob is taking the streets back one by one with automatics in an all-out war with the police. The police are rendered unable to operate because they're being stretched thin fighting the mob and Batman. Gotham is worse than ever, even worse than before Batman came, which makes Bruce wonder what difference he has made.
Batman investigates into where the automatics are coming from, and discovered they are being transported by means unknown from London to Gotham by a billionare known as Oswald Copplepot. aka. The Penguin. Batman heads to Gotham to capture Penguin, but Penguin is too well protected. Somehow they were expecting him. Batman barely escapes with his life.
The next day, Penguin orders a meeting with Bruce Wayne at an expensive restauraunt. Penguin tells Bruce about his outcast from society. Penguin says that he knows who Bruce is, that he did not kill cops. Penguin says that he is only preserving what he has left--his money--and the only way to preserve that is dealing with the mob. Batman is protecting what he has left--his morals. Penguin says that that he is trying to place himself in the only possible back in Gotham society--to join the mob. Enraged at Penguin's words, Bruce returns to Gotham, which is what Penguin wants.
Batman returns to a rebuilt Wayne Manor and Batcave, but finds that Gordon was forced to tighten his grip on Batman, forcing Fox to stop giving Batman technology. As a parting gift, Fox gives Batman the Batboat.
Penguin comes to Gotham, because since the Joker has caused so much damage (burning the money), he has decided to take matters into his own hands with his talent and knowledge at banking. Penguin organizes even the smallest gangs with the prospect of money. It is revealed the person who tipped them off that Batman was coming was Catwoman. Catwoman was a burglar for hire given the name by the London Times for her trademark costume. Catwoman also destroyed most of the evidence needed to incriminate the Penguin. Catwoman however double-crossed Penguin because she has a new contract with someone who wants whats left of the evidence. That night, Batman intervines in a mob meeting in which the Penguin has put shipped automatics in armoured trucks and captures two gangsters, but is unable to save them when police arrive and open fire. Batman chases the mob people, while being chased by police--utter chaos leaving destruction in the streets. The mob escapes via boat in Gotham Harbor, where Batman discovers that is their base of operations. Batman escapes easily.
Gordon hires Edward Nashton, a brilliant detective to find Batman. Nashton's motivation is simply justice: "This city deserves the truth." Trying to find the murderer of Harvey Dent. Nashton has a theory: comparing Batman sightings with mob sightings, he says the only way that Batman could have all this technology would be for him to have been hired by a rival mob of the main mob. Nashton decides the best way to find the Dark Knight is to lure him out with fake crimes that seem like they were done by the mob and leaving riddles--pushing the limits of the law. Gordon reluctantly accepts.
The next day, Penguin's armed men charge into Wayne Manor, shooting Alfred. Alfred is put in the hospital, driving Bruce to the point of desperation.
It is revealed that
That night, Batman intervines another mob meeting, but is captured by the police. On the way to the prison, Gordon orders that Batman's mask not be taken off. Riddler interrogates Batman in the car, telling him he "knows" about Batman's assossiation with the mob.
By this point, the police have conclusive evidence about Riddler's theory of a rival mob, but no evidence of Batman's association with it.
Batman tells Gordon the main mob's base of operations before being put into custody. Nashton during the interrogasion asked Batman riddles, thus earning the name the media gave him "the Riddler." Secretly, Edward Nashton unmasks Batman, but doesn't tell anyone. Batman then escapes.
Edward Nashton and Gordon have gotten into a quarrel about whether they must break the law discreetly to find Batman. Although Nashton is seen as a person offering a new legitimate Gotham, away from all the vigilantees, it is revealed that Riddler is a person unsure of his beliefs.
The next day, Alfred dies. Another shipment is underway. Batman intervenes, and the boat begins to sink. Penguin attacks Batman with his henchmen, and pins him down, revealing plans to unload automatic gunfire on the approaching police. Batman asks Penguin about the rival mob, and Penguin only says it exists. Batman throws Penguin out a window, injuring him and defeating the henchmen. Riddler interrogates Penguin. Because Penguin knows who Batman is, he tells Riddler, and convinces him of Batman's connection with the rival mob. Riddler again doesn't tell anyone.
It is revealed that Catwoman's new employer was Bruce Wayne. At a new Wayne Manor, Riddler arrives and questions Bruce. Selina Kyle attacks Riddler but to stop the fight, Batman accidently breaks Selina's leg. He says "Will you tell the police who I am?" She says no, grabs Riddler's gun, puts it to her forehead, and pulls the trigger. Batman tries to escape, but Riddler calls reinforcements and they apprehend Batman. While being taken into custody, many people are shown watching, hating him for killing Harvey.
Gordon fires Edward Nashton, saying "I will never again put you into a position to hurt Gotham again."
At the end of the film, Gordon talks to Bruce and thanks him. Gordon says Gotham is changing to a way of law and Bruce smiles. Bruce says he'll plead guilty, even though Gordon offers him immunity. Gordon asks what are they going to do with the rival mob. Bruce says "I'll give all my money to the police force, so you can fight the mob as men of the law."
Gordon thanks him once again and the movie ends.

Anonymous said...

Title: Gotham City
The Dark Knight Returns
Riddler: Johnny Depp
Russell Crowe
Penguin: Phillip Seymour Hoffman
Paul Giamatti
Catwoman: Julianne Moore

Titles are the Batsymbol appearing on a brick wall before being obscured by smoke.
The beginning of the movie starts with a terrorist attack on Wayne Enterprises. The mob is taking the streets back one by one with automatics in an all-out war with the police. The police are rendered unable to operate because they're being stretched thin fighting the mob and Batman. Gotham is worse than ever, even worse than before Batman came, which makes Bruce wonder what difference he has made.
Batman investigates into where the automatics are coming from, and discovered they are being transported by means unknown from London to Gotham by a billionare known as Oswald Copplepot. aka. The Penguin. Batman heads to Gotham to capture Penguin, but Penguin is too well protected. Somehow they were expecting him. Batman barely escapes with his life.
The next day, Penguin orders a meeting with Bruce Wayne at an expensive restauraunt. Penguin tells Bruce about his outcast from society. Penguin says that he knows who Bruce is, that he did not kill cops. Penguin says that he is only preserving what he has left--his money--and the only way to preserve that is dealing with the mob. Batman is protecting what he has left--his morals. Penguin says that that he is trying to place himself in the only possible back in Gotham society--to join the mob. Enraged at Penguin's words, Bruce returns to Gotham, which is what Penguin wants.
Batman returns to a rebuilt Wayne Manor and Batcave, but finds that Gordon was forced to tighten his grip on Batman, forcing Fox to stop giving Batman technology. As a parting gift, Fox gives Batman the Batboat.
Penguin comes to Gotham, because since the Joker has caused so much damage (burning the money), he has decided to take matters into his own hands with his talent and knowledge at banking. Penguin organizes even the smallest gangs with the prospect of money. It is revealed the person who tipped them off that Batman was coming was Catwoman. Catwoman was a burglar for hire given the name by the London Times for her trademark costume. Catwoman also destroyed most of the evidence needed to incriminate the Penguin. Catwoman however double-crossed Penguin because she has a new contract with someone who wants whats left of the evidence. That night, Batman intervines in a mob meeting in which the Penguin has put shipped automatics in armoured trucks and captures two gangsters, but is unable to save them when police arrive and open fire. Batman chases the mob people, while being chased by police--utter chaos leaving destruction in the streets. The mob escapes via boat in Gotham Harbor, where Batman discovers that is their base of operations. Batman escapes easily.
Gordon hires Edward Nashton, a brilliant detective to find Batman. Nashton's motivation is simply justice: "This city deserves the truth." Trying to find the murderer of Harvey Dent. Nashton has a theory: comparing Batman sightings with mob sightings, he says the only way that Batman could have all this technology would be for him to have been hired by a rival mob of the main mob. Nashton decides the best way to find the Dark Knight is to lure him out with fake crimes that seem like they were done by the mob and leaving riddles--pushing the limits of the law. Gordon reluctantly accepts.
The next day, Penguin's armed men charge into Wayne Manor, shooting Alfred. Alfred is put in the hospital, driving Bruce to the point of desperation.
It is revealed that Penguin's big scheme is to bring down Wayne Enterprises so that his company will be the biggest in Gotham!
That night, Batman intervines another mob meeting, but is captured by the police. On the way to the prison, Gordon orders that Batman's mask not be taken off. Riddler interrogates Batman in the car, telling him he "knows" about Batman's assossiation with the mob.
By this point, the police have conclusive evidence about Riddler's theory of a rival mob, but no evidence of Batman's association with it.
Batman tells Gordon the main mob's base of operations before being put into custody. Nashton during the interrogasion asked Batman riddles, thus earning the name the media gave him "the Riddler." Secretly, Edward Nashton unmasks Batman, but doesn't tell anyone. Batman then escapes.
Edward Nashton and Gordon have gotten into a quarrel about whether they must break the law discreetly to find Batman. Although Nashton is seen as a person offering a new legitimate Gotham, away from all the vigilantees, it is revealed that Riddler is a person unsure of his beliefs.
The next day, Alfred dies. Another shipment is underway. Batman intervenes, and the boat begins to sink. Penguin attacks Batman with his henchmen, and pins him down, revealing plans to unload automatic gunfire on the approaching police. Batman asks Penguin about the rival mob, and Penguin only says it exists. Batman throws Penguin out a window, injuring him and defeating the henchmen. Riddler interrogates Penguin. Because Penguin knows who Batman is, he tells Riddler, and convinces him of Batman's connection with the rival mob. Riddler again doesn't tell anyone.
It is revealed that Catwoman's new employer was Bruce Wayne. At a new Wayne Manor, Riddler arrives and questions Bruce. Selina Kyle attacks Riddler but to stop the fight, Batman accidently breaks Selina's leg. He says "Will you tell the police who I am?" She says no, grabs Riddler's gun, puts it to her forehead, and pulls the trigger. Batman tries to escape, but Riddler calls reinforcements and they apprehend Batman. While being taken into custody, many people are shown watching, hating him for killing Harvey.
Gordon fires Edward Nashton, saying "I will never again put you into a position to hurt Gotham again."
At the end of the film, Gordon talks to Bruce and thanks him. Gordon says Gotham is changing to a way of law and Bruce smiles. Bruce says he'll plead guilty, even though Gordon offers him immunity. Gordon asks what are they going to do with the rival mob. Bruce says "I'll give all my money to the police force, so you can fight the mob as men of the law."
Gordon thanks him once again and the movie ends.

Anonymous said...

My top choices:

1. Hush
2. Bane
3. Riddler
4. Black Mask
5. Hugo Strange
6. Reaper
7. Deadshot
8. Two-face
9. Harley
10. Talia

Anonymous said...

My Top Choices:

1. Penguin.
2. Riddler.
3. Black mask.
4. Joker and Harley Quinn.
5. Hangman.
6. Talia al Ghul.
7. Poison Ivy.
8. Two-face.
9. Catwoman.
10.Mr. Freeze

Anonymous said...

The villain has to be smart to be able to be compared to Joker. Dumb villains are... a stupid idea.

Here's my opinion of who are the smartest Bat villains. I wish the main villain was one of these.

1.Riddler
2.Bane
3.Joker (used)
4.Ra's (used)
5.Hugo Strange
6.Hush
7.Penguin (but ridiculous)
8.Scarecrow (used)
9.Mad Hatter (but ridiculous too)
10. Freeze

Agree or disagree?

Anonymous said...

Yeah, it has to be Riddler and Bane.

To catch Batman the police hire Riddler who's profession is a "puzzle solver". He is known to be able to catch anyone. He has his own team of mercenaries. Bane is his number-one-guy. He rarely talks and is very loyal. The team commits elaborate crimes and Riddler sends clues of the crimes in form of riddles to lure Batman into traps.

After series of traps Batman is exhausted. Now Bane attacks and almost breaks Batman. Now the twist: Bane was the real mastermind and Riddler was his puppet. Bane has his own motivation to break Batman, maybe a connection to the League of Shadows.

Add Catwoman as a love interest/ sidekick and some mob boss, Sionis or someone.

Anonymous said...

Twist too similar to BB.

Anonymous said...

But:

-Riddler isn't killed
-Bane isn't really Riddler

and

-Ducard didn't pretend to be brainless muscleman,
-He was clearly the real leader from the beginning, fake Ra's was really passive.

Besides, if Bane has a connection to the League, why wouldn't he use their tricks too.

Anonymous said...

I also think Bane and Riddler are the smartest ones. Either one of them would be an ideal villain.

Anonymous said...

Joker was extremely lethal and very smart. I think the only way to top him is to make the next one entirely different kind of threat, less lethal, but even smarter.

Sarah Collins said...

can you make a movie with red hood?

Sarah Collins said...

I just thought of a new charecter his name is little gagster

Unknown said...

I just thought of another villain that was forgotten. He's another immigrant from Batman The Animated Series, but has only shown up a few times in the comics (he was in Knightfall, and I think he was briefly in Infinite Crisis).

Lock-Up, who is another character who fits the role of extreme vigilante as a foil for Batman: he goes past locking up the criminals, but also locking up those in society whom he believes are part of the cause of the crime in the city (like city officials), with the intention of putting his own brutal order over Gotham.

It would be interesting to have major conflict between Batman and a new rush of vigilantes who want to make the city "safe" by taking it over, led by the brutal and obsessive Lock-Up. With the setting in Gotham being the rise of the supervillains and the wane (but not complete fall) of the mob (as well as the fall of two of it's heroes), it would be an ideal environment for someone like Lock-Up, who sees the city as a cesspool that only his control can fix.

A huge con would, of course, be that he's an unknown. Very few comic appearances, and even his start in BTAS was only for one episode. While Nolan did say he was going for characters who hadn't gotten screentime yet, I doubt he's going to go for someone like Lock-Up whose only had one major plotline (and, even then, it was a secondary part of a larger plotline).

CHRISTOPHER said...

