Riddler Poll Results

Michael Emerson won the Riddler poll, narrowly defeating Johnny Depp. Crispin Glover, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Edward Norton, and Guy Pearce tied for a distant third. I think Emerson would be my preference, but I'm still surprised by the results.

Riddler Poll: Final Round

My original intent was to take the winners of the 9 rounds (Guy Pearce won round 9, if you didn't catch that) plus the top scoring second place finisher, but Joseph Gordon-Levitt emerged as a major contender for the part of the Riddler after I started all this, so I threw him in as well. Sorry, Paul Bettany fans. Here are the 10 finalists, vote, as usual, over to the right of the page.

Casey Affleck
(is it me, or does his head look huge in that picture?)

Johnny Depp

Michael Emerson

Crispin Glover

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Michael C. Hall

Hugh Laurie

Edward Norton

Guy Pearce

Lance Reddick

Voting, as usual, will close in a week.

Riddler Poll #9

Way too long since the last one of these, but Hugh Laurie edged out Paul Bettany last time, with no one else getting more than 2 votes. Bettany's in the lead for the top spot among 2nd place finishers, so he may be back. And now, the last round before the finals, voting will be open for a week:

• Jim Carrey
  You might know him from: All sorts of stuff, including as the Riddler in Batman Returns
  This is a terrible idea, so I'm not going to give it much thought. He already did it, he wasn't terrible or anything, but I don't see why this series of Batman films would want to call back to the earlier series.


• James Franco
  You might know him from: Freaks and Geeks, the Spider-Man series, a great 30 Rock cameo
  I like James Franco as an actor, just not for this role. Also, considering his recent "performance art" stint on a soap opera, I feel like his interests aren't in the area of big budget comic book movies.


• James McAvoy
  You might know him from: The Last King of Scotland, Wanted
  Another actor I like. But in the parts I've seen him in, he's the character that... we identify with. I don't think the Riddler, in any variation, has been someone we're supposed to completely understand or sympathize with.


• Ewan McGregor
  You might know him from: Star Wars (the crappy ones), Trainspotting
  I just can't see it. No idea why. I was going to guess that he might be done with big budget franchises too, but he did do Angels and Demons just last year, so there goes that theory.
  


• Guy Pearce (pictured)
  You might know him from: Memento, The Hurt Locker, L.A. Confidential
  He's worked with Christopher Nolan before, he has a definite edge, he can pull off intellectual/nerdy, and... I just like the idea.
  

Riddler Poll #8

Edward Norton got over half the vote last time, no one else was even close. On to #8:

• Paul Bettany
  You might know him from: A Beautiful Mind, A Knight's Tale, The Da Vinci Code
  
  If you saw A Knight's Tale, you know Paul Bettany is excellent at yelling and making a big spectacle, which made him a popular fan choice back when they were casting the Joker. Obviously, Heath Ledger was the right choice, but Bettany could bring the same energy to the Riddler, if that's the kind of thing you want.


• Macaulay Culkin
  You might know him from: Home Alone, but he's still acting, honest!
  
  There was a TV series called Kings last year where Culkin played an innocent-looking sociopath, and he was quite good at it. The big obstacle with him is that people see him and go "oh, that kid from Home Alone," so it's hard to see him being cast in villainous role in a major movie.


• 
  Brendan Fraser
  You might know him from: Dudley Do-Right, Encino Man, or his weird clappy thing
  
  I do not care for Brendan Fraser at all, but a regular commenter here seems to be a fan, so let me try to give the guy a fair shake. His strengths as an actor are... he's a pretty big guy, and he has sort of an innocence about him that's occasionally charming when he plays a man child (like in The Scout or George of the Jungle). Neither of these applies to the Riddler.


• 
  Hugh Laurie (pictured)
  You might know him from: House, M.D., various British comedy TV shows, but probably just House
  
  His character of Gregory House could work almost unchanged as the Riddler. He's a genius, loves a good mystery, has a definite mean streak, he even already has a cane. He'd have to start wearing green and being more into stealing than healing, but that's a minor change.


• 
  Jude Law
  You might know him from: Sherlock Holmes, A.I., The Road to Perdition
  
  He's a fine actor, and he could pull off an excellent version of a certain kind of Riddler, but not really the one I want.

Voting will be up on the right side of the page in just a minute, and will stay open for a week.

Riddler Poll #7

Crispin Glover won the last round pretty handily. I mentioned being clueless about Jim Parsons, and he finished in a respectable 2nd place. Full results on the right sidebar near the bottom. On to round 7:

• Matt Damon
  You might know him from: Bourne/Ocean's movies, getting bumped from Jimmy Kimmel Live
  
  He's a really good actor, and was supposedly considered for Harvey Dent, but I don't think he's right for the Riddler at all. He's kind of a handsome alpha male, the Riddler is a cowardly nerd.


• Paul Dano (pictured)
  You might know him from: Little Miss Sunshine, There Will Be Blood
  
  He's got the look for a cowardly nerd. But he might be a tad too young, I'm not sure.


• Jake Gyllenhaal
  You might know him from: Brokeback Mountain, Zodiac, Donnie Darko
  
  Most of what I wrote about Matt Damon above pretty much applies here too.