Gotham’s Judgment


A Christopher Nolan Film



Bruce Wayne/Batman...Christian Bale
Alfred Pennyworth.....Michael Caine
Oswald Copplepot.......Ben Kingsley
James Gordon............Gary Oldman
Edward Nashton........Casey Affleck
Harvey Bullock..........Guy Pierce Rupert Thorne....Billy Bob Thornton
Catwoman.............Julianne Moore
Vicky Vale........Scarlet Johansson
Lucius Fox...........Morgan Freeman
Sergeant Floyd Lawson....Clive Owen
The Joker..........Daniel Day-Lewis
Mayor Hamilton Hill....Chris Cooper

The titles are the shape of a bat appearing on a red brick wall before being obscured by smoke.
In the streets of Gotham, frozen solid by a snowstorm, Detective Harvey Bullock drives silently though the streets warily until he sees his partner, Detective Edward Nashton, in a car chase with drug dealers. Bullock joins the chase. Although the drug dealers’ car is armored, and the drivers are shooting automatics at both Bullock and Nashton, they crash due to the slippery road and are killed. Nashton and Bullock look through the criminals’ possessions until Nashton finds fifty-thousand dollars in the trunk. Bullock thinks they should take the money, but Nashton disagrees and begins to leave. Before getting into his own car, Bullock stands thinking and then discreetly takes the money.
Bruce and another woman, Vicky Vale, are then shown being dropped off by Alfred at a party at the Gotham Lounge Nightclub, hosted by Hamilton Hill, the newly elected mayor of Gotham City. Bruce tells Vicky to watch her back and look out for mob bosses, and then to meet back in his car after the mayor’s speech. He also tells her to photograph any mobsters or suspicious characters. Hamilton says hello to Bruce and introduces him to the members of the city council. One of them, shown briefly, is Rupert Thorne, who is a kind person claiming to love the new mayor. Rupert is quickly towed away by Oswald Copplepot, a councilman, who, under pressure from Bruce for humorous conversation, introduces Bruce to his old parents, James and Elizabeth. Oswald explains that most of his family was killed off by the criminals in Gotham. Bruce notices the mob bosses Umberto and Marco Maroni at the party. Bruce decides to look at the gambling room in the back. The gambling is supposedly legal. Bruce sees many mob bosses playing poker games. At one table, two poor people from the East End of Gotham are trying to earn money to pay off their debts to the mob. Bruce joins the game, hoping to win and give his money to the two poor people. However, he loses. Bruce knows that, with the dealer’s help, the mob bosses cheated. Bruce writes a check of ten thousand dollars to both of the poor people, and then leaves the gambling room to see Mayor Hamilton Hill give a speech about how he despises organized crime, of which Gotham is recovering from the terror and control, and that the presence of Batman is diminishing due to the efforts of the Gotham City Police Department. He promises to use his power to rid the city of Batman and organized crime. As a sign of good faith, he writes a check of thirty million dollars to the respected businessman, Michael Brown, who claims he has the connections, the means, and the will to arrest Batman.
Bruce goes back to his black Porsche after the speech, where Alfred is waiting to show Bruce photographs taken by Vicky which depict bad news: criminals dressing up as Batman to put fear into the hearts of rival criminals and honest cops, and an important member of Wayne Enterprises’ board of directors having been shot to death recently. Bruce tells him about seeing Umberto and Marco. When Vicky gets into the car, Bruce gives her a quick kiss on the lips and asks her why she is late. She says she has just got something on Michael. Alfred doesn’t understand at first what is so special about Michael, so she shows him a photograph of Michael giving a roll of money discreetly to Umberto Maroni. Michael is working with the mob, she says. Also, having kept a close eye on Michael for the past few days, she found out that he almost never is with the Maroni brothers unless there is a big mob meeting. Bruce decides to come back later tonight to check on the mob. To find out where the meeting will be held, Bruce slips a tracking device onto Umberto Maroni.
The Joker is then shown in his cell in Arkham, being bullied by the other, more powerful inmates. Finally, he beats one of the inmates up. In turn, he gets electrocuted for therapy. His psychiatrist tells him that he and Batman are becoming obsolete.
Bruce goes to Fox, asking him for some more equipment to escape the police. Fox doesn’t want to be a part of Batman’s life after this last meeting with him. He only wants to be a part of Bruce’s legitimate life. Bruce understands.
Fox gives Batman a speedboat which has state-of-the-art equipment, including powerful guns. He also gives him a device to hack into police communications. The last thing that Fox gives him is a small rifle that fires sticky tracking devices, which Batman can hide on his back. Bruce then leaves, returning home to spend the rest of the evening with Vicky.
Before leaving for his work, Bruce tells Vicky to wait for him. Batman goes to the warehouse where Maroni has gone. However, he finds out that Maroni was there only as head of security for the meeting (a heroin deal between Gotham’s and Moscow’s mob). The meeting is taking place in the warehouse nearby. Batman knocks Maroni out and spots the mob bosses (in disguise as police officers). The corrupt Hamilton is there also. Batman gets on his motorcycle and drives into the warehouse where the meeting is taking place. Hamilton gets his goons to call the police and then, to make it look like either the mob or Batman kidnapped him, and his henchmen saved him, orders for his officers in disguise to shoot the Russians and any men who would look like obvious mob bosses. After doing so, one of the goons’ cell phone rings. He answers it, confirms an order, and then proceeds to shoot Hamilton in the chest. The police arrive, and to Batman’s surprise, instead of pointing fingers at his goons in vengeance, the mayor persists with his last breath that Batman and the Russians captured and killed him.
With the police on his tail, Batman gets on his motorcycle and starts fleeing. The mob’s armored trucks start on their course to a destination. Hoping to stop at least two trucks, Batman intervenes on his motorcycle, attacking the armored trucks. The drivers are able to call their corrupt cop associates to stop Batman from supposedly killing them. Batman, steering away from the automatic bullets, manages to stop the truck leading the others, forcing the five trucks left to take the highway. With the cops coming, Batman activates his device allowing him to hack into police communications to see how they’re planning to ambush him. The cops chase Batman while Batman chases the trucks, resulting in many traffic accidents. Eventually, Batman is forced to give up the chase when police cars get between him and the trucks. Hearing police communications, he hears that the police see that the trucks are parking at a warehouse at the harbor. However, the police follow Batman, not the trucks. Batman circles back and sees that place where the trucks have parked. Police then set up an ambush for him, but, using his device monitoring police communications, he narrowly evades it. Batman then speeds away at a sharp bend. As the police follow him, he doubles back, causing them to be unable to pursue him. The cops’ gunshots miss him, although they hit his motorcycle.
Police cars soon maneuver back to pursue, so Batman goes around a corner, thinking that they’ve lost him, when suddenly he sees a bright light and hears helicopter blades, and then a voice on a microphone orders for his surrender. The helicopter chases Batman through the streets, Batman never being able to get it off his tail. Gordon, in one of the police cars, orders for police to barricade the street to prevent Batman’s escape.
The helicopter chasing Batman shines a light as he cuts through the alleyways and streets. Noticing oil drums, Batman shoots, causing the oil drums to explode and blind the helicopter briefly. However, one officer puts a bullet in Batman’s shoulder. Arriving back home, Batman goes to the cave to get his medical supplies. When Alfred offers help, Bruce grumbles that he can do it himself and dismisses his butler. He asks Alfred where Vicky is, and he tells him that she went back to her house to sleep when he told her that Bruce would be alright.
Ramirez (the only cop alive besides Gordon who was witness to Harvey Dent’s killing spree, questions Gordon about why Batman has taken the fall for those crimes. Gordon tells her the nightmare that would come from him revealing that Harvey was a killer. The people would not be able to recover from that for years, because they couldn’t take it. Gordon also tells her about how it was Batman’s decision, not his. Gordon tells her that because Harvey Dent is dead, the police commissioner needs to be the hero of Gotham, and he can’t be Gotham’s hero if he’s lied to Gotham. Gordon warns of a day where she be asked if Batman is guilty. He asks her to promise him that she will say no. She says she doesn’t know how she will answer that question. Gordon then dismisses her.
Alfred returns in the morning and finds the bullet out of Bruce’s shoulder, but that Bruce is exhausted and bleeding heavily. Alfred treats Bruce, but tells him that his shoulder will be handicapped for the next few weeks. Vicky comes in and vomits at the stench of the blood.
Bruce then hurries to a board meeting. He is late because he isn’t the dumb playboy anymore—his constant stress and isolation is causing his Batman persona to take over, causing him to constantly be bitter and angry.
The board members discuss potentially donating thirty million dollars to the police so that they can clean up their system and become more of an adversary for the mob, making sure that organized crime won’t be a problem anymore for Gotham. The other board members are in opposition, saying that Wayne Enterprises is already going into bankruptcy because of the death of one of the members of the board of directors. In the heated argument, Bruce fires two of the members of the board of directors. Finally, in frustration, Bruce ends the meeting forcefully and dismisses the board members.
In a room with mob dealers, Rupert Thorne sits down in the chair of the head of the mob. The head of the mob, Tony Zucco, walks in, demanding what he is doing in his seat. Thorne responds coolly by signaling to his henchman to pull out a gun to threaten Tony. Thorne says that Tony is too inept to lead the mob and that he is the new leader. Tony takes a seat and asks what this meeting is about. Thorne first tells them that the police have not been able to do what the mob hoped for: the subduing of Batman. Thorne tells them that the heroin deals with the Russians are sure to stop with his orders to kill some of their men. Thorne shows no regret for the orders he gave to kill the Russians or Hamilton.
But to keep one of their guys inside Gotham’s government as the mayor, Thorne proposes using his lawyers to put his adopted son, Oswald Copplepot, a well respected councilman, in the position to make the mob infinitely powerful in Gotham and the government hindered. Having a mob leader become mayor would mean that the mob would have more success at escaping prosecution.
He would also use his power to continue what Hamilton was doing: persuading the police to use their resources against not the mob, but Batman. The mob agrees. To make it official, Thorne has everyone sign a document putting their loyalties in him, Oswald, and this counterattack against Batman and Gordon. Only Oswald doesn’t sign it, because Thorne trusts him. He keeps this document with him, as it is the only document confirming that he has the mob’s loyalty, and it is the only document which prosecutors could use to make a conviction against the mob’s lawyers. Therefore, he must keep it safe with him. Tony demands what is happening when Oswald leaves, so Thorne tells him that the gears of his plan are already turning. Oswald will be announced that evening as the new mayor of Gotham.
Bobby Gazzo proposes one more thing. Oswald’s political rivals and Batman need to be put out. If the police can’t do it, then he will have his niece do it. Selina Kyle, he calls her, is an assassin who is also called the Catwoman by people in Los Angeles for her trademark costume: a cat suit with cat ears on top.
When another mob boss asks if there is any other reason she has that name, he tells her that she started wearing that costume after she got famous and became known as Catwoman for, what he says was, “A little mission that went wrong.” He says that Catwoman has been working across America as his goon for the past ten years so that she could get, “The good jobs here in Gotham.” She also has become the best assassin the mob has. Thorne agrees to meet with her in two days time.
Bruce, thinking he’s going to have to toughen up to face the mob bosses, trains himself excessively (drowning himself, escaping from chains, etc.). When Alfred tries to talk sense into him, Bruce asks him forcefully to leave. Becoming paranoid, Bruce tells Vicky to watch Alfred, as he suspects his butler might be turning against him. He gives her the keys to Alfred’s room, so that she can look in his diary.
In the meeting with Selina, Thorne makes a pass at her, but she doesn’t play with it. He is ugly while she is beautiful. Gazzo says that, to pay off her bills, she has become a prostitute in Gotham. Selina, a brunette with long legs, agrees to one million dollars for completing her mission to kill Batman. She will also get half a million dollars for killing his political rivals. Thorne then excuses himself as he must leave to listen to Oswald announce himself as mayor. During his speech, Oswald crucifies Batman, calling him the worst thing that has ever happened to this city. He says that everyone else besides him has abandoned Gotham’s citizens.
He pays homage to Hamilton and becomes subject to deafening cheers. While the speech is being delivered, Catwoman takes out two of his political rivals and three witnesses to the assassination also get a bullet in the head. Also, Gordon is not present at the speech. Instead he is at the bar, telling Edward Nashton that he doesn’t trust Oswald. Gordon tells Nashton about how Oswald was subject to corruption charges, but that his lawyers got him out of it. Nashton decides to be wary about Oswald, but Bullock blows it off.
Alfred is at home with Vicky during the speech, listening to her admitting her worries for Bruce. Alfred tells her about his worry for Bruce. He thinks that Bruce might become a danger even to his allies, and advises her to leave him for both her and Bruce’s sakes. She admits she has been thinking about it, but she is still undecided. She still recalls clearly how great her and Bruce’s relationship used to be, and how his work has consumed him.
Vicky tells Alfred that Bruce told her to watch him. Staying true to her word, she took a look in Alfred’s diary. She found out that he didn’t tell Bruce that his old girlfriend, Rachel Dawes, choose Harvey Dent over Bruce because of his double life. Alfred warns her that she must never tell Bruce.
Oswald goes to the police department after the speech, where Bullock tags along with him as the mayor makes his way to Gordon’s office. Bullock tells him that Gordon doesn’t like the “new corrupt guy”. Oswald, being such a good and charismatic con artist, gets Gordon to begin trusting Oswald, who tells Gordon that he will give them fifty million dollars if they can bring down Batman and organized crime. Oswald asks Gordon to put two detectives on the job of catching Batman but not having them part of the official case, so that they will have two parties looking out for Batman. Having read their files, Oswald suggests Edward Nashton and Harvey Bullock. Gordon accepts the offer, as well as the two detectives. Edward is uneasy about this, commenting that the last he tried to catch a vigilante, it didn’t go so well. But Bullock tells him that the capture of Batman will allow them to be promoted and to make it big after years of not being recognized by the media and superiors.
Despite Alfred’s persisting that Bruce stay home and recover from his wound, Bruce goes to the docks to find out why the mob’s trucks went there. In the docks, Batman looks around for criminals but finds nothing. Suddenly Catwoman shoots at him from the top of a nearby hotel with a sniper rifle. When Batman gets under cover, she sends half a dozen goons lead by Warren White to go down to the docks shoot him down. Batman beats all of them up. He takes an injured Warren White to a boat and questions him about the mob. Warren at first says nothing, but, after being stabbed in the leg, he tells him that he’s only a pawn of the mob. When Batman asks who is leading the mob, he says that he doesn’t know, but that there’s a document saying who it is.
He also says that the assassin, Catwoman, whose real name is Selina Kyle, could potentially provide him with more info. Warren reveals her base of operations. Batman then tells him to give a message to his bosses: he’s coming after them. Batman knocks him out and leaves. Warren White tells Thorne of the ordeal, so he orders his men to take out Bobby Gazzo, threatening Selina to hurry up, or she’ll be next. Meanwhile, since his men are away, Oswald decides to have his own men kill his stepfather. Warren White tells Oswald the message Bruce gave him. Batman walks back to Wayne Manor. He begins training himself more and more (drowning himself, escaping from chains, etc), not allowing Alfred to talk sense into him. It isn’t long before Vicky leaves him, their relationship incompatible. While she packs her bags, she remembers with Bruce how they met. She was close to discovering Batman’s identity. To keep a close eye on her, Bruce asked her out. Unexpectedly, a relationship formed between them. When she found out who he was, she revealed his identity to no one. Before she leaves, she promises to still not tell anyone his secret identity. She says that if he wants to talk to him, she’ll be camped out nearby, looking into something about people complaining about bad smells coming from their houses, mentioning it as a run-of-the-mill story that might be worth looking into. She also tells him that some of Wayne Enterprises’ buildings were blown up recently by bombs and explosives composed of British products, bought from the British company, Irish Chemicals.
Late at night, Nashton and Oswald discuss their progress on finding Batman. Nashton hasn’t gotten very far. Oswald says that his men haven’t either, so he’ll put a few more officers on the case, as he thinks that is more important than finding the mob.
When Bruce looks for Vicky in the morning, he finds that she has disappeared. The police cannot find her. Batman decides to follow up on what Warren White told him about finding Catwoman. As Batman, he goes to the warehouse where she was supposed to be. The place is deserted. He finds a list of addresses that seem to have no meaning. He also finds a forgotten paper revealing another base of operations. He goes to that base of operations, finding about a dozen men there, as well as a brunette woman (the one that Oswald met) who appears to be the leader of the group: Catwoman. As he strikes, most of the men are shot by the woman who jumps out onto a driving truck. Batman follows, grabbing her leg. Being kicked in the face repeatedly, he eventually lets go. However, he is able to shoot a tracking device onto her. Temporarily knocked down, she watches as Batman approaches. Batman hopes to just take her to a warehouse and interrogate her. However, she recovers and escapes, meaning Batman can only attempt to track her. He finds a sticky note on a laptop saying that they know who he is. The only other thing worth looking is a group of pictures of the poor East End of Gotham.
Bruce, having seen from Vicky’s pictures of the East End of Gotham that the city hasn’t gotten any better, reveals his thoughts to Alfred, saying that Batman has made no difference. Alfred is shocked, trying his best to convince Bruce that he is responsible for bringing down the mob to its knees. However, Bruce is close to the point of being fully convinced that his life’s work has not been enough to help the east end and perhaps the other places on the border of Gotham. He feels that he has abandoned Gotham.
The brunette goes to a warehouse for a long period of time. He goes there, as Bruce, thinking that if they know who he is, then they’ll open fire or flee; if they don’t know who he is, they won’t respond and he won’t enter as to not blow his cover. He sees them escaping. He notices security cameras, realizing they did see him. He figures that they recognized him, as Bruce, to actually be arriving on matters that concern his other identity, Batman. He has no idea how they recognized him.
Bruce finds a list of targets, all except him covered by large red X’s. He decides to take the list home and study it. Also, Bruce finds at the warehouse a document containing a time and place for an interrogation of Coleman Reece. Batman hurries to the place too late. Mr. Reece was brutally killed in a warehouse that was blown up on the outskirts of town. Bruce anonymously calls the police and flees the murder scene. Coming back later, he lies to Gordon that he heard Reece was killed here. Gordon tells Bruce that he can’t tell him anything. Hacking into police files, Bruce find out that Mr. Reece was tortured somewhere else and moved here, and that the building was blown up by the same kind of explosives that were used to blow up his warehouses (the ones that Vicky mentioned). Also, a dead penguin and a burnt set of clothes and shoes were found at the scene, along with a bullet from a Colt Python .357 Magnum revolver that was found in Reece’s forehead. Bruce and Fox first go to see Mr. Reece’s body in the morgue, to see how cut up his body was (when Batman found him at the warehouse, he was covered in soot and ash). Seven other bodies of Jewish people are at the morgue, which Bruce is allowed to see, because he has a friend working at the morgue.
Apparently, there is a new serial killer at large. Bruce however notices that, from the pattern of the stab wounds, each person was killed by three people. Bruce wonders why the killers would only target Jewish people (Gotham has a very low Jewish population).
Bruce and Fox then go to Reece’s funeral. Bruce tells Fox that he is becoming more of a villain that he intended to. He knows that Reece was killed so that the mob could find out his identity. Thorne is at the funeral too. Walking away, he makes an appointment with Bruce, who, because of Reece’s interrogation, knows that Bruce is Batman. Bruce tells Alfred to look into anything in Britain or Ireland that might have something to do with the mob. Bruce knows that for some reason, the mob wants to blow up his buildings, because they are the same people who blew up his buildings and the building Reece was in. Bruce also realizes that, because Reece talked, the mob is going to try to hit him hard. He ponders about whether to distance himself from Alfred and relationships. However, he can’t bring himself to do it. Alfred also is tasked with hacking into police files using a keyword mentioned in “Files of Gotham City’s Police Investigations Concerning the Identity of Batman” (most of the files were old and useless), so that Batman will know what the police know about him. He then remembers the dead penguin found next to Mr. Reece’s body and tells Alfred to look into anything that might prove that the myth of the Penguin is real. Bruce knows that if the Penguin is real, he is a wealthy Brit, because he has many connections in England and can pay for highly expensive chemicals. Alfred also tells Bruce that the paper with the large red Xs is a list of assassination targets, and that most of them are politicians. Bruce also knows that if Penguin is real, he has access to or breeds penguins for slaughter.
Walking to the place where he is supposed to meet Thorne, Bruce passes by a place where the mayor is giving a speech. Realizing he’s early, Bruce listens to the speech. In a store nearby, Bruce sees Floyd Lawson, a corrupt police sergeant. Bruce comments on how casual he seems simply standing around with shoes that were either recently bought or polished. Floyd says he’s a cop who likes working for the mayor. He goes where the mayor goes. Thorne meets Bruce at an expensive restaurant where they discuss the political problem of Batman. Thorne says that he is a person who wants to help Gotham. He also is a person who likes money. He asks Bruce if he knew what it was like to live in poverty. Bruce says yes, but Thorne says he really doesn’t. Thorne tells him the urban legend of the Penguin, who he says is real. The Penguin was a man who lived with his family. Then, because of Gotham’s lawlessness, his reputation was smeared by other companies. Only one rumor was true: he killed a business rival. The wife of this business rival killed most of his family while he and his kids were on a honeymoon. At the airport, while preparing to leave, some men, hired by the vengeful wife, shot his wife and children. But the thing that upset him the most was living with no money. Not being able to survive caused his misery. Thorne says he knows Bruce is Batman, and that he also understands Batman’s character. He is a man who wants to live by morals. Mixing his morals up is the way to corrupt him. Thorne says that before Mr. Reece died, he told him that he figured out that Batman did not kill the cops or Harvey Dent. Enraged, Bruce punches him. In response, Thorne’s body guards grab Bruce, who breaks their bones. Before leaves the meeting, Bruce says to Thorne that he and the mob and gotten his message. As Bruce walks out the door, Thorne says he knows another way to get to him: to attack the ones who are close to him.
Batman goes to another warehouse where Catwoman is. He sneaks in, listening to the brunette woman. She goes to the bathroom to change and comes out, revealing that she was Vicky Vale in disguise. He rages through the room, beating up anyone in front of him. One guy is able to call the police. He ties Vicky up and leaves her for the police. When the police arrive, one of them shoots Bruce in the stomach.
Alone at home, Bruce sits down, going into shock, dying. He doesn’t have the strength to call for Alfred’s help. He starts imagining in his head the hideous interiors of Arkham Asylum, the Joker’s laugh echoing in the halls. He imagines himself in a cell, listening to the Joker’s high-pitched laugh. Realizing his mind is getting confused, he calls out to Alfred for help.
Alfred keeps Bruce home for the night. In the morning, Bruce wakes up, the bullet taken out. Bruce is extremely exhausted, finding Alfred in a chair asking him why he kept cursing Vicky. Bruce snaps awake and remembers what happened. He plans to interrogate Vicky (if necessary, violently) when he finds her.
Meanwhile, Vicky, in holding cells, is visited by a mob lawyer who gives Vicky’s journal back to her after finding it at the crime scene at the warehouse. He says that he can get her out if she promises to uphold her part of the bargain—killing Batman. She says that she agrees, and also asks who knows about Batman’s identity. The lawyer says no one knows besides her, Thorne, the few police officers who were present during the interrogation of Reece, and himself. Returning to Thorne, the lawyer tells her about her question and his answer. Before unexpectedly pulling out a gun and shooting the lawyer, Thorne says his answer to Vicky’s question was quite mistaken.
Batman, unable to track Vicky, returns to the warehouse where she was last seen. He finds on a piece of paper that the mob’s base of operations is 723 Crick Boulevard, a warehouse in the east end of Gotham. Going there, he fights his way through the warehouse. Eventually, a dozen criminals push him into the basement.
Suddenly, a gas main explodes, obliterating half the warehouse. Batman gets out of the basement, going to the upper levels, when he finds Catwoman. He pushes her down and asks her about her dealings with the mob. Unable to believe she is one of the mob’s goons, he asks her why she lied about her name and if her motivation was money, power, fame, revenge, etc; she doesn’t answer, screaming that if he doesn’t let her go and escape, she’ll die. She says that she blew up the gas main, because she was trying to help him live. She found out what the mob was doing. Her eyes pop up, she screams for him to get out of the way, and she pushes him down as she gets up. Three men with pistols open fire (she did not keep her part of the deal: killing Batman). She got up to act as his shield against the bullets.
Batman, realizing what is happening, grabs her falling body and uses his grapple to escape as the mercenaries reload. Batman takes her home, asking Alfred to keep her alive. Alfred says that she can’t survive without going to a hospital, which is out of the question because the doctors will ask what has happened, and he will not be able to provide an explanation that he can back up with evidence. He goes to her in her dying moments, refusing her wish for him to kiss her. He asks her only for information on the mob. Giving in, she says it is all in her diary, which she hands to him. Suddenly, she begins to die. He tries CPR, only able to bring her back to consciousness for a second.
He kisses her as she passes away, and then buries her in the snow. The night, Bruce drinks heavily at a bar. Returning home drunk, he crashes his car and is given a thousand dollar fine for drunk driving.
Nashton talks with Oswald again, saying that he looked into the recent chase between Batman and the five armored trucks. He realizes that Batman must be wealthy to have such high tech gadgets. Oswald tells him to look into any recent purchases of military gadgets, as only the military has the means to build such gadgets.
Alfred begins to worry about the possibility of Bruce getting arrested by police, so Bruce agrees to make escape plans. Alfred also tells Bruce that he thinks that, based on his research, there is enough fact to suggest the myth of the Penguin is real. Bruce finds out that hundreds of people have been killed with a dead Penguin lying next to their bodies, and that there were police investigating the myth of the Penguin, but they were either bribed or threatened to give up their investigations.
Bruce then runs into Floyd Lawson at a coffee shop in the morning, where they talk for a bit about the mayor’s decision to put more concentration on finding Batman rather than bringing down the mob. Bruce says goodbye to Lawson at his police car. Bruce notices Lawson put his sunglasses away in the glove compartment, inside of which is a Colt Python .357 Magnum revolver. Bruce discreetly looks in the glove compartment and finds a file labeled “Files of Gotham City’s Police Investigations Concerning the Identity of Batman”. Bruce takes this file home, before informing Oswald Copplepot that evening that Lawson killed Reece. Under pressure and threat of prosecution, Oswald agrees to fire Lawson. Bruce also tells Oswald that he will sell him a nightclub even bigger than the nightclub he already has — the Iceberg Lounge Nightclub. The catch: almost every rich person in Gotham will come to the nightclub, as it is close to the center of town than the Gotham Lounge Nightclub. Oswald must keep his eye out for a newly arrived British millionaire who might be the Penguin. Bruce will also get the Gotham Lounge Nightclub. Oswald agrees and begins to sign three checks. When Bruce says he only needs one, Oswald tells the second check is for construction companies, and the third check is for reporters in the other room. The mayor says that people in Gotham need to keep their mouth shut and that people’s ignorance is the thing that allows them to be governed. After Bruce leaves the mayor’s office, Lawson walks in and tells Oswald that he thinks that Bruce either works for, or is, Batman, because he took “Files of Gotham City’s Police Investigations Concerning the Identity of Batman”. Oswald agrees to look into it. They decide to do nothing for the time being, so that when he/they reads the files, hopefully Batman or/and Bruce will be frightened and decide to retire.
Reading the first entry in Vicky’s diary, Bruce finds out that she was starting when she started writing this diary, leaving behind a life of some sort. He decides to read from the end to the beginning, hoping that he can get to the information he needs sooner. Her last entry is about her conversation with the lawyer and her true choice not to kill him, as she has discovered that the mob is her true enemy. Apparently, she once thought that Bruce was responsible for something he wasn’t responsible for. The entry in the diary before the last entry mentions Vicky staying at the Parliament Hotel with a friend named Alex. Bruce is unsure who Alex is, so he goes to the hotel, mentioning the name Selina Kyle to the manager.
Although the manager is reluctant to reveal the names of his guests, he does so when Bruce bribes him with a large diamond worth three thousand dollars. The manager says that Selina did not come alone; she came with another woman. Bruce asks for a description of the other woman. Saying that she never checked out of her hotel and that the laws of the hotel require that the clients hand in a credit card during their duration, the manager gives Bruce the mysterious woman’s credit card. The credit card says the mysterious woman’s name is Rosanne Johnson. Strangely, the mysterious woman whose picture is on the credit card is the same as Vicky was in her brunette disguise.
For giving a thousand dollars to man in the security room, Bruce is allowed a look at the security cameras. The men recognize Vicky and Rosanne walking to their car in a security camera of the parking lot. Bruce writes down the license plate number and leaves. Bruce tracks the car to an abandoned warehouse nearby, still on the east end of Gotham. When he goes there, he is ambushed and knocked out.
Bruce wakes up in a dark room with prostitutes. The leader of the prostitutes tells him that they know who he is. They also say that they know that he’s trying to push them off their land. Before answering the false claim, Bruce notices the brunette woman, Alex. Asking them about Selina Kyle, the leader reveals that she is Selina Kyle and Catwoman, and Vicky was a member of their group and her sister, who, when in disguise, impersonated Alex. When Bruce inquires as to what Vicky was doing, Selina kicks him in the gut, saying that she is the one asking the questions. When Selina asks about how Bruce knows the identity of Selina Kyle, he tells her about his encounter with Warren White, saying that he was quite a reliable source when persuaded to. Selina tells him that if he isn’t going to tell him about why he’s trying to drive them off their land, he should tell them why he killed Vicky. Bruce tells Selina that he didn’t kill Vicky; the mob did. He and Vicky had a strong relationship. As proof, he offers her Vicky’s journal in the car. Reading the journal, the prostitutes soon realize that Vicky trusted Bruce with her life and they take off his shackles.
Selina asks how Vicky died and Bruce lies, saying he found her crawling up the stairs to his manor from her car before telling him that she was killed by the people she was working for and dying in his arms. Bruce asks what Vicky was doing. Selina tells him that their group of prostitutes and Thorne, working for the mob, made a deal that, in exchange for twenty percent of the prostitutes’ profits, Selina would kill Batman who is a nuisance for both parties. Saying that she knows Batman well, Vicky offered to take Selina’s place, saying she was Selina and dressing up as Alex so that if the mob ever wanted to kill Selina after Vicky killed Batman and they found out that Vicky took Selina’s place, they would have the wrong description. The mob told them that Batman was a nuisance for the prostitutes, as the mob found out his identity as Bruce Wayne and that the billionaire was using his influences to drive the prostitutes off their land. Bruce asks if on their side, they have witnessed anybody trying to push them off their land. Selina confirms this. Bruce is informed that for reasons unknown, the mob is pushing the prostitutes off their land. Bruce asks if anyone else is being pushed off their land, to which he is answered that everyone within fifty blocks is being pushed off their land. Selina also says that other people complain that they’re being evicted because they owe money to people whose identities they can’t reveal due to their fear of death.
People are also getting their pets killed, death threats, etc. Bruce tells the prostitutes that the mob is the enemy and is trying to push them off their land. He asks for all of the information they have regarding the mob. Selina drives Bruce to the sewers three miles away. There, Bruce is shown by the prostitutes an underground room of the mob’s explosives. He anonymously informs the police about the explosives before leaving the vicinity.
Hacking into police files, Bruce learns that the explosives are of the same British-Irish design as the ones that blew up his buildings earlier. He realizes that, by finding the mob’s explosives, he and Catwoman have just foiled whatever plan the mob had that included blowing up his buildings. Gordon, looking into the explosives as well that were tipped off to him by Batman, finds out that the explosives were bought in the name of Oswald Copplepot. Keeping this to himself, he decides to keep an eye on Copplepot and hopefully get more evidence for incrimination.
As she knows who he is, Catwoman is able to call Batman to a meeting at the east end of Gotham. He listens while she talks. She reveals that, having caught that Warren White was a reliable source, she went to him for information, and that he gave her more than he gave him. When Bruce asks her if he is okay, Catwoman casually says that she doesn’t think he is; Bruce notices that she has been flipping a sharp switchblade in her hand. She finishes cleaning up and faces him. Batman tells her not to kill, but she tells him that Warren insulted Vicky. She tells him that some of the information that she got out of Warren White was that, although he forgot the name of the place at which the Penguin’s mob meetings are done, he remembers getting a massage there. Batman decides to investigate into any suspicious massage parlors. She tells him that she could have her coworkers follow mob bosses; Batman agrees to her proposition, telling her that he doesn’t want any mob bosses killed. Nashton, who has been studying the chase with Batman and the six armored trucks on the highway, realizes that Batman tapped into their communications and has more state-of-the-art equipment than the police thought. He tells this to Oswald who is pleased to hear progress. Oswald, knowing who Batman is, gives Nashton a hint: the mayor’s men think that Batman is one of the city’s billionaires if he has such expensive equipment.