• Damian Lewis
  You might know him from: the TV series Life, Band of Brothers
  
  I had no idea he was English until just now. Anyway, the characters I've seen him play have all been fairly calm. Almost serene, even in chaotic circumstances. Which would be odd for the Riddler. Does he have the range to take on something different from what I've seen? I have no idea.


• Edward Norton
  You might know him from: Fight Club, The Incredible Hulk, Rounders
  
  Edward Norton's one of my favorite actors, and I think in theory he could do an excellent Riddler. I only have two concerns. First, two of my least favorite of his performances (in Red Dragon and The Italian Job) he played the villain, and the Riddler would of course be another one. Second, he certainly has comic book cred, but from his performance as the Hulk and basing his character in The Painted Veil on Dr. Strange, he might be a Marvel guy and not that into DC comics.

Vote over on the right side of the page near the top. Voting will be open for a week.

Riddler Poll #6

Michael Emerson ran away with the last poll. Kevin Spacey and Neil Patrick Harris tied for a distant second. Here are this week's contenders:

• Willem Dafoe
  You might know him from: Spider-Man, Speed 2: Cruise Control
  Dafoe is intense, which is good. But he's already done the comic book villain thing in a very popular movie, so I'm not sure they want to invite the comparison.
  


• Crispin Glover
  You might know him from: Back to the Future, Charlie's Angels
  Crispin Glover is a weird guy. I think if I was going to be on set, he wouldn't be my first choice of a guy to spend my days with, but he might be the right guy to play a completely weird Riddler. If anyone can figure out a way to be unsettling in an intellectual way, Glover can.


• Eddie Murphy
  You might know him from: Beverly Hills Cop, Coming to America
  This was one of those rumors from The Sun, which likes to make ridiculous things up and cite "unnamed sources." Never going to happen.
  


• Jim Parsons (pictured)
  You might know him from: The Big Bang Theory
  I don't watch this show, but from the commercials I gather that he's nerdy and awkward. You'll have to tell me if he's right for the Riddler, I honestly don't know.


• Sean Penn
  You might know him from: Mystic River, Milk, Fast Times at Ridgemont High
  The only movies he's done for a while are ones with a political agenda and Oscar bait. Heath Ledger's award notwithstanding, Batman movies aren't where you go to win Oscars, so I doubt he'd ever do it. Even if he would, I'm not sure I'd want him to. He does brooding and he does quiet intensity and he does vulnerable, all of these very well, but even though I don't really favor the boisterously crazed Riddler that some do, he should still like the sound of his own voice and enjoy the challenge of facing Batman, two things that I don't picture Penn capturing as well as others.

Vote over to the right. Scroll down on the sidebar to see the full results from round 5.

Riddler Poll #5

As expected, Johnny Depp ran away with the last poll, taking 56% of the vote, compared to Jeff Goldblum's 20% for second place. Full results are to the right, bumped down to the bottom of the sidebar. This week ought to be closer, with an Oscar winner and four nerd-favorite actors:

• Michael Emerson (pictured)
  You might know him from: Lost, and apparently he was in Saw
  
  His character on Lost, Benjamin Linus, is very Riddler-like. He's intelligent, manipulative, and creepy as hell. The creepy thing is as much Emerson as it is Ben Linus, as demonstrated by his ability to make even nursery rhymes frightening, which I think means he'd make a great Mad Hatter as well.


• Neil Patrick Harris
  You might know him from: Doogie Howser, MD, Harold & Kumar, How I Met Your Mother, Dr. Horrible
  
  Technically no stranger to Batman, having voiced the Music Meister on an episode of Batman: the Brave and the Bold, NPH is in pretty high demand these days. And I like him a lot, he's a high energy performer, very talented, but he's not a guy who you could ever imagine posing a threat to Batman. Maybe it's just me, I don't know.


• Viggo Mortensen
  You might know him from: The Lord of the Rings, other stuff
  
  Viggo Mortensen is kind of the opposite of the Riddler in every way I can think of. He's in good shape, handsome, seems like he'd hold his own in a fight, and has a commanding voice. He's Aragorn, not Eddie Nygma.


• Kevin Spacey
  You might know him from: The Usual Suspects, Seven, American Beauty, Superman Returns
  
  I have no doubt that he'd figure out a way to do the Riddler well, but I seriously doubt he'd actually want to do it. He played Lex Luthor, and I think he'd do it again if the circumstances were right, but I think that's going to be it for him and superhero movies.


• Elijah Wood
  You might know him from The Lord of the Rings, and he was apparently that little kid in Back to the Future II who didn't like the idea of video games where you have to use your hands
  
  A much better fit, physically, than Mortensen, and he had some nice moments of kind of evilness in Lord of the Rings, so I could see this. Far from my first choice, but I wouldn't hate the idea.

The poll will be up for a week, vote on the right side of the page.

Riddler Poll #4

Last week's poll was the first one that was actually close, with Lance Reddick edging out Jackie Earle Haley by a single vote. Here are this week's actors:

• Steve Carell
  You might know him from: The Office, The Daily Show, The 40 Year Old Virgin
  
  He's a very funny man who should never play the Riddler.