A sick woman and her baby then are shown walking up to Catwoman. Batman hides in shadow. The woman is speaking in Jewish to Catwoman, who also is fluent in the language. Catwoman then tells Batman to come out. The woman, now speaking poor English, tells him about how they’ve been terrorized out of their homes for not paying their debts to the mob. The woman’s friends have also been terrorized out of their homes. Her friends, if they have more money than other people in the neighborhood, have been subject to being taken out of their homes by corrupt lawyers. Sometimes, relatives have been murdered. Batman then realizes that the people he saw in the morgue were killed because they were relatives of Jewish people living in the East End of Gotham. Suddenly Catwoman takes her switchblade and kills the woman and her baby with one stroke. Batman grabs Catwoman painfully and asks her why she killed them. Catwoman tells him that she wanted to be killed to end her suffering. Also, the woman knew that Catwoman would be one of the few people who would have the stomach to kill them, as she doesn’t like people who submit.
Nashton and Oswald, sharing a drink in the mayor’s office, discuss their progress on finding Batman. Oswald says that own men think that, based on the places where Batman’s been sighted, he’s likely to appear soon at government buildings or the harbor. Oswald also tells him not to trust Gordon, as the commissioner and Batman used to be close acquaintances. Oswald decides to show Nashton a classified report of Batman appearing at the docks with a woman wearing a cat suit. Oswald tells him that in London, there was a vigilante called the Catwoman, responsible for assassinating at least two dozen people. The woman, although her true identity is yet unidentified, is thought to be the Catwoman. Nashton surprises Oswald when he recognizes Catwoman, saying he ran into her before. Oswald also says that Batman seems to get to the docks by going up the Gotham River using some kind of speedboat.
Catwoman’s coworkers report back in a week, claiming that the mob bosses often are dropped off by limousine drivers within a half-mile radius of Gotham City Hall. The prostitutes agree to sneak into the massage parlors, but after doing so, they claim to have found nothing suspicious in the parlors. Batman begins to suspect that by massage, Warren meant sex.
Batman decides to widen their search. As Bruce he decides to ask for a massage at a massage parlor. While being massaged by a woman, he notices many pictures of city officials and asks about who founded their business. The workers tell him that the city officials are the people who provide their funds.
Gordon and Ramirez are then shown at a bar, discussing their views on letting Batman be hunted down like an animal. A few corrupt officers then join them. Ramirez, drunk, let’s slip that Batman is innocent of killing cops. The officers then go to the public pay phone to talk to the Penguin, informing him that, to fight Gordon and Batman, they should capture Ramirez and make her publicly say that Batman is innocent, Harvey Dent is guilty, and Gordon is a liar. The mob then sends a letter to Bruce saying that they can reveal the truth about Harvey Dent anytime they please to do so. Bruce knows that he has to hit the mob hard before they can do any such thing.
When Bruce proposes donating five hundred million dollars to the East End of Gotham, to improve the life of the people living there, he is deemed unfit to govern the company and is thrown out on a leave of absence. He breaks his chair and trashes his office before leaving.
Bruce decides to use any of the Catwoman’s video cameras to keep surveillance on suspicious public officials. Doing so, he figures out that many public officials are sleeping with high-class prostitutes, although these officials have wives. Batman decides to tap into their banking accounts. However, he can’t find anything to suggest that the officials are wiring money to prostitutes. Bruce decides to speak to one of the prostitutes. Bruce follows a French redhead prostitute named Emerald, as she leaves one of the city officials’ houses, honking his horn to pull her over. He offers five hundred dollars for one hour of sex. They agree to meet at the brothel nearby that she works at called the Féminin Rouge de Amour, or Red Rooms of Love. When they arrive, Emerald talks briefly to the head pimp before they are allowed entrance to a large room decorated with scarlet cloths, scarlet walls, scarlet carpets, etc. Bruce reveals that he doesn’t want sex; he wants information regarding Warren White. She refuses, and Bruce considers torturing her, but then he sees security cameras. Instead, he offers Emerald one thousand dollars, to which she accepts.
Emerald says that she knew Warren White well and that he was her best client, coming quite often to her for sex. Bruce asks if Warren went to her often for massages, to which Emerald says yes. Bruce tells her that he will take a look around the place for evidence of anything criminal. Making a brief comment to the manager about how good Emerald is at sex, the manager says that he doesn’t know of anybody named Emerald.
Bruce catches her leaving and demands for an answer to why she lied. She says she only lied about herself because if she brought him to where she worked, there would have been a high possibility that they would have both been killed by the people she works for. Bruce then tells Alfred he wants to find the place of prostitution without the prostitutes’ help, so that they will be safe from the mob’s wrath. Bruce checks out the Gotham Lounge Nightclub, finding nothing, even inside the manager’s room. Catwoman reports to Bruce that the prostitutes are at a loss as to where the mob holds its meetings.
Nashton talks to Gordon, who tells him that if he finds the truth, everything will be in jeopardy. Nashton tells Bullock about this, when Bullock reveals that one of his relatives was one of the five victims of Batman’s wrath. Nashton heeds Oswald’s advice and ignores Gordon.
Bruce decides to accept an invitation to a party at the Iceberg Lounge Nightclub hosted by Oswald Copplepot. Bruce goes with Selina, and finds that many mob bosses are at the party. There is a new room for gambling casinos and the design is basically that of the Gotham Lounge Hotel. Bruce overhears a couple complaining about how a zoo nearby has gone out of business. Oswald gives a speech about how new buildings will be built in the East End of Gotham. An auction then starts for the new land at the East End of Gotham. Most of the land is sold to the rich mob dealers.
Selina thinks that Oswald is a member of the mob because she thinks that he plans to drive the poor out of their homes. At the end of the party, Bruce, suspicious of Oswald as he is always hanging out with mob bosses, persuades the mayor to use the subway to the business meeting on the other end of town he needs to go to. After Bruce offers to pay for tickets, Oswald agrees. Selina stays at the nightclub while they close up. Oswald reveals to Bruce that he has found someone suspicious of being the Penguin — Jay W. Wilde. Bruce calls Selina and tells her about Oswald’s new information. Selina sends her prostitutes to Jay. W. Wilde’s house. Before hanging up, Selina gives Bruce her prostitutes’ phone numbers in case there’s a problem. Bruce and Oswald arrive at the destination, and Bruce finds that it is the same warehouse where the five armored trucks went. Oswald turns around and sees Bruce uncontrolled expression of hostility. Oswald wrongly assumes that Bruce knows that he is the Penguin. Bruce only knows that Oswald is associated with the mob. However, Oswald is now very suspicious that Bruce Wayne is Batman. Bruce realizes that Jaw W. Wilde’s house is a trap and calls the prostitutes, but the line is dead — the prostitutes have been killed. Bruce then calmly tells Alfred to pick up Selina and then to come for him. On the way back home, Bruce does not tell Selina what happened. She remembers Vicky as she was around her. Bruce is surprised that Vicky used to be so vivacious. Bruce clearly remembers her as if she had something bottled up inside herself. Selina, too tired to go back to the East End of Gotham, decides to sleep with Bruce (no sex). Bruce, curious, asks her if she knew what she was getting herself into when she came to the business areas of Gotham. She says that she had.
That night, Bruce tries to begin connecting the dots. Bruce looks at pictures of Oswald’s parents and Oswald himself, and soon finds that the whole thing is a fraud, kept secret by reporters who were bribed to keep their mouth shut. Oswald has no living parents. Bruce remembers the couple complaining about a shut-down zoo. Bruce looks into this, and finds that a zoo was bought in the name of Oswald Copplepot, and that a car full of penguins supposedly crashed in the forest. Bruce realizes that the penguins weren’t even in the car; the car crash was just something to explain the missing penguins. Bruce realizes that Oswald could very well be the Penguin and the one who wants to blow up his buildings. Bruce remembers Thorne saying that the Penguin’s reputation was smeared by companies in Gotham. Bruce remembers a scandal which Wayne Enterprises discovered in the 1950’s. He realizes that Oswald wants revenge on Wayne Enterprises. However, Bruce realizes that there must be some other reason for Oswald attacking Wayne Enterprises.
In the morning, Bruce finds out Oswald’s other reason for attacking Wayne Enterprises. A new article in the newspaper reveals the death of Rupert Thorne and many other mob bosses. Thorne has been found to have been the real leader of the mob because the document signed at the mob meeting was found in his pocket. In Thorne’s office, files were found to have been stolen concerning Batman. Bruce realizes that Oswald is after power and money. He is now the leader of the mob. But to have more power in Gotham, he must have more direct access to the city’s resources (transportation, water, etc). However, Wayne Enterprises has most of the rights to these resources. If Oswald can bring down Wayne Enterprises, he will be given its access to the city’s resources. Bruce is confused, because to have complete access to the city’s resources, Oswald would have to be at a place where he can access them. The ideal place for this would be in the middle of the city. However, other buildings have taken up the space there already. It would be impossible to remove these buildings legally. Bruce realizes that Oswald wants to kill two birds with one stone. Destroying Wayne Enterprises’ primary building, Oswald gets his revenge and puts the final nail in the company’s coffin. However, Bruce just doesn’t get one thing: how would Oswald be justified in the eyes of the public to build his office where Wayne Enterprises once stood. Bruce knows there is only one way that would be justified: Oswald’s office was destroyed. Bruce tells this to Alfred but not Selina.
Selina then leaves. She later calls Bruce, telling him of a meeting that night at the docks between her and the prostitutes, in which they will interrogate a captured mobster. Bruce tells Catwoman not to kill the mobster and hangs up. Alfred then tells Bruce hat he thinks that Selina is clouding his judgment and that she will be his potential downfall. Bruce refuses to believe that about her and dismisses Alfred. Before leaving, Alfred tells Bruce that if Selina wants to earn his trust, she must tell him about her mysterious past.
Alfred hacks into police files and suddenly panics. He finds out that patrols will commence patrolling the docks that night. The patrols will be led by Nashton and Bullock, and will surely capture or kill Catwoman and the prostitutes. Bruce cannot call her, because if the police obtain Selina’s cell phone, the call will lead back to him. So he decides to head to the docks to warn Catwoman of the danger. Arriving there via his speedboat, which he hides among tall reeds, he goes to the site of the meeting, where he finds the dead body of the mobster who was interrogated by Selina and her girls.
Angered, he is momentarily distracted, allowing the patrols to sneak up and open fire, ordering for the prostitutes’ surrender. Catwoman and Batman sneak through the reeds. Using his cape, he hides her and himself from a passing police squad. However, she suddenly runs toward the police, switchblade in hand. When a lone policeman in a field of weeds begins to shoot at them, Catwoman sneaks up close to him and cuts his throat. Batman, furious at her for killing police, whom they could have simply avoided, follows her through the weeds, trying to get her knife from her so she can’t kill. She screams, “You sons of bitches killed Vicky!” Batman tackles her, but she throws her knife through the air into the neck of another police officer. Batman tries to revive him. Using the opportunity, Catwoman escapes and leaves him.
Realizing that the officer has died, Batman hurries to where the reeds are, trying to find his boat. Other officers chase him via their own speed boats, shooting at him with automatics. Nashton’s forces wait around a curve, their automatics armed and ready to fire. As Batman rounds the curve, he is ambushed. The bullets pierce the boat’s hide, causing a turbo engine to explode. His steering system is damaged, as well as many of the other systems. Batman, having gotten past police briefly, takes the chance to ram his boat through iron bars into the sewers.
Batman waits until the police pass without noticing him, and then, since he cannot turn in the narrow tunnel, he goes through the network of tunnels until he comes out an opening and swims his way up the river from which he came from his cave to the harbor.
Catwoman runs up to where Nashton is, knife raised for the kill, but she is shot by a stun gun. She is revealed to have been captured by Lawson and Oswald’s other corrupt officers. Oswald’s men, suspicious that Bruce Wayne is Batman, keep asking her if she is. Finally she breaks in and admits that is the truth. She is then allowed to leave.
Batman tells Fox he needs more repairs, but Fox says that repairing all the systems would take six months, and Fox already wants to be out of Batman’s life. Fox only agrees to fix the engines and the steering system as best he can in a week, but then he wants out. But then Bruce stars making more demands.
He wants a new suit, worried that his old one won’t hold out for long (even though Fox says it easily can if it’s repaired by him), and he also wants the sonar equipment set back up so that he can tell when the cops are coming. Fox refuses to these demands, resulting in him being fired by Bruce. Bruce tries to repair his old suit himself, but ends up destroying the fabrics accidently. He tries to make a new suit. However, his new suit is poorly built and has weak spots, especially in the neck area. Fox does as he promised, repairing the fuel tanks and steering system. However, the holes in the hide mean that Batman will have to be more careful in the heat of action.
After contacting and meeting him, Catwoman apologizes to Batman for leaving him in the fields of weeds. Batman grabs her wrists and threatens to break them if she doesn’t stop unnecessarily killing people. However, he does admit his feelings for her, describing more of a longing for a woman than loving her. She admits that she doesn’t love him, but she kisses him, offering herself completely to him if he can bring down their enemies. Bruce, doing what Alfred said to do, asks her about her mysterious past. She says that she wants revenge on the Penguin because he killed her family. Bruce pretends to accept it but can tell it’s a lie. Bruce asks her what she meant when she said that the police were responsible for killing Vicky.
Selina admits that she knows that Oswald is the Penguin, and the police are allied with him. Selina refuses to tell him how she knows that Oswald is the Penguin; she says that talking about him is too painful, which Bruce notes is evident because she never says the name Oswald.
They then try to find out where the explosives are that Oswald needs to blow up the building where his office and the explosives he needs to blow up Wayne Enterprises. Bruce knows that Penguin needs to get the job done quickly because Batman is unearthing their plot and might screw it up. Bruce knows this is the endgame. Explosives were found in and taken away from the sewers earlier, so Penguin must have another source for explosives. He also knows that getting the explosives from overseas is out of the question, because the British company has been put out of business and it would take too long to set up another contract with another company and too long to ship the explosives overseas. Bruce then remembers the list of addresses he found while tailing Vicky. He realizes that those addresses list the backup places where the explosives are produced.
Bruce goes to one of them, but finds that it is actually corrupt cops who use their connections with the military to get the state-of-the-art explosives, and then sell it to Oswald for a high price. Bruce figures out that Oswald gets the money he needs from the gambling he promotes. Bruce is then called by Oswald’s men to go to Gotham Plaza at two o’clock the next day.
Bruce checks out the other places listed in the address book. However, he can’t find what he was hoping to find: the mob’s primary base of operations. Bruce is surprised when he goes to the address listed at the bottom and finds out it is actually humanitarian aid for the poor people in Gotham. It is funded by Oswald Copplepot. Bruce hacks into Oswald’s banking records and finds that Oswald doesn’t legally have the money to raise humanitarian aid companies. Alfred shocks Bruce by saying that Bruce should let Oswald go. If Oswald doesn’t succeed in funding humanitarian aid, things will never improve in Gotham. Gotham’s only chance for survival is to let the mob survive. Bruce disagrees, saying that the citizens of Gotham will pull together and get past the poverty. Alfred warns him that if he tries to stop Penguin’s plan, all of them will be danger.
Nashton, looking into the police report on the chase between Batman, the police, and the six armored trucks, concluded that Batman has more state-of-the-art technology that the police thought, able to even intercept police communications. He concludes that Batman is among one of the few wealthy people in Gotham. He is able to narrow the list to a few wealthy people who aren’t mob bosses, because Batman fought the mob. Nashton can’t understand one thing: how could Batman, who spent years fighting the mob, have killed Harvey Dent? Using knowledge of Batman now relying on listening to police communications, Nashton begins to create a plan to trap him.
Bruce goes to Gotham Plaza and waits. Eventually a car drives up, the officer telling him to get in, which Bruce does. Inside the car is Oswald Copplepot. Bruce reveals that he knows everything about Oswald’s plan. He just wants to know one thing: why fund humanitarian aid if Oswald has proven himself to be a sociopath. Oswald says he can’t feel what other people feel. He can’t really feel sorry for other people, only himself. However, since he is the Penguin, he did once live in poverty, and it was the worst thing he ever felt. Trying to feel what other people feel, he is trying to abolish the pain of poverty.
Oswald says he wasn’t always the Penguin. He once believed in justice and the potential greatness of Gotham. However, the dirty, greedy business end of Gotham ruined his hope. Oswald says that in Gotham, politics is a game of cat-and-mouse. Bruce also reveals that he knows Oswald’s stepfather was Thorne. Oswald says it is a pity his father had to die. Oswald also reveals that his Penguin persona or the penguins his goons leave when they kill a guy are not just like a random trademark or calling card. The penguins represent the bitterness and lifelessness of Gotham, and he adopted the name Penguin because he believes Gotham has stolen the normal life he craved and forced him into a life of crime from which he cannot escape. Oswald says that the money the gambling provides is more than three times what he needs to buy the explosives. Oswald puts the spare money in the care of the mob. Having the other mob bosses buy the new land in the East End of Gotham provides money and power. Oswald technically owns the land, and the mob bosses just live on it. They have to pay him. The more money he gives to mob business, the more land he gets sold to the mob bosses, and the more money he gets in return. Bruce leaves the car, but not before Oswald gives a casual slap on the back of the head, in truth slipping a small tracking device on him.
Bruce ponders heavily about where the mob’s base of operations is. Since much of their dealings are done at the harbor, Batman decides to look there first for clues. However, there is nothing left to find. Bruce then remembers something: the mob did business with the Russians. Warren went to a place offering prostitutes — a brothel. At the end of the Soviet Union, nightclubs in Russia were sometimes called brothels. Bruce realizes that the Iceberg Lounge Nightclub is now the mob’s base of operations.
Bruce goes there, remembering what Warren White told him about there bring a signed document telling who is leading the mob. Since Thorne was the mob’s leader but is now deceased, Oswald must have made a new document. Since Thorne kept the document with him at all times, Oswald must have too. But Thorne didn’t need to be as careful as Oswald. If the press saw the new document hanging out of his pocket, he would be finished. Oswald must not have the document on his body. It must be at the Iceberg Lounge.
When Bruce goes there, heading to the manager’s room, he hears noises from a door. Opening it, he finds rooms where penguins are being raised. Kicking the door of the manager’s room down, Bruce is ambushed by Lawson. Bruce knocks him out, but not before Lawson presses a button that will bring security to the room. Having only limited time, Bruce doesn’t find the document he needs to incriminate Penguin. However, he finds plans for a shipment of explosives (backups) coming in at the docks in two nights. Before leaving, he also finds advertisement cards that Oswald’s men made, offering high-class prostitutes for high fees.
With Catwoman, Bruce figures it out. Oswald has three sources of income. The first one is the gambling. The second one is the prostitution he must be funding. When Oswald destroys Wayne Enterprises and gets the city’s resources, he will have so much power, no one, even after he retires, could bring him down without fully understanding his plot, which they won’t because Oswald will use his influence in the police department to have officers shut anyone up if they’re getting under Oswald’s skin. Oswald, getting large amounts of income, will use large amounts of money to strengthen the mob. The strong mob bosses will become rich because their businesses (arms dealing, drug dealing, etc) will flourish, and they will have to pay up to Oswald.
Oswald will put some of that back into the mob again — a vicious cycle which, in several years, will make Oswald rich and the mob all powerful. The mayor’s salary isn’t much, so Oswald will do this to get more money.
Oswald, seeing that Batman is aware of the shipment, calls the overseas company which is providing the explosives and tells them to cancel the shipment. Nashton tells Oswald of his plan to use police communications to lure Batman to a trap. Oswald suggests alerting all units in two nights to a shipment of explosives at the harbor. Oswald leaves in two nights in his yacht on vacation in the Caribbean. Nashton then puts his plan into action. He uses police communications to alert all available units to a shipment of explosives at the docks. When Batman gets there on his motorcycle, Catwoman following, he is ambushed. He gets away, but, while all the other policemen say that trying will be a fruitless effort, Nashton tracks and handicaps Batman. Batman stops Nashton from taking off his mask by handing him the document, signed by Oswald Copplepot, informing of a shipment of explosives. While Nashton is reading, Batman sees Catwoman in the bushes and signals for her not to interfere. Nashton dismisses the document as phony and begins to take off Batman’s mask, but Catwoman interferes, knocks Nashton down, and is about to kill him with the switchblade when Batman jumps up and grabs her hand, accidently resulting in his own hand being cut. Nashton taunts them, saying that their injustice and harm to Gotham can’t last forever.
At his home, Bruce, knowing that she could have just chosen to run away instead of trying to kill Nashton, asks her about her past. Selina then admits the truth: she had always known Oswald was the Penguin because she was his daughter. Back then, he was just a kind Oswald Copplepot, whose name at the time was Richard Hardy. When he was young, his parents died, and he was raised by Rupert Thorne, the mob boss. Richard was a caring person who worked legitimately and wanted nothing to do with the mob. However, having been raised by Thorne, he had a weed of greediness inside him. His wife started sleeping with one of his friends, a city official. Richard’s wife provided this friend with the means to identity theft and the ability to take money from Oswald’s own bank account. Richard tried to stop this in a court of law, but because the friend was a city official and had much influence, Richard failed. Thorne corrupted him and eventually persuaded him to kill his wife and friend, which is when Selina ran away. Richard threatened to cut her limbs off slowly and then burn her alive if she ever told anybody. From then on, Selina would hate herself for the rest of her life for submitting to Richard’s threat and not having the strength to resist the fear of death. She would hate the idea of submission for the rest of her life. With his last drops of money, Richard moved to London, changed his appearance with plastic surgery, and changed his name to Oswald Copplepot and became a respected politician. Behind the scenes, Richard gained his money back by becoming a mob boss and adopted the Penguin persona.
Selina, having no money, an incomplete education, and basically nothing of anything but clothes, became a prostitute. She was raised by poor people and respected them. She wanted revenge on Oswald, but she didn’t want to court. If she did, she had a good chance of being horribly killed by her father. Besides, she wanted to kill him herself. Her fellow prostitutes gave the resources (guns, cat suit, etc) to begin breaking into mob bosses’ homes to interrogate before killing them and finding documents that might lead her to Oswald.
By attacking Oswald in violence, she is more likely to be killed quickly and painlessly. The goons would be forced to just shoot her in the head. But this plan ended in disaster, a disaster which Selina refuses to explain to Bruce. The disaster earned her the name Catwoman from the media. She later was called Selina Kyle, a name made up the media.
Since her first plan didn’t work, she allied herself with Bobby Gazzo, a mob boss who also despised Oswald. She killed for him, pretending to be on Oswald’s side. Oswald didn’t know who she really was. Her hopes were to earn his trust and, when they could speak in private without his guards, kill him. Her last mission was to kill Batman. If she had done that, she would have gotten close enough to the mob bosses (including Oswald) to kill them. Bruce wants to know what exactly the disaster was, but Selina refuses to explain until after they defeat their enemies.
Oswald returns from vacation in a week. His yacht is carrying containers which he says are large souvenirs from Puerto Rico. Bruce knows that those containers hold the explosives. He also knows that Oswald actually does carry the evidence needed to incriminate him with him. Knowing there’s not a way to tip the police off to the explosives, Batman promises to distract the police while she searches for the evidence needed to incriminate Oswald. She kisses him, promising that if they live past this night, she will sleep with him, because she finds that she loves him as much as she is humanly possible, because she lost so much of herself the day that her mother was killed and she left home. Batman gets his speedboat and races around the yacht, guarded by police. Floyd Lawson puts a bullet in the fuel tanks. The speedboat, no longer being able to go at top speed, is being hit heavily by gunfire. Bruce doubles back and jumps out on the speedboat, gliding to and grabbing into the side of the yacht while the boat crashes into the yacht. Batman realizes that the explosion was bigger than he anticipated — the boat will sink into the harbor.
He sneaks onboard the yacht to find Catwoman and get her out of there. Batman hears gunfire and runs in the direction he heard it. He finds her amongst police officers that she killed. She is stabbing Oswald viciously, and Batman stops her before she can continue. She has the evidence she needs to incriminate Penguin, so they begin to escape. Oswald, realizing that the boat is sinking, throws himself out a window onto the docks, breaking his leg. Batman and Catwoman return to Wayne Manor. Bruce hacks into police files and finds out that, by some strange twist of luck, although the boat sank, the canisters didn’t go down with it. Instead, the force of the explosion blasted them open, revealing their contents: the explosives. The police are now interrogating Oswald as to why he was carrying the same kind of explosives that blew up Wayne Enterprises’ buildings. Bruce and Selina realize that they have one. They celebrate. Only Alfred doesn’t celebrate, because he knows that trouble will come for all of them. That night, Selina and Bruce don’t have sex, because neither is up for it. He understands. She can’t sleep that night, because she keeps imagining the scene Bruce told her: Vicky crawling up the steps to his house, dying. To comfort her, he spends an hour with her, mourning Vicky. Bruce vomits as he thinks of her, the true way she did, protecting him from the mob’s lead bullets, which cut into her body. He remembers burning the pictures he had of her to wipe away the memory of the event. Since they won’t have sex, Bruce decides to ask Selina what was the accident that stopped her from becoming a burglar.
She reveals that, when she broke into mob bosses’ homes, she killed the pets, because she saw them as a symbol of submission, which she hates. The only pet she didn’t kill were the cats, because she saw them as a symbol of not submitting. This earned her the name Catwoman from the media. When she did this in Gotham, Nashton was hired to capture her. He deduced that she admired cats. He sent her riddles (“Where do you find a dead cat?”, “Who is a dog, or where is it found?”, etc), eventually leading her to a warehouse to find the person who was tormenting her and saying that she was no cat. She was ambushed by the police. She was almost killed, and she almost killed Nashton.
Nashton and Bullock interrogate Oswald. Oswald convinces Bullock that he is innocent, but Nashton sees through the lie. He also tells Nashton and Bullock that Oswald tells Nashton that Bruce Wayne is Batman. The other officers, besides Bullock, Nashton, Gordon, and Ramirez, laugh at this ridiculous statement. Nashton, however, looks into this. He looks into Bruce Wayne’s file and finds out that Bruce Wayne has the means to get high tech technology. He also finds out that he made many purchases into the same kind of materials that Batman is known to have. Two weeks after Bruce returned to Gotham, Batman appeared. Mr. Reece, a man known to know Batman’s identity, worked at Wayne Enterprises. Nashton realizes that Bruce Wayne is, in fact, Batman. Drinking with Bullock at a bar, Nashton accidently spills the beans and tells Bullock that he knows who Batman is. When Bullock persists, in an act of kindness, Nashton tells his partner that Bruce Wayne is Batman. However, Nashton remembers Gordon saying that finding the truth would put everything in jeopardy and decides to ask Gordon why.
Nashton and Bullock talk with Gordon about this new information. Gordon tells them that they must never tell anyone. When Nashton and Bullock ask why they must not bring Batman to justice, as Batman is Harvey Dent’s killer, Ramirez reveals that this isn’t so. Nashton and Bullock discuss what to do. Nashton says that arresting the person who is fighting the mob better than the police are will end in catastrophe. Bullock says that they are two detectives who deserve to earn the fame and glory that they have not gotten yet. Bullock pretends to agree not to say anything about the truth, but later goes to the media to fan the media flames, forcing the police to arrest Bruce Wayne. Bullock does not say that Bruce Wayne is innocent.
Bruce Wayne sees that they have discovered who he is when he watches television and tells Selina and Alfred to pack their bags. Bruce goes upstairs and takes Selina’s phone and gives Alfred his so that he can talk with him about their progress while Alfred works downstairs. Before they finish packing up though, Nashton rings his doorbell. Bruce answers it with Selina while Alfred goes to the bat cave. Nashton and two other officers say that he is under arrest. Bruce sees Selina slip out her gun, but he whispers to her not to attack. Instead, she waits for his command, and then they quickly handicap the three officers (Nashton’s leg is broken) and run inside the house, locking the doors.
SWAT teams come in through the windows. Bruce and Selina try to make it to the cave, but she gets shot in the leg. Although she begs for him to help her, he can’t and leaves for the police. While running, he remembers tying Vicky up and leaving her for the police. He realizes the monster that he’s become, the emotionless machine. Bruce gets into the cave and escapes with Alfred into the sewers. They camp outside the city in a forest near a river.
Nashton interrogates Catwoman, asking for any information she has that could help them find Bruce. Having recently been tortured horribly by Penguin’s men, she eventually gives in and agrees to call him via her cell phone which she had obtained through illegal means on the condition that she be put on parole. Having no choice, Nashton finally agrees. Selina calls Bruce while the police start a trace.
Bruce picks up his phone in the middle of a forest. She says that she escaped and can meet him near the clock tower. Bruce however, sees right through her lie and hangs up before the police finish their trace. Nashton and Bullock try to figure out where Bruce was. They replay the video; Nashton hears the sound of running water and the flapping of a tent in strong wind, and Bullock hears the sound of distant gunshots being fired. They conclude that Bruce is hiding out in a hunting range. There are only two that are close to the city. One is used more often for hunting ducks and geese. The other is for hunting big game. Listening to the gunshots, they find out that hunting rifles were being fired, the kind of gun that one would use to hunt big game. They deduce that Batman is somewhere near the river in the big game hunting range. However, they soon find out when looking at a map that they couldn’t possibly find him, as there are seven rivers running through the area. They decide to look at Wayne Manor to find anything that could tell them where Bruce is. They find the list of addresses and decide to first look there. A government official working for Oswald finds out what the police are doing and decides to call the people working at the factories mentioned in the list of addresses to tell them to arm themselves and activate the tracking device on Bruce so that they can find him, kill him, and recover the documents that can incriminate the Penguin before the police recover them. They find the factories where the explosives are being developed, shoot the people with automatics, and tell everyone alive to get on their knees. They find out about the tracking device and head to the location where Bruce is.
Three mob guys are already on their way there. Bruce sees them coming and prepares to leave out the back of the tent. When he asks Alfred why he isn’t packing up, Alfred tells him that he, because of his old age, is going to be dead weight. He says that he is going to distract them while Bruce makes his escape. Otherwise they will both be dead. Bruce reluctantly agrees. Before he leaves though, Alfred tells him that he has made a difference, to which Bruce simply that he hasn’t.
Bruce watches as they goes up to Alfred and asks where Bruce is. Alfred refuses to tell them, even after they put two bullets in him. Just as the mob’s boys are about to deliver a third bullet, Bruce jumps from the side of a hill above, grabbing Alfred with him as he tumbles downhill. Bruce then hides Alfred in the mossy open side of a redwood tree while he goes back up to face the goons.
The leader of the trio sends his two other goons to spread out and find Bruce Wayne. While the leader is alone, Bruce Wayne ambushes him. He starts shooting his automatic, attracting the goons and Nashton, as well as Bullock, in one of the police cars nearby. Bullock and Nashton go to the scene of the fight. Bruce, seeing their police car, retreats into the forest, picking up and carrying Alfred. The mob goons see the police car and begin firing. In the firefight, although two of the mob goons are killed, Bullock is killed also. Nashton, calling for reinforcements, shoots the third mob guy in the leg. Nashton then mercilessly executes him.