• Johnny Depp
  You might know him from: 21 Jump Street, Nick of Time, The Astronaut's Wife
  
  Obviously he's a really good actor, and one of the most popular choices. I suspect that if the Riddler is in the next movie, and Depp wants to do it, there'd be tremendous pressure to cast him, even if Nolan and company want someone else.



• Lee Evans (pictured)
  You might know him from: He's a comedian, but I know him as the guy on crutches from There's Something About Mary, and the timid guy from The Fifth Element
  
  If you remember him in The Fifth Element, you know he can capture the cowardly aspects of the character. I can see him playing an intellectual, slightly goofy Riddler, somewhere in between Frank Gorshin and the John Glover version from Batman: The Animated Series. However, he is basically an unknown to American audiences, and I'm not sure it's very likely that his name would even come up in casting discussions.



• James Franco
  You might know him from: Spider-Man, Freaks and Geeks, Pineapple Express
  
  He looks stoned all the time, and seems to be making unusual career choices lately (General Hospital), but I still like him as an actor. However, he has absolutely none of the qualities I'd expect for the part.


Jeff Goldblum
You might know him from: The Fly, Independence Day, Jurassic Park, or as the voice of Troy McClure's agent in that Simpsons episode with the Planet of the Apes musical

I like Jeff Goldblum, but too often he just plays Jeff Goldblum, especially as he's gotten older. Which is fine, I think he can have a nice career playing a quirky, unusual guy with a wink. But that's not how I see the Riddler at all.

Voting will be open for a week.

Riddler Poll #3

Casey Affleck dominated the second poll, with three other candidates getting 2 votes a piece. And somewhat late, here are the candidates for the third round:

• Jeremy Davies
  You might know him from: Saving Private Ryan (Upham), Lost (Faraday)
  I can't see Davies, who's a pretty good actor, as the Riddler, just because he has a sympathetic quality. Even the version of Riddler in the comics now, a private detective who's given up crime entirely, is not the least bit likable. And there's just something about Jeremy Davies' face that makes him seem vulnerable and friendly.


• Brian Austin Green
  You might know him from: Beverly Hills: 90210, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
  This is one of the few guys on the list who has publicly expressed interest in the role. And I may be alone in this, but I thought he was actually the best part of The Sarah Connor Chronicles towards the end of the show (well either him, or the incredibly hot Stephanie Jacobsen. And I hear he was ok as Metallo on Smallville, too. But he's still Brian Austin Green from 90210, so there's no way a studio signs off on him in a major part. People would hear he was in it and think the movie was a joke. The lesson here is that things like this will haunt you for the rest of your life.


• Jackie Earle Haley
  You might know him from: The Bad News Bears, Watchmen (Rorschach), Human Target
  He was great in Watchmen, and since then he's been a fan-favorite candidate for all kinds of comic book roles, most notably Sinestro in Green Lantern (who should totally be played by Hugh Laurie from House, but that's not important here). A month ago I'd have said he was all wrong for this part, but his character on Human Target isn't too far off the Riddler, and he gives the most interesting performance on the show. I'm still not sold on him, but he wouldn't be a disaster.


• Vincent Kartheiser
  You might know him from: Mad Men, Angel (he was Angel's son)
  One of the aspects of the Riddler is that he's usually pretty weaselly. He's a genius, but clearly not Batman's equal in a fight, so once the dark knight's jumped through his intellectual hoops, Riddler is quick to run, hide, or anything else cowardly he can do. That's an aspect Kartheiser can capture perfectly, based on his Pete Campbell character on Mad Men, and probably exactly why he was suggested. I'm not 100% sold on his ability to play the wicked and cunning aspects Riddler, though.


• Lance Reddick (pictured)
  You might know him from: The Wire, Fringe, and he was briefly on Lost
  Reddick is mostly memorable for his almost disturbing eyes and intense voice. Both of which would be great for the Riddler. Eddie Nygma has, as far as I know, never been portrayed as black, so that might be jarring to some fans, but I think he'd be an excellent choice.

If I had photoshop skills, I'd have made Reddick's jacket and tie green in the photo above, and I think it'd look pretty classy. Voting closes in a week.

Riddler Poll #2

The first poll finished a while back, and Michael C. Hall ran away with it. David Tennant was a distant second. This week, five more:

• Casey Affleck
  You might know him from: Gone Baby Gone, the Ocean's Eleven series
  In my opinion, a much better actor than his brother, so don't hold Daredevil against this guy. He was really impressive in Gone Baby Gone, which is the main reason I can see him as the Riddler. He would be a contemplative, cerebral Riddler, and not the Jim Carrey/Frank Gorshin type.


• Eric Bana
  You might know him from: The Hulk, Munich, Star Trek
  I never saw what the big deal was about him, but I recently saw Chopper, and he was amazing in it. That said, I don't think he's a great fit for the Riddler. He's a big guy, and no matter what incarnation of the Riddler, he's not physically imposing.


• Michael Fassbender
  You might know him from: Inglourious Basterds, 300, Band of Brothers
  I barely remember this guy from any of his movies. Seeing his picture, I guess he looks ok-ish for the part. But he wouldn't be one of my top choices.


• Tobey Maguire
  You might know him from: Spider-Man, some other stuff
  I might be a terrible person, but in the first Spider-Man, when (spoiler alert) Uncle Ben was dying and he started crying, I laughed. I didn't find the scene believable, and he seemed more like a kid crying because of some perceived high school slight than someone seeing a loved one die. The point being, I'm not a fan. Many people disagree with me, so go ahead and vote for him if you want.