Bruce takes Alfred to the emergency room and leaves him there before going to the Wayne Enterprises, where no one there calls the police, as they all like him. Bruce apologizes for his behavior earlier and is accepted back into the company. However, Bruce, desperate for a woman, tries to force one of the workers there into sex. She resists; offended she tells the police where Bruce is. The police get ready to attack the building, but Nashton says they shouldn’t. He says that the old method of trying to catch Batman via chase has never worked. He reveals that he found many pictures of a woman throughout Bruce’s house. He identified her via the police files as Rachel Dawes, a woman known to have been a lover of Bruce Wayne. Interrogating the prostitutes whom he knows worked with Bruce, Nashton starts asking about Rachel Dawes, trying to find out where she is, Nashton finds out that one of them read Vicky’s journal and found out that Vicky found out that Alfred found out that, before she died, Rachel, Bruce’s lover, chose Harvey Dent over Bruce Wayne.
Nashton calls Bruce via Fox’s telephone and tells him what he found out. Bruce now longer has no will to be Batman as Batman ended what could have been between him and Rachel. Bruce agrees to meet Selina under the clock tower, knowing that that place will be the place where he will be arrested. The condition Bruce agrees to is that Selina will be able to meet him every week. Fox tries to convince him that this is madness, but Bruce says that he can’t survive anymore without a woman. Bruce goes to the clock tower and kisses Selina passionately as they put the cuffs on him and she whispers that she is sorry.
Bruce is taken away to Arkham Asylum, the place where he feared he would always go. When he is put in his cell, he hears an eerie laugh. It’s the Joker, five cells down. The Joker asks what he thinks, and Bruce says that he now regrets being Batman. The Joker tells him not to, and that it wasn’t his fault. Bruce tells the Joker that he has abandoned Gotham, but the Joker reveals the truth: Gotham has abandoned him. Bruce doesn’t believe him, but later he finds out that he refuses to believe him. Bruce tells the Joker that not all is lost, because, unlike the clown, he has a woman who makes him human. The Joker reveals that he has a girlfriend too, his psychiatrist, a woman who he calls Harley. The Joker that this is not really love, but a longing for a way out of the madness. Bruce and the Joker try to do this by finding a clone, a mirror reflection — for the Joker, it is a crazy psychiatrist who has adopted his beliefs, and for Batman, it is a fellow vigilante — it takes one to know one. Bruce reveals that the Joker’s theory is wrong, because Batman and Catwoman are different because one kills, the other doesn’t. The Joker asks him if he really loves Selina. Bruce doesn’t have an answer to that question. The manager of the prison comes and takes the laughing Joker to a different cell, apologizing to Bruce to accidently put his archenemy only a few cells down.
Bruce hears from the guard that the officer who captured him is Nashton, a man known as the Riddler. The guard shows Bruce Nashton’s picture and Bruce recognizes him as the cop Selina tried to kill. Bruce meets Selina in a week, where they discuss how she has been doing. She reveals that she is miserable without him and that she has thoughts of suicide. Reminding him that she hates herself for submitting to her father’s command not to reveal his atrocities to authorities, she tells him that the only thing that’s kept her alive for the past few years was the thought of revenge against her father. She knows now that she can no longer do that. She is living by a thread only because of her love for him.
Bruce, knowing that for some reason, she targeted Nashton, asks her about who he is and what he did to her. Selina says that she told him, but Bruce knows that she thinks of it a different way. Selina eventually admits that she thinks that she lost a part of herself that night, that she died in a way, and that she wants revenge on her father and Nashton, no matter the cost. When Bruce asks if she is willing to sacrifice love or him, or even worse, Gotham (remembering what Alfred said about not attacking Penguin), she says that she is. Bruce now sees her not as the loving, suffering person he thought she was, but as a vengeful person who has lost her humanity. Bruce ends the relationship.
Bruce sees Gordon shortly after. Bruce says that he will plead guilty, because, he thinks, by asking the guards about the decreasing crime rate, that Gotham has recovered and no longer needs a hero. Gordon, however, disagrees, saying that he has to be convicted to order to end the crime in Gotham. Over the past few years, the frequency of crime has been at an all time low for Gotham. The crime rate has taken a steep vertical drop since Batman’s arrest. Bruce says that Gotham is getting better, because of his efforts. Bruce says that it’s time for him to stop running and have a normal life. He doesn’t want to be the scapegoat. Gordon pities him but knows that he has to be the scapegoat. Gordon says that they’ve gone to all the factories listed in the list of addresses. However, the explosives have already been moved. Bruce tells him what Penguin’s plan is. When Gordon leaves to tell the police, Bruce tells him not to, because no one can stop it now. Bruce tells Gordon to kindly to everything in his power to help him walk away scathed as little as possible. But Gordon says that that’s impossible, even though he wishes he could. The prosecution is built out of greedy, corrupt, powerful lawyers, and planted evidence, even evidence that falsely suggests that he killed Vicky Vale.
Bruce is taken to trial. As he walks, the people of Gotham are shown hating and cursing him. As promised, Bruce pleads not guilty. However, the prosecution’s case against him is so powerful, that even the judge says that he, personally, believes that Bruce should get the noose (Gotham’s method of execution is hanging). The judge soon says that court is adjourned. Before that, Bruce says one more thing: he will find the only survivor of the killings a few years ago who can prove him innocent.
Gordon goes to see Bruce in his cell, deeming him insane if he thinks that either he or his family will say that he is innocent, even though they know he is. Bruce says he will convince Ramirez to say that he is innocent. Bruce calls her in a few days later, trying to convince her to say that he is innocent. After her and Bruce’s meeting, Gordon meets her to convince to say that he is guilty. She is undecided after these meetings.
Bruce asks to see Nashton, to ask why he is called the Riddler, pondering as to why the police officer to caught Batman would be given the name of one who forces others to try to understand, while that one does not understand something himself. Nashton reveals that he got temporary media fame for his method of sending riddles to Catwoman. Bruce assumes that he, like so many others, is just a media playboy. Nashton says that he is the exact opposite. When Bruce asks him if he is a public servant, Nashton says yes. Bruce asks for a riddle of morality. Nashton riddles him as to whether or not Gotham deserves the truth about Harvey Dent. Bruce says Gotham does; he just doesn’t want to take the fall any longer. Nashton, influenced by Gordon, says that Gotham doesn’t deserve the truth.
Nashton reveals that Selina has attempted suicide via jumping in front of a subway train. She is alive and wants to talk to him. Bruce talks to her for ten minutes the next day. Talking to Selina, Bruce apologizes for breaking up and tries to persuade her to join him in mending her relationship. Selina reveals that since she met him, she’s always wanted to live with Bruce in his large house, to destroy the bonds of her loneliness. However, as she has thought about it, she has come to the conclusion that her hope was futile, that he is too great to love a British prostitute who has lost her humanity. Bruce tries to change her opinion, but she reveals that she will not see him again. She then leaves, Bruce, who is stunned and silent. Bruce tells her that someday, he will escape, and that they will be together once more. She says that that day will never come. Nashton, having been informed about the conversation by one of the guards who were present at the time, goes to Bruce and tells him that if he ever tries to escape, he will call in reinforcements, and, if necessary, shoot him. Bruce tells him that if he has to, he’ll break his leg, and, if necessary, kill him. He no longer has boundaries.
Bruce says that he knows who Nashton is. He is nothing more than a detective who hopes to make his name. He doesn’t care or know anything about the community. Nashton is heavily insulted at being called such an awful person, and asks Bruce to test him to see if he is a man of honor. Bruce then asks him a riddle: if a mob of angry, deranged criminals was about to kill an innocent man, would he kill the mob to save the innocent. Nashton says yes, but Bruce says he should let a lot of guilty people live rather than kill them to save one. Nashton asks him if he could live his life over, would he be Batman, or Bruce Wayne, a Harvey Dent-like crusader for legitimate justice. Bruce has an answer for Nashton’s riddle. He would be Harvey Dent if he had the choice. For several years, he has tried to break away from being a vigilante, but he couldn’t, as he was a victim of justice. Nashton doesn’t understand, so Bruce tells him that he really doesn’t know Gotham. The city is like wild Mexico, and Batman tried to an anti-bandit. But now the railroad is coming, and his breed is dying out. Bruce tells him that the people of Gotham before has never been judged, and asks Nashton one last riddle: will Gotham be judged guilty or innocent?
Bruce then calls his witness, Ramirez, to court. When asked if Bruce is the killer, she thinks for a moment before answering a yes. Bruce then gives Gordon a dark look that they are now enemies, who are fighting over his judgment.
Bruce tells Nashton in their last meeting that he will escape. Nashton says that they will wage war, and no matter the price, one will annihilate the other. Nashton asks that he thinks Gotham will be judged innocent. Bruce thinks that Gotham will be judged guilty.
Nashton tells him that Selina has committed suicide via cyanide, leaving a suicide note apologizing to Bruce for breaking up with him because she could not let him love and be human. Bruce requests to see Alfred. Going to Alfred, Bruce apologizes for all the wrong things he’s done. Alfred does not forgive, saying that it is too late for apologies and his judgment has come. Bruce asks if Rachel really did pick Harvey over him. Alfred tells the truth. Distraught, Bruce accidently hits Alfred in the chest, causing internal bleeding to his already fragile body. Shocked at what he is done, Bruce screams in agony, screaming Rachel’s name, cursing Alfred, Rachel, Harvey Dent, and Gotham, saying that he doesn’t deserve any of this torture. Bruce is locked away in an asylum for a month.
Oswald, having bribed the judge, walks away free. While packing up, one of his workers in the cell next to him asks what is going to happen to the evidence that will incriminate them. Oswald tells him that Bruce will die and the evidence will be buried in the snow, where no one will find it until the snow melts and turns the print illegible. The worker, distraught, asks if they could just let Bruce walk away and force him not to say anything and have Oswald take back his order. Oswald reveals that it wasn’t on his order. When the worker asks if Oswald is just going to let him die, Oswald says yes.
Bruce is let out of the asylum. First he goes to Fox, where he gives inaudible instructions for the documents that could incriminate Penguin. Then he goes to his manor. He is on bail, but is not allowed to enter his house. Nashton, suspicious, follows Bruce into the manor, pulling out his gun. Bruce, knowing he is there, as Nashton accidently stepped on a twig, runs in and hides in the bat-cave. Nashton runs in and can’t find him. He smells gasoline, and finds that the scent is coming from the wall. Realizing the wall is hollow, he kicks it down. He finds Bruce inside the cave, inside of which are empty gasoline cans and a lit match in Bruce’s hand. Bruce asks if Nashton will call in reinforcements. As Nashton does, Bruce drops the match, lighting the place on fire. Nashton sees him go inside a small crevice.
As firefighters come and the cave cools, revealing the place almost completely destroyed. Gordon orders everything left to be destroyed. When Nashton asks why, Gordon says that they are witnessing the end of the vigilantes. Gotham, past the endless cycle of vigilantes, must never remember the horrors of this time. Nashton walks into the burnt cave, going to the crevice into which Bruce disappeared. Walking up to it, he faintly hears water. When the police try to pry open the crevice, they find it impossible, as Bruce has welded it shut. Suddenly, Nashton remembers the firefight at the harbor and goes to that place. Before going, he has an officer confirm his faint memory of traces of steel found at the place where Batman disappeared. He looks at what’s left of the speedboat and finds it made out of stainless steel, a different steel that the steel found at the place where Batman disappeared. Going to the harbor, he finds the hole that Bruce’s speedboat left when it rammed into steel bars, entering the sewers. He realizes that Batman uses the sewers.
Bruce, running in the sewers, takes a rest until he hears the barking of dogs and the shouting of police. He runs further, and eventually climbs out of the sewers, finding himself on the outskirts of town, near a steel manufacturing plant. He goes inside, and the police follow him. Bruce calls Fox to pick him up. Gordon, Lawson, and Nashton quickly get to the scene. They chase him through the place, just opening up as it is morning.
Nashton quickly gets a glimpse of him and follows him alone down into the lower, hotter levels. Nashton follows him into a dark room, where Bruce ambushes him, contemplating on whether or not to kill him. If Bruce killed him, he would guarantee his escape. As Bruce attempts to get his hands around Nashton’s squirming neck, Nashton reveals that, out of respect for Selina, he let her escape from his riddle-trap, and that he saved his life by telling them to use rubber bullets. Bruce, taking mercy on him, throws Nashton into a tub of hot water before escaping to temporarily disorient him. Nashton emerges, his gun wet and unusable, and calls reinforcements down. When the reinforcements come, Nashton borrows a double–barreled shotgun.
Fox arrives and sees Bruce running, about to jump off a balcony to get to a web of reinforcing steel below the balcony where he can quickly get to Fox and to safety. Bruce runs behind Nashton, who is again alone. Nashton sees his shadow, swivels around, and shoots at Bruce as he jumps. Bruce goes to where Bruce jumped and doesn’t see anything. However, there is a little blood. Bruce was hit by one of the bullets. Fox yells in dismay and jumps up onto the reinforcing steel, climbing up to where Bruce is.
Nashton calls in the other officers who come to the balcony. Gordon comes and climbs down the reinforcing steel, eventually finding Bruce and Fox hidden in a wooden crate. Bruce is bleeding heavily, having been shot in the neck. Gordon says that he can get Bruce a lighter sentence of ten or fifteen years if he pleads guilty, instead of denying it and getting life. Bruce says that if he can’t have a normal life, then he won’t have a life. He will always be caught in the endless cycle of becoming a vigilante. There’s no escape from it. Bruce, however, will try to fight as Harvey Dent did — legitimately. Gordon, giving up on trying to give Bruce the lighter sentence while still taking the fall, picks Bruce up and has Fox help him up the reinforcing steel. Gordon carries Bruce outside to a summoned ambulance.
Bruce spends a week in the hospital recovering. When Fox comes at Bruce’s request, Bruce tells him that, looking at the evidence needed to incriminate Penguin, he found out that city hall, the Wayne Enterprises building, and two other buildings will be destroyed that day with the explosives. When Fox tries to leave to stop, Bruce tells him that there’s nothing that can stop it. Bruce also tells Fox not to go to Wayne Enterprises, as he knows that Fox will go inside the doomed buildings and be killed trying to save people. Alfred comes and Bruce tells him to give Bruce’s money to the East End, to improve the peoples’ life styles. Oswald comes in next, bidding him farewell. Nashton comes at Bruce’s request. Suddenly he sees an unexpected group of eight, who are on Penguin’s payroll, who are killing Bruce. Lawson is the leader, injecting lethal chemicals into Bruce’s bloodstream via needle while the others hold Bruce still and keep him from calling for help. Nashton is forced to shoot them all to try to save Bruce. Since Lawson did not finish the injection, Bruce is dying slowly.
Bruce tells Nashton that he is like a stray dog being put to sleep. He horrors over the double-life he has lived, where he has lost everything, where he has not lived the normal life. Nashton tells him that it is man’s nature to live a double-life. Unlike others, Bruce led compassionate lives. Bruce then dies. Oswald relaxes in his limousine, while a distant boom is heard, and the camera pans up to the smoke rising from the ruins of the destroyed buildings.
At the scene of Bruce’s murder, Gordon receives a package from Bruce, delivered by the post office. It’s the evidence needed to incriminate the Penguin.
Gordon walks outside and Nashton follows. Gordon begins to bury the evidence in the snow. Nashton takes the evidence from his hands and asks Gordon why he would let the mob live. Gordon reveals that he did a private investigation, found out Penguin’s plan, and thought the same way as Alfred — the humanitarian group made all the difference.
Gordon speaks at Bruce’s funeral, being forced to condemn Batman. Oswald gives a speech as well, earning a ruckus of applause for his celebration of the death of Batman. Nashton gives a speech as well, revealing the truth about Harvey Dent being the real killer. A group of policeman come up and arrest Oswald and the other corrupt men. Nashton also reveals that Oswald as well as others worked for the mob and that he has taken the evidence needed to incriminate them to court. When someone asks who their hero is, Nashton reveals that Batman is their hero, and that Gotham must always remember her terrible beginnings and the person who brought them from the streets to a glorious city.
Gordon and Nashton talk for a while. Gordon tells him that he is now a vigilante, as he has gone against the law. Gordon says that the cycle of the existence of vigilantes will possibly never end. Fox walks up and gives Gordon four hundred million dollars to clean up and strengthen the police force. Nashton tells Gordon about what Bruce said about Gotham being judged as guilty. When Gordon says that Gotham is obviously innocent, Nashton reveals that he has been thinking and has come to the realization that Gotham is not the poor and the needy, but the greedy and the corrupt. Gotham is the people such as Penguin, who will be judged, convicted, and punished. Gordon and Lawson think while they watch the Penguin and his men walking away to their judgment.

CHRISTOPHER said...

Put my vote on here for Julianne Moore. I´m leaving to Europe and my vote won´t register. Just put my vote on here for me, please.

riddler22 said...

Same here man. My vote won´t register either. Check your system. Put my vote on here too. Thanks Christopher for the idea of asking someone else for putting your vote on.

nolan said...

Put my vote on too. It won´t register. My vote´s for Julianne Moore.

riddler22 said...

By the way, my vote was originally gonna be for Michelle Monoghan, but now it´s for Julianne Moore after watching Children of Men and Jurassic Park 2.

Anonymous said...

http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/ChroniclesofMoeniaArcis/news/?a=6927

Mind At Large said...

Ok I'm sure you did this for a reason, but still to give it justice, the Joker is not featured on your list. No need to explain, I understand. But I did want to Leave this comment.... IF THE JOKER RETURNS, JAVIER BARDEM FOR JOKER!!!!

Anonymous said...

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check this out
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/portals/news/?a=10592

someone over on comicbookmovie.com posted up an email he received recently
the email reads:

Happy Birth_ay!
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Y R E T S Y M E H T E R A H S

the missing letters spell out: detective
the letters at the end of the email is backwards for
S H A R E T H E M Y S T E R Y

www.sharethemystery.com is parked at godaddy.com

Anonymous said...

Why isn't Tobias Whale on here? He's realistic enough. Atleast deserves a page. He's a big fat guy who runs the mob, who stabs peole with a harpoon. Not as well known as Rupert Thorn, and a relatively unknown, He still looks like a possible candidate.

Bill said...

Isn't Whale a Black Lightning villain? I think his introduction to Gotham is pretty recent, and negligible compared to his Black Lightning history.

Anonymous said...

I'm thinking of a couple of small time, newer villains: False-face, and Humpty Dumpty.

Commissioner Gordon said...

Bill, PLEASE respond to this at your EARLY CONVIENIENCE.

How about...HARVEY BULLOCK and EDWARD NASHTON as partners. GOOD COP, BAD COP. NASHTON is an antihero and not a villain.

Bill said...

I could see Eddie and Harvey as a good team-up, but to have Nashton be a cop would be contrary to everything about the character and he'd cease to be the Riddler. He'd never submit to authority the way a cop has to, he'd never be willing to ride around in a squad car and write traffic tickets to work his way up to detective, or waste his considerable genius on boring/obvious cases.

But you could make that team-up happen. Keep Nashton as a private investigator (that way he's his own boss and picks his own cases), have the city hire him as a consultant to track down Batman, and make Bullock his police liaison.

It wouldn't exactly be good cop, bad cop, since Bullock (noble as his intentions are) isn't exactly a by-the-book cop. But I think it'd be an interesting dynamic.

And, now that I think about it, it'd be a nice setup to borrow the end of the Riddler's story in Hush (spoilers here if you want them), which was one of the few parts of Hush I liked.

Commissioner Gordon said...

First of all Bill, I should have said this sooner, but I didn't and I apologise. But I'll say it now: I love your ideas! This site is great.

I'm writing a script, Bill, about Edward Nashton being the Riddler, which I hope to send to Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan, and Emma Thomas (not David S. Goyer, because my script has Catwoman and the Penguin as well). In my eyes, Eddie is a big hotshot (no, NOT Batman Forever). Councilman Oswald Copplepot forces Gordon to hire Eddie to track down Batman. Eddie is the brains, and Bullock the brawn. Eddie uses riddles ("When does a killer...not kill?" Batman: the Long Halloween.) Bullock is older and more experienced, inspiring Nashton, whose brothers are famous cops. Nashton hopes to become Commissioner one day and is very by the book. Bullock is blunt and not by the book. They barely put up with each other, but they are good friends. The whole idea of the Riddler, in my eyes, to prevent him from being like the Joker, is that he asks all these questions, but, smart as he is, can never quite piece it all together no matter how many times people tell him. The Penguin does try to corrupt him, but he fails. I won't say too much, because there is no way Nolan will accept my script if I give away too much.

If I were casting, I would chose Casey Affleck for the Riddler, Ben Kingsley for the Penguin, and (HEAR ME OUT!) Brendan Fraser for Bullock (he doesn't really neeed to be fat).