• Andy Serkis
  You might know him from: The Lord of the Rings
  He was great as Gollum, which inspired some kind of crazy geek adoration that make them suggest him for every part. Which is fine, but I don't know if I've ever seen him like actually physically there in a movie. Not a great resume for the main villain in a huge movie.

This poll will be open for a week, hopefully the third one will be along more promptly than this one. Also, finding images for the Riddler isn't nearly as fun as Catwoman, but boy is that Eric Bana dreamy.

Riddler Poll #1

Here's the first of many Riddler polls. I decided to make them smaller than the Catwoman polls, because although the field is a little smaller, there are two totally different ways to approach the Riddler. He could be completely manic, like Frank Gorshin and Jim Carrey played him, or a calculated intellectual (and coward) more like how he was portrayed in the animated series from the 1990s or recently in comics. So reducing the field reduces the chance that your favorite manic Riddler actor will be up against your favorite intelligent one. The entire field, with submissions from the comments recently added, is here, and here are the first contestants:

• Michael C. Hall
  You may know him from: Dexter, Six Feet Under
  
  His character on Dexter is a sociopath whose unnerving coldness while doing horrific things has earned him a lot of fans. That kind of thing could completely work for The Riddler.


• Denis Leary
  You may know him from: Stand-up comedy, Rescue Me, The Ref
  
  I forget where I saw it, but jotted his name down even though he's a terrible choice. I like him a lot as an actor, just not for this part at all.


• Daniel Day Lewis
  You may know him from: Gangs of New York, There Will Be Blood, My Left Foot, Last of the Mohicans In The Name Of The Father
  
  He is sometimes incredible, but sometimes overacts ridiculously, so much so that it won't even work in a comic book movie. Not that it matters, because I can't imagine him ever wanting to be in a Batman movie anyway.


• David Tennant (pictured)
  You may know him from: Dr. Who, and what looks like a bunch of other UK TV series
  
  I don't watch Dr. Who, so I'm not familiar with his work. He's a pretty popular choice among fans, though, and has expressed interest in the part. But from what I can tell, he almost certainly would go the Gorshin/Carrey route.


• Christopher Walken
  You may know him from: The Dead Zone, Saturday Night Live appearances, Pulp Fiction, too many other roles to list
  
  He's eccentric and can be unnerving when he's not playing it for laughs, but I can't imagine a Riddler who's pushing 70 years old.

The poll should be up within a minute, and will close in a week. Depending on my free time over the holidays, I may get another poll up next week, but it might be longer.

Casting the Riddler

A while back, I did a giant list of possible actresses for Catwoman, and a series of polls eventually leading to you guys picking Julianne Moore for the part. And a recent post on MTV's Spash Page reminded me that I've been meaning to do one for the Riddler for a long time.

So the first step is to hunt down every name I can find associated with the Riddler for a future Batman movie. Please remember that this is not a list of my suggestions, because I happen to think some of these are downright awful. And if there are any names you think should be on the list, let me know in the comments.

Updated the list with updates from the comments (though I trimmed some off of Commissioner Gordon's list at the bottom of this post because the polls would never end with that many actors, and, no offense, Harrison Ford would be awful):

Casey Affleck
Eric Bana
Paul Bettany
Steve Carell
Jim Carrey
Macaulay Culkin
Paul Dano
Willem Dafoe
Matt Damon
Jeremy Davies
Johnny Depp
Michael Emerson
Lee Evans
Michael Fassbender
James Franco
Brendan Fraser
Crispin Glover
Jeff Goldblum
Jake Gyllenhaal
Brian Austin Green
Jackie Earle Haley
Michael C. Hall
Neil Patrick Harris
Hugh Laurie
Jude Law
Denis Leary
Damian Lewis
Daniel Day Lewis
Vincent Kartheiser
Tobey Maguire
James McAvoy
Ewan McGregor
Viggo Mortensen
Eddie Murphy
Edward Norton
Jim Parsons
Guy Pearce
Sean Penn
Lance Reddick
Andy Serkis
Kevin Spacey
David Tennant
Christopher Walken
Elijah Wood

I'll try to put up a poll of the first set in about a week. And again, let me know if you have any other suggestions.

Catwoman Poll: Final Results

So the voting is through for all the Catwoman polls, and in spite of my doubts, the people have chosen Julianne Moore. With 28% of the vote, she won pretty handily, too. Charlize Theron (my personal favorite) was second, with 17%. Marion Cotillard and Rachel Weisz tied for third at 14%. Another surprise to me, Kate Beckinsale only got one vote.

So that does it for Catwoman for a while. Thanks for voting! I'll try to do another big poll for another character, but since there seem to be a lot more casting ideas for Catwoman than anyone else, the rest will be quite a bit smaller.

Catwoman Poll: Final Round

So Kate Winslet wins the 8th round of polling in a squeaker over Gretchen Mol (you can see the full results at the bottom of the sidebar on the right). I doubt either of them win this final round. But here are your finalists, the winners of the first 8 rounds (including the two tied for first in poll #3) plus the top 2nd place finisher to make it an even 10:

Kate Beckinsale

Marion Cotillard

Megan Fox


Eva Green


Angelina Jolie


Michelle Monaghan


Julianne Moore


Charlize Theron



Rachel Weisz


Kate Winslet

So there you go, vote over to the right.