As before, Bill, I only wish for you to contemplate and respond at your early convienience.


With regards from the city,

Commissioner James Gordon

Bill said...

Gosh, you lost me at Brendan Fraser. He's really one of my least favorite actors.

I should point out, and please don't let this discourage you, that anyone associated with a Batman movie will refuse to look at your script for legal reasons. The problem is that if they even consider reading your script, then go on to write a slightly similar story on their own, you could sue them claiming they stole your idea. So as a matter of policy, they reject spec scripts without looking at them.

It's a real long shot, but the way to go about it is to send your script to an agent. Or lots of agents. Send it enough places and there's a decent chance someone will at least look at it, and if it's good enough, they'll let someone important read it, and then it might work its way into the hands of someone involved with Batman.

Like I said, it's a long shot, so go into it knowing that your script will almost certainly not get made. If that makes it no fun, then skip it entirely. If the process of developing your ideas and putting them to paper would be satisfying in its own, then go for it. And then go all out trying to get it into the right hands, and know I'll have my fingers crossed for you.

Commissioner Gordon said...

Thanks Bill for responding.

THanks also for the advice about sending it to agents.

But wasn't Brendan Fraser good in Crash? If you think about it, his talent, I think, is larger than his roles (YES, I HATE THE MUMMY)

I don't want to keep nagging you by the way, it's just that you seem to know much about this stuff.

By the way, is "Gotham's Judgement" a good title?

Thank you, Bill, for putting up with me.

With regards from the city,
Commissioner James Gordon

Commissioner Gordon said...

Oh, not to be rude, but Btw, what about Casey Affleck and Ben Kingsley?

Bill said...

Casey Affleck would be quite good. Ben Kingley's not a typical choice for Penguin, but he's a good enough actor that I'm sure he'd make it work.

As for Fraser, I think his talent is for playing naive and enthusiastic. George of the Jungle, or that movie with Albert Brooks where he had a 110mph fastball. Anything else I've seen him in, I didn't find him all that believable. But it could just be my tastes.

Between "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight," they seem to prefer straightforward titles for this incarnation of the franchise. "Gotham's Judgement" is a fine title, but I would think just "Gotham City" fits the series better.

Commissioner Gordon said...

THanks Bill.

I'm sorry to keep nagging you. I know that I must be a pain, and I apologise.

Do you know how I can find or contact agents?

I live in Folsom, CA.

Bill said...

Now you're getting beyond what I know, but from some quick googling, this sounds like good advice.

Commissioner Gordon said...

Thanks Bill!

By the way, how many agents would you THINK I would have to send a script to to have a GOOD (70/30, 60/40)chance of having it read?

Bill said...

I don't really know that either, but my guess would be a lot. There's got to be millions of people out there with ideas for Batman scripts, and if 1% of those take the time to write them and 1% of those go sending them to agents, that's still hundreds of Batman scripts flooding these agents.

Commissioner Gordon said...

Thanks a lot Bill!

Oh, not to be rude, but would having Deadshot (without the costume!) as a hitman, not even a secondary villain, be a good idea? (Mulvihill in Chinatown)

Bill said...

They're working on a Suicide Squad movie, which almost certainly would include Deadshot, so I think they'd prefer not to use him in a Batman movie as well.

Commissioner Gordon said...

Really Bill, thanks a lot!

Would it be a good idea for either Alfred or Lucius think that Bruce's crusade against the Penguin would hurt the city (because if the Penguin could keep the city alive, barely, it would be better than the city turning into the East End, which is in my script)?

I really don't mean to bother you.

I'm sorry.

Bill said...

I could see either of them bringing that up to make sure Batman was aware of the consequences of taking down the Penguin, but I can't imagine either actually believing it.

Commissioner Gordon said...

THANKS BILL!

riddler22 said...

Riddle me this.

Riddle me that...

Bill, if you were writing B3, what you have as the script and title?

Anonymous said...

I'd like to see a Silence of the Lambs type movie, with maybe Black Mask as a brutal killer they're trying to catch, and Riddler in the Hannibal Lecter role, talking mostly in riddles and playing mind games.

Commissioner Gordon said...

Isn't Black Mask just a gangster version of Two-face, except more brutal (burning the face, past friendship with Bruce, etc)?

Anonymous said...

His personality isn't similar to Two-Face at all.

Bill said...

Two-Face is ruled by the coin, and has more or less surrendered all control to it. Black Mask, on the other hand, is his own boss. He's a power-hungry gangster, but also a sadist.

When the coin comes scarred side up, they are pretty similar, though Black Mask is greedier and more motivated by self-interest. But half the time (in theory, anyway... they generally have him land on the scarred side 95% of the time) he's interested in maintaining law and order, which is nothing at all like Black Mask.

Anonymous said...

Has anyone thought that Red Skull might appear in the upcoming Captain America movie. Black Mask is be way too similar to that character.

Bill said...

Yeah, I don't think there's any finalized script for Cap yet, but while Red Skull is definitely his best-known villain, it seems 50/50 lately as to whether they use the best-known villain in the first movie of a potential franchise. Batman Begins and Iron Man were the most successful lately, and they only teased the Joker and the Mandarin, respectively, and I'm sure there are others I'm not thinking of.

Commissioner Gordon said...

Okay, but wouldn't the burning of Black Mask bore someone like Roger Ebert (here we go again)? I think that the money is a given, so what Nolan needs to focus on is observing what critics say.

Bill said...

I think that's how you get in trouble. If you try to make something that will make money, you come off like a hack with no real ability. If you try to make something for critics, you make pretentious nonsense.

You just go out there and make something you'd want to watch, and hope for the best.

Commissioner Gordon said...

Some Riddlers:

Jeff Goldblum
Ben Kingsley
Robert Redford
Brendan Fraser
Clive Owen
Jake Gyllenhal (you put my lover in a nuthouse and killed ny sis)
Anthony Hopkins
Robert de Niro
Al Pacino
Robin Williams
Joe Pantoliano
Harrison Ford
Tommy Lee Jones
Viggo Mortenson
Elijah Wood
Andy Serkis
Matt Damon
Ben Affleck
Brad Pitt
Colin Farrell
Tobey Maguire
Thomas Hayden Church
Paul Giamatti
Jeff Bridges
Mickey Rork
Nick Nocle
Christopher Walkn
Jackie Earle Haley
Haley Joel Osment

Get one for Bullock, please!
Penguin

Commissioner Gordon said...

Michael Sheen for Riddler

Commissioner Gordon said...

There is only one way Poison Ivy could work: a seductress working for the Penguin who kills rival mob bosses by seducing them and poisoning them with fatal herbs

Commissioner Gordon said...

How would I prevent "GOTHAM'S JUDGMENT" from becoming THE GODFATHER PART III or THE TWO JAKES?

Greenlite said...

I'm thinking Catwoman is just a burglar, but Poison Ivy can be a bio-terrorist, which is much more threatening.

Poison Ivy can be a talented researcher funded by some evil co-operation or by Wayne Enterprise (Bruce Wayne decides to develop biochemical weapons or prevention of similar attacks as he had the same experience from Ras Al Ghul and Scarecrow).

PI and Bruce then somehow becomes soul mate, but PI decides to turn evil and blow up buildings and gassing communities, causing Batman to fight her.

In TDK we lost Batman's love interest, and the actor who played the agent of chaos. PI might be a good villain to use as she can fill both roles.

Commissioner Gordon said...

If I turn my script in TOO LATE for a THIRD BATMAN FILM, could it be accepted for a FOURTH, or will NOLAN have GONE?

Bill said...

No matter what, there will be a 4th movie, whether Nolan's involved or not.

Anonymous said...

you guys know it doesn't have to be "neo-realistic", it just has be to be realistic "enough". 'cause really, how realistic is fear gas and having half of your body WITHOUT SKIN on it? the series isn't as realistic as you all make it out to be.

disco3 said...

hey serious site man. I thought of a bad guy you havn't done(thats sounds wrong) from the Adam West TV series the Bookworm. not too sure if he was in the comics nearly certain he was. I dont mind who the next bad guy is because i think Nolan will not fuck it up. unless he picks johny Depp to be the riddler. I think he would totally fuck it up just like he made a shit of john delinger in public enemies. I seen documentries about john delinger more interesting then that film. I think Guy Pearse would be the ultimate Riddler. also what would you think of Jack Black as the penquin not as an acentrick chracter but in a serious role. I think he could nail it.

Anonymous said...

I hope the villain won't be Riddler. I know he's very different from Joker, but what could he do in a movie that hasn't already been done in Nolan's movies. Mind games? Done with Joker. Knowing Batman's identity? Don with Ra's. What's left, traps? I don't want a lame version of Jigsaw?

Black Mask and Bane, now these villains seem like better choices. And very probable too, I think. Mask would rule the underworld, and he could even control the cops, and send everyone after Batman. Bane uses the opporturnity to try to break the bat.

Anonymous said...

Bane doesn't seem probable at all to me. Save him for other, more action based Batman movies by some other director.

On other hand Riddler seems very probable. The trap aspect would actually make him interesting and different from the Joker. The traps wouldn't have to be Saw level in brutality. I'm thinking the movie "Untraceable". Look it up. What's important is that
all victims must have a chance to survive if the only have enough wit. Also Riddler should have some secret agenda too, not just punishing people. Maybe his games could be a red herring to distract Batman from some big heist, like in "Die Hard with a Vengeance".

Anonymous said...

If we assume that Batman needs to be redeemed and have reached the stage he is in in the comics by the end of the next movie, the Riddler and Black Mask seem most logical choices storyvise.

Riddler would be clever enough to discover the truth about Harvey and reveal it, while taking down such a horrible criminal as Black Mask would make Batman once again earn the trust of the city.

Anonymous said...

Moreover, Riddler and Mask would fit perfectly as continuations of the themes explored in both BB and TDK.

Anonymous said...

I'm all for the riddler, But i think he needs too be taken in a tottally different direction than any of the other villains. We've seen Psychotic (The Joker), Frightening (Scarecrow), A victim (Two-face), and a terrorist (Rahs al Ghul). SO the riddler needs to be something tottally different. He needs to push batman beyond what he's been through. He needs to be a real test of batman wit and his morals. A sort of criminal mastermind, who always seems too know what batman will do next.

Anonymous said...

BILL, PLEASE RESPOND TO THIS:
Indeed, there are several good ideas that could reinvent the Riddler as a sophisticating character. Earlier pages in this thread allude to the possibility of having a "Fall of Man" allegory, that would cast Edward Nashton as a gifted but tragically flawed Faustian figure, whose self-destructive obsession with Batman not only brings out his worst demons (e.g. his narcissism, vanity, and arrogance) but leads him to become a monster. Of course, he is vainglorious of his own talents and jealous they aren't being recognized, but in order to truly distinguish him from other criminals in the Nolanverse, his motives need to be deeper than simply wanting to flaunt his superior intellect (which, quite frankly, sounds childish). So, for a second, let's imagine Edward Nashton as a man who has devoted his entire life finding answers, only to struggle with the greatest puzzle of them all, "Who is the man behind the Mask?" He knows that uncovering the identity of Batman would undermine Gotham's fight against crime, but he ignores this and pursues his own agenda. This plot would contain elements relating to the "Forbidden Fruit from the Tree of Knowledge" (kudos to those who spotted the imagery in Magritte's 'The Son Of Man'...A green apple blocking the face of a man wearing a bowler hat? Genius! )

We all know Riddler's primary motivation is to tell the truth, and that having knowledge others lack is what empowers him to taunt people with his puzzles. However, the Riddler can also be someone who feels the world is built upon lies, specifically "fear of the truth." He wants the people of Gotham to face the truth about themselves, even if what they find frightens them. He sees life as the biggest riddle of all, but the easiest to solve...It's just that people are unwilling to accept the answer he has for them. That's why he leaves clues at his crimes. For Nashton, it's all about the power of truth. Whereas in TDK, Batman felt that the people of Gotham "Deserve more than the Truth", Edward Naston is someone who feels that we ought to embrace it. In this vein, the Riddler becomes a symbol of the Truth, and its potential to destroy and inflict harm (especially if he exposes Harvey Dent and succeeds in denying Gotham of its martyr and "White Knight)

That's why Batman is such an ideal opponent...Here's a man who not only refuses to reveal his identity (presenting an unsolvable intellectual challenge) but who must hide behind a mask in order to be himself. Batman reflects society's unwillingness to be honest with itself, and yet people continue to look up to him as a hero? To Edward, this simply doesn't make sense....and so it deranges him. Nashton has accepted the truth about the world, and wants others to realize the lies they create, but he sees Batman as his greatest obstacle, and over time, he comes to see Batman as the embodiment of Gotham's darkest secrets and its worst lies. As others have pointed out, a conflict like this would would follow the increasing complexity of what drives Batman's villians in the Nolanverse (If Ra's Al was saying, "Gotham, you are evil, I will destroy you!", and Joker "Gotham you are evil, and you will destroy each other!", then Riddler would say, "Gotham, you are complicit in an evil that will eventually destroy you!") Not to mention it adds depth to an interesting villain who, otherwise, has been painfully underdeveloped as an character

Bill said...

You certainly have an outline for an interesting character there, but I'm not sure it's exactly the Riddler. This idea that he has a truth telling obsession... is not exactly right, I don't think.

He has a compulsion to find the truth, and to challenge others to find it, but he will not just hand out answers. They're too precious to him.

One of my favorite Riddler moments in the comics is when he learned that Bruce Wayne is Batman. The Riddler was beyond excited, preparing to tell everyone. Batman points out that for now, the Riddler knows something none of his peers know. But if he tells everyone, the knowledge of Batman's identity ceases to be special. So the Riddler keeps it a secret.

Commissioner Gordon said...

Bill,

I'm almost out of time for a script for Nolan, and just a few days ago, my file for my script got corrupted.

Can I call Syncopy Films and give them an outline of my script? Goyer penned an outline.

Thanks for your time,

The Commissioner

Anonymous said...

hey love the site wasted lots of my crapy time reading throught it. just a comment you might not get if your not from Ireland or the UK, but does Chris Nolan look very similar to Harry Enfeild. anyway love the site and I would agree with you that Tom Hardy will be unreal in the next batman flick who ever he plays. PS happy new year!