Catwoman Poll #8

So last week, Marion Cotillard finished first, as I expected, but Emily Blunt gave her a real challenge, finishing only one vote back. Also surprising to me, Ali Larter finished a close third. You can see the full results at the bottom of the sidebar to the right.

As I mentioned last week, this last week is pretty iffy. Mostly it's people I kept putting off because I didn't have much nice to say about them. I suspect that the winner of this poll might finish last in the final round (which will be next week). So here they are, the leftovers:

• Jennifer Aniston
  You might know her from: Ferris Beuller (the TV series), Leprechaun
  She's built for comedy, if that makes any sense. Her voice, being generally a great looking woman but having a slightly large nose (you can't really do comedy if you're flawlessly beautiful). She's tried drama sometimes, but I don't think people remember Derailed or the Good Girl all that fondly.



• Elizabeth Banks
  You might know her from: Spider-Man (JJJ's secretary), Invincible, Zack and Miri, Scrubs
  I love her in a lot of roles, I think she's a really gifted comedic actress, but in dramas she's just kind of another pretty face. Which is fine, I guess, but I'd hope for more from Catwoman.



• Rachel Blanchard
  You might know her from: Snakes on a Plane, 7th Heaven, Clueless (the TV series)
  She's a lovely girl, but totally wrong for Catwoman, IMO. She just seems... innocent isn't the word, but generally harmless.



• Claire Danes
  You might know her from: My So-Called Life, Terminator 3, Romeo+Juliet
  I once read a book by screenwriter William Goldman where he talks about seeing Robin Wright in the Princess Bride and becoming convinced she'd be the biggest star in the world. Shortly after, she was up for some big role that would have made her career, but she was pregnant and had to pass. Goldman wrote that Barbara Streisand never would've gotten pregnant. Not that there's anything wrong with it, just that you have to have a drive to be an A-list actor to become an A-list actor, and Robin Wright didn't seem to have it. Point being, Claire Danes seemed like she was going to be the actress of my generation around '96, but she did some smaller movies, an ill-advised Mod Squad movie, took some time off to go to college, and until Terminator 3 never seemed to make any effort to cultivate her celebrity. I don't think she was really that into being a huge star, T3 notwithstanding. I don't really see her as a Catwoman anyway, but I don't think it'd be something she'd be that interested in.



• Alexandra Maria Lara
  You might know her from: The Reader, maybe?
  I have no idea who this is. Looking at a few pictures, she wouldn't be high on my list.



• Gretchen Mol (pictured above)
  You might know her from: Rounders, Life on Mars (the US one), 3:10 to Yuma, The Thirteenth Floor
  She's been in a lot of movies I've seen, but is generally not memorable in them. I only really remember her in Rounders (which I've seen about a million times), and she wasn't that good in it. So I can't say she'd be very high on my list of potential Catwoman actors.



• Audrey Tautou
  You might know her from: Amelie, The Da Vinci Code
  I've only seen her in the one movie, but she seemed a little... delicate. Catwoman is not delicate. So unless my impression was wrong, she is not right for the part.



• Emma Thompson
  You might know her from: Shakespeare adaptations, that one Cheers episode where she played Nanny G, Howards End, Harry Potter movies
  Julianne Moore did pretty well in these polls despite being 50-ish, but Emma Thompson actually kinda looks 50-ish. Not that she's not great looking for 50, but even more so than Julianne Moore, I can't see her leaping from rooftop to rooftop or kicking Batman in the face.



• Kate Winslet
  You might know her from: Titanic, other stuff
  Great actress, not right for Catwoman. I never found her all that attractive, she doesn't really have an athletic body type, and she never really seemed like the type to be kinda evil and enjoy it.

Voting is already open on the sidebar to the right.

Catwoman Poll #7

Everything was tightly packed last week, with 6 of 10 contestants getting between 2 and 5 votes. But Rachel Weisz was the clear winner, with 25% of the vote. Sarah Michelle Gellar and Uma Thurman tied for second with 15%. Last week's poll is on the bottom of the right sidebar. Now on to this week:

• Emily Blunt
  You might remember her from: The Devil Wears Prada, Charlie Wilson's War, Dan In Real Life
  She was long rumored for the part of the Black Widow in Iron Man II, but had to drop out due to a scheduling conflict. The Black Widow is a pretty Catwoman-like part, an ass-kicking, skin tight costume-wearing woman who may or may not be a villain, so I assume she can handle the role. But I've only seen her in one movie, Charlie Wilson's War, and I don't even remember her from it. So I can't say for sure that she'd be any good.


• Cher
  You might remember her from: Moonstruck, that Sonny & Cher variety show, some other movies
  This was the original stupid Catwoman rumor. Please don't vote for her.


• Jennifer Connelly
  You might remember her from: Hulk (the Eric Bana one), Labyrinth, Career Opporunities, A Beautiful Mind, House of Sand and Fog
  She's a fine actress and a lovely woman, but I wonder if the Hulk kinda turned her off superhero movies. It was kind of a mess, even though it had a lot of talent behind it, and I think that might make me afraid to try it again. Plus I don't recall her ever taking a kind of action-y role, where she'd be kicking ass and jumping from rooftop to rooftop.


• Marion Cotillard
  You might remember her from: La Vie En Rose, the Taxi series (French movies, not the 70s sitcom), the upcoming Public Enemies
  I have not seen her in a movie at all. She's a lovely woman and all, but I'm not sure. I doubt she'd be able to pass as an American, and I've seen some people flip out at the idea of making Selina Kyle French, but that wouldn't bother me. I'll be basing my opinion of her as Catwoman mostly on Public Enemies (which looks pretty cool).


• Melissa George
  You might remember her from: Some middle seasons of Alias, The Amityville Horror, 30 Days of Night
  I like her as an actress, and I think she's quite attractive, but I can't imagine her as either Catwoman or Selina Kyle. She just doesn't seem quite right.


• Maggie Gyllenhaal
  You might remember her from: The Dark Knight, I'd hope.
  The plot of the Dark Knight would make this kinda silly, but that was a rumor floating around for a while.


• Tricia Helfer
  You might remember her from: Battlestar Galactica, Burn Notice
  She's quite beautiful, but I don't quite see it. Loved her on Battlestar, but she's not very Catwomanish to me.


• Ali Larter
  You might remember her from: Heroes, Final Destination, Varsity Blues
  She's nice to look at, and maybe it's just that I don't like her character(s) on Heroes, but I don't want her anywhere near a Batman movie.


• Rhona Mitra (pictured above)
  You might remember her from: Being the original Lara Croft model, The Practice/Boston Legal, Nip/Tuck, Skinwalkers
  She'd make a great B-movie Catwoman, but she's not the kind of actress who can hang with Christian Bale and Gary Oldman and the like.


• Marley Shelton
  You might remember her from: A bunch of familiar movies on her imdb page, but the only one I actually remember her from is Grindhouse (she was the doctor lady with the series of colored needles)
  She didn't really stand out in any other part in my mind, so I can't imagine I'd really love her as Catoman.

Voting's open over to the right. Only one more group of actresses after this one (which will be pretty weak, just sorta "who's left over," sorry in advance), but vote away on this one.

Catwoman Poll #6

Charlize Theron ran away with last week's poll. She will face off with the other winners in the final poll. Zooey Deschanel was the only other candidate to get more than 3 votes. Those results have been moved to the bottom of the sidebar off to the right, and replaced in the upper right by the new poll:

• Gemma Arterton
  You might remember her from: Quantum of Solace, RockNRolla
  
  I didn't get much of a sense of her from the last Bond movie, except to say that she's very sexy. So she's not the worst idea ever, but largely an unknown to me.


• Halle Berry
  You might remember her from: Monster's Ball, Swordfish, that Catwoman movie
  
  Technically I didn't see the Catwoman movie. It just looked too ridiculous. I would see Batman 3 if Halle Berry played Catwoman, but I wouldn't be happy about it.


• Emily Deschanel
  You might remember her from: Bones, and apparently she had a bit part in Spider-Man 2
  
  The only role I know her from, she plays a nerdy, emotionless scientist. Catwoman is kind of the opposite of that. I have a hard time picturing it.


• Sarah Michelle Gellar
  You might remember her from: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, remakes of Japanese horror movies
  
  She was fairly convincing as the ass-kicking hot girl on Buffy, which I'm sure is why her name even came up. But I've never been that fond of her acting.


• Carla Gugino (pictured above)
  You might remember her from: Watchmen, Karen Sisco, Sin City, Spy Kids, Entourage
  
  Tragically underused throughout her career, sadly only now as she starts to show her age is she getting the parts she should have had all along. Not that she isn't still beautiful, because she is. I think she'd have made a perfect Catwoman 10 years ago, and would still be pretty good today.


• Alicia Keys
  You might remember her from: Her career in music, Smokin' Aces
  
  I actually really liked her in Smokin' Aces. If she's actually a talented actress, she might be able to pull it off. But it's hard to say that based off of one small part in a somewhat ridiculous movie.


• Lucy Liu
  You might remember her from: Ally McBeal, Kill Bill, Charlie's Angels
  
  I never really gave her much thought, but she actually wouldn't be bad at all. She's played tough, bad girls on a number of occasions (Payback is the one that sticks in my mind the most) and has done it pretty well, with a wicked smile on her face. Not my first choice, but I wouldn't hate the idea as much as I thought I would at first.


• Rebecca Romijn
  You might remember her from: X-Men movies, Ugly Betty
  
  Pretty much exactly what I wrote for Sarah Michelle Gellar.


• Uma Thurman
  You might remember her from: Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill
  
  I never found her all that attractive. Also, she played Poison Ivy in 1997's Batman & Robin, so I can't imagine anyone would want to cast her and bring back memories of that terrible, terrible movie.


• Rachel Weisz
  You might remember her from: The Mummy, Constantine, The Constant Gardener
  
  She's lovely, elegant, and can act. My only concern is physical toughness, but she's not a tiny little girl or anything, so I assume that can at least be faked.

Vote away. Due to the confluence of a work thing and my internet at home being out, I might not get another update in until Tuesday.

Catwoman Poll #5

I pretty much expected Kate Beckinsale to clean up in the last poll, and she did. 37% of the vote, Anne Hathaway was second with 18%. I'll move the results of that poll to the bottom of the sidebar on the right. Which means it's being replaced by the new poll. also on the right. The contestants:

• Jessica Alba (pictured)
  You might know her from: Sin City, The Fantastic Four, the Flipper TV series of the mid-1990s (ok probably you don't know her from that)
  
  On the TV series Dark Angel she showed that she could handle tight black outfits very well. But once you get past the fact that she's better looking than anyone has the right to be, she's not that much of an actress. Sorry, Jessica.



• Ciara
  You might know her from: Apparently she's a musician.
  
  No idea who this is. Wikipedia says her genres are "R&B, pop, hip hop, dance" and I don't really keep up with any of those. She's pretty attractive though. For whatever that's worth.



• Zooey Deshanel
  You might know her from: Elf, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Yes Man
  
  She's more on the cute side than I'd picture Catwoman, and doesn't seem to have much of a tough, ass-kicking personality (or physique).



• Scarlett Johansson
  You might know her from: Lost In Translation, The Prestige, The Spirit
  
  She'll be in Iron Man II as the Black Widow, who is kind of a Russian Catwoman without the cat-fetish. Sexy, dangerous, with sometimes shifting loyalties. So we'll see how she does at that, I guess, but that also means she probably would be out of the running, since the roles are fairly similar. She does have that "worked with Chris Nolan before" thing going for her, having appeared in The Prestige with Christian Bale and Michael Caine. So I guess you never know.



• Connie Nielsen
  You might know her from: Gladiator, Basic, The Ice Harvest, Law & Order SVU while Mariska Hargitay was pregnant
  
  I feel like her comic book character calling was Wonder Woman. She's tall, a little bit intimidating, statuesque. She's in her 40s now, and past her superheroics prime. Maybe she could pull off Catwoman still, I dunno. Maybe I'm age-ist, I thought Julianne Moore was a joke but folks voted for her in that poll.



• Grace Park
  You might know her from: Battlestar Galactica
  
  Tough and sexy, check. Acting? I have no idea. I've never see her play anything not on Battlestar Galactica, where she's pretty good but not spectacular.



• Natalie Portman
  You might know her from: Star Wars, V for Vendetta
  
  She's little. 5'3" and skinny. Nothing wrong with that, as a person, but as a person fighting Batman and not being immediately beaten down, I have an issue with that.



• Tilda Swinton
  You might know her from: Constantine, the Narnia movies, Michael Clayton
  
  A wonderful actress, but she's... unusual looking. A master detective like Batman should be able to piece the puzzle together when a thin-lipped, unusually pale costumed cat burglar enters his life at the same time as a thin-lipped, unusually pale socialite appears in Gotham.



• Charlize Theron
  You might know her from: The Italian Job, Monster, Hancock
  
  Looking through the movies she's been in, I'm surprised how few of them are memorable. But who cares, she's a sexy, Oscar-winning actress who looks right for the part.



• Reese Witherspoon
  You might know her from: Walk the Line, Legally Blonde, Sweet Home Alabama
  
  I liked her in Election, but that was 10 years ago. I can't picture her as Catwoman. At all.

Catwoman Poll #4

So the third poll ended in a tie. I thought Rosario Dawson would run away with it, because she seems to be a popular choice. But Julianne Moore, who I didn't think stood a chance, tied with the uberhot Megan Fox, with Ms. Dawson a single vote behind. Everyone else got basically no support. Which means in the eventual final Catwoman poll, both Moore and Fox will be included, and if there's room for the best of the rest, Rosario Dawson might squeeze in there, too. To check out the final results, poll #3 will be on the sidebar to the right, just lower down the page. But now onto #4, which is up over to the right near the top. The contestants:

• Amy Adams
  You might know her from: Enchanted, Doubt, Talladega Nights
  
  She's adorable, which would be great for Kittenwoman. But Catwoman isn't adorable.



• Kate Beckinsale
  You might know her from: Underworld, Pearl Harbor, Serendipity
  
  She looks the part, she has filled out a tight leather suit quite nicely in Underworld, and is a pretty decent actress.



• Jessica Biel
  You might know her from: 7th Heaven, a bunch of lousy movies
  
  Her legs look like they could crush a man to death, and he'd be thanking her for it the whole time. So that's good. But I don't think she can carry the part. Her acting resume is pretty weak.



• Anne Hathaway
  You might know her from: Rachel Getting Married, Get Smart, The Devil Wears Prada
  
  She can act and she's all kinds of attractive, but I didn't buy her as a tough girl in Get Smart. Maybe other people did, but she just seems too sweet.



• Kelly Hu
  You might know her from: X-Men 2, The Scorpion King, Martial Law
  
  She's got ass kicking and hotness covered (I think she's the only one in any of these polls that I've seen in person, and she really is stunning), but she's not much of an actress. It's been forever since I saw X2, but did she even speak? I can't remember her talking at all in that one. Which is a bad sign.



• Beyonce Knowles
  You might know her from: Being a famous singer, Dreamgirls, Austin Powers 3
  
  I've only seen her in the Austin Powers movie, and I didn't really care for her performance. I, like everyone, would like to see her in the Catwoman costume, just not actually playing the part.



• Evangeline Lilly (pictured above)
  You might know her from: Lost, and that's basically it
  
  She's sexy and tough on Lost. I've never seen her play any other part though, so I'm not sure about her acting.



• Sienna Miller
  You might know her from: Mostly from being tabloid fodder, but also Alfie, Factory Girl, Stardust
  
  I saw Stardust but didn't pay much attention. As I recall, she played a girl who was very beautiful but otherwise uninteresting. Which is kind of how I feel about her as an actress. She was in an excellent movie with a pre-Bond Daniel Craig called Layer Cake that not many people saw. But her performance didn't have anything to do with me enjoying the movie.



• Keri Russell
  You might know her from: Felicity, Mission Impossible 3, Waitress
  
  Like Amy Adams, she's adorable, which does not work for Catwoman.



• Shannyn Sossamon
  You might know her from: A Knight's Tale, 40 Days and 40 Nights, The Order
  
  She's in two of my favorite movies of the past 10 years (A Knight's Tale and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang), but she's not someone I'd ever think of for Catwoman. She's rail thin, kind of fragile looking. And I don't think I've even seen her in anything in a few years, so I think Hollywood has given up on making her a big star (or she wasn't ever interested in being one).

Catwoman Poll #3

The second Catwoman poll is closed, with Angelina Jolie winning pretty handily with 36% of the vote. Eliza Dushku had 20%, and Olivia Wilde was the only other actress to get more than 2 votes. You can see the full results to the right if you scroll down a bit. But this poll closing means it's time for a new one.

• Cate Blanchett
  You might know her from: Lord of the Rings, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Elizabeth
  
  She's a fine actress, but I don't find her to be the kind of actress who's all that attractive compared to other leading ladies. Nor does she seem to be especially tough, physically.



• Rosario Dawson
  You might know her from: Men in Black, Death Proof, Sin City, Clerks II
  
  She's hot, she can be tough. She's a little bit geeky in a way that I adore, but may not play all that well for Selina. It's very easy to imagine her filling out the costume nicely though.



• Shannen Doherty
  You might know her from: Beverly Hills 90210, the new 90210, Charmed, Mallrats
  
  She looks sorta like the way Catwoman is typically drawn. I think everything else about her is wrong.



• Megan Fox (pictured above, with a cat!)
  You might know her from: Transformers, How To Lose Friends and Alienate People
  
  Megan Fox is absurdly attractive, and she's apparently a fan of comic book movies (she's attached to both Jonah Hex and Fathom adaptations, and has been rumored for a Hack/Slash movie forever). I haven't really seen her act, though. I've seen her in a thousand random magazine and paparazzi pictures but only two actual movies. Also, she's maybe a little young (she's 8 years younger than Katie Holmes, 9 years younger than Maggie Gyllenhaal, and 12 years younger than Christian Bale). Incidentally, I don't think she looks that great in the picture I used, but the cat thing was too appropriate to pass up.



• Jennifer Garner
  You might know her from: Alias, Daredevil, Elektra, Juno
  
  She's very much the girl next door and not the bad girl (which is why she was kinda poorly cast as Elektra). She fits the Catwoman mold otherwise, but I think the less than great fan reaction to both Elektra and Daredevil might keep her away from comic book movies.



• Jennifer Love Hewitt
  You might know her from: I Know What You Did Last Summer, Can't Hardly Wait, The Ghost Whisperer
  
  She's a lovely girl but doesn't seem very tough, or bad, or athletic, or anything else Catwomanish.



• Julianne Moore
  You might know her from: Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Children of Men, The Big Lebowski
  
  One commenter here is a huge proponent of Ms. Moore as Catwoman, but I have my doubts. She is a great actress, and as this commenter points out frequently was tough as nails in Children of Men, and she's still a good looking woman. However, she'll be over 50 years old by the time filming starts on Batman 3. Megan Fox might be too young, but I feel like Julianne Moore is too old. 50 year old women with no superpowers can't stand up to Batman in a fight. Even ones who don't look 50.



• Missy Peregrym
  You might know her from: Reaper, Heroes, Life As We Know It, Stick It
  
  She's great looking and looks like she's in good shape. The first role I saw her in was on a lousy WB series, Black Sash, about martial arts, so she's at least ok in a fight scene. She's played kind of limited roles, though, so I'm not sure about her acting. A recurring role as a bad girl on Heroes is the only time she's played anything close to Catwoman, and while she was good on that show, it didn't really convince me.



• Queen Latifah
  You might know her from: She's pretty famous, you know who she is
  
  I think this was suggested as a joke, but I'm putting her in anyway.



• Ziyi Zhang
  You might know her from: Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Rush Hour 2, Memoirs of a Geisha
  
  She can obviously handle the action scenes and she's a good looking woman, but I do recall seeing her kind of struggle with English the last time I saw her in a movie where she spoke it. I don't mind rewriting Catwoman so that she's foreign or has an accent, but I don't want Catwoman to have to labor to have a conversation with Batman. But then again I might be in the minority, and most people might think her English is fine.

Vote away, the poll is up over there to the right.

Sorry for the lack of updates lately, I've been pretty busy and news has been light, but I'll be back to posting more regularly soon.