Prometheus

Haven't done a villain in a while, so it seemed like a good time for Prometheus. Yet another of those anti-Batmen, Prometheus' criminal parents were killed by a cop when he was young. He raided their supplies of cash after their death to fund his travels around the world, training to be the best criminal he could be. He invented a device that let him download fighting styles into his brain, allowing him to defeat almost anyone hand to hand.

Prometheus carefully planned an assault on the Justice League headquarters, defeating the Flash, Martian Manhunter, Batman, and others, but ended up being defeated because he was unprepared for Catwoman, who had broken into the Justice League hoping to steal some stuff. So despite his almost Batman-like penchant for preparation, an unexpected event can really throw the guy off.

Pros: Contrasting Batman with the villain he faces is kind of nice.

Cons: Prometheus' origin is too perfectly opposite Batman, it stretches disbelief that a person would mirror Bruce's life so completely. Also, his equipment is far too science fiction-y for what we've seen in Batman movies so far.

How I'd do it: A master criminal who's as obsessive and skilled as Batman. He doesn't need to be Batman's perfect polar opposite.

Casting Guesses: I can't even remember what the guy looks like with no mask on, so I guess it doesn't matter too much as far as looks go. Maybe Jeffrey Donovan, the guy from Burn Notice?

Verdict: Nah. The character's too new, too contrived to be Batman's opposite, and too attached to his advanced technology to work in a Batman 3.

Cornelius Stirk

Cornelius Stirk likes to eat people's hearts. But he finds that they're tastiest when flavored with "fight or flight" hormones like norepinephrine, so he likes to scare the bejeezus out of them before they die. He has a "hypnotic aura" that lets him make people see him as anyone he wants, which helps him gain people's trust and get close to him (in a few stories, he has used the image of Abe Lincoln), and it also helps with the scaring part (though his natural face is already pretty frightening).

During Knightfall, Stirk teams up with the Joker and they kidnap Commissioner Gordon. Stirk uses his abilities to appear to be Batman and mercilessly tortures the Commissioner. Batman, of course, saves the day, eventually, but Stirk's treatment left Gordon awfully shaken up.

Pros: Abe Lincoln is always funny. And he's a nice contrast to Batman, who is out to do good but projects a terrifying image, while Stirk is out to kill but projects an image to put his victims at ease before he strikes.

Cons: He's a little bit too much like Scarecrow with the whole fear thing, except with supernatural powers that would be hard to believe. And killing people and eating their hearts is a little much for a PG-13 movie, I think.

How I'd do it: His original introduction was when someone was found murdered, and had been seen earlier that night at a bar, talking to a guy who looked like Lincoln. I liked that. I guess I'd rather have him be a master of disguise, disfigured under his masks/makeup, who puts on trustworthy faces to get close to his victims. And I guess keep the heart eating thing, but figure out how to do it with heavy implications but not actually showing it.

Casting Guesses: An unknown. Usually movies where a famous actor is a "master of disguise", we're so familiar with their voice and face that even in an elaborate latex mask, they just seem like the movie star we know in a latex mask. An unknown would be a blank slate, and could actually fool us.

Verdict: I can't see it happening, it's mostly the Scarecrow thing, but he's also not a high profile villain at all, and he'd take some reworking to deal with his supernatural powers.

The Reaper

The Reaper was the main villain in Batman: Year Two by Mike W. Barr and several artists. Gotham City's original costumed vigilante, predating Batman by many years, Judson Caspian took up crime fighting when his wife was murdered in a robbery. Unlike Batman, he took a more violent approach, often using lethal force.

In Year Two, one of my least favorite Batman stories ever (though some people do think highly of it), Bruce Wayne falls in love with Caspian's daughter while Batman tries to stop the Reaper, who's returned to the streets after a long absence. Inexplicably, Batman teams up with Joe Chill, the guy who killed Thomas and Martha Wayne, to stop the Reaper, and Batman even carries a gun for a decent portion of the series. So... not my favorite.

But as much as I didn't like the story, the Reaper wasn't a terrible character. And the folks behind the Batman animated series thought so as well, using parts of the Reaper character for their Mask of the Phantasm direct to video movie.

Pros: The introduction of the Reaper's daughter is an easy to way to bring in a love interest. The violent, Punisher-style vigilante forces Batman to examine the rationale of his non-lethal methods. Isn't there a point where you realize someone just won't be rehabilitated and you're just better off killing them? Or is the chance that you're wrong worth risking all those lives the villain will probably take in the future? Decent questions to center a movie around.

Cons: The scythes and the skull helmet and everything are kind of cool in a comic book way, but I think they'd look pretty silly on screen.

How I'd do it: Skip the Joe Chill element, and just have an old school vigilante come back to town, and have his daughter come as well.

Casting Guesses: An older guy, but still tough. Sam Shepard?

Verdict: It could happen. I'd prefer it didn't, because it would make me want to read Year Two again, which I would rather not do.

Nyssa Raatko

First appearing in Death and the Maidens, Nyssa Raatko is the daughter of Ra's al-Ghul and half sister of Talia. Born in 18th century Russia, Nyssa did not know her father as a child, but her mother told her stories of Ra's. Eventually, Nyssa set out to track her father down. When she eventually managed to find him, Ra's was so impressed with her that he gave her access to a Lazarus Pit to extend her life, hoping she would have a son who could be his heir. Learning alchemy from Ra's, she was able to reuse the pit.

However, during World War Two, Nyssa ended up in a concentration camp, where medical experiments left her infertile. She begged for Ra's to free her, but he abandoned her. Obviously angry, Nyssa hatches a plan to drive Talia insane through repeated deaths and resurrections by the Lazarus Pit, then assassinate both Superman and Ra's al-Ghul.

Pros: Ties back into the first movie. Gives a feminine presence without introducing a love interest, which might be an interesting way to go about things.

Cons: Her story relies heavily on Lazarus Pits, which the movie version of Ra's al-Ghul skipped entirely. Talia is the more popular al-Ghul daughter.

How I'd do it: If I was including Nyssa, I'd have Talia as well. Have Talia leading the League of Shadows, coming back to Gotham for revenge, while Nyssa is determined to take the League of Shadows (and her sister) down.

Casting Guesses: Depends on who you pick for Talia, since they'll have to look somewhat alike. Going by the comic, she sorta looks like Megan Fox (kinda nsfw-ish) a little. Or maybe not that much, but it gave me an excuse to hunt down those pictures.

Verdict: I guess there's an outside chance for a cameo type appearance if Talia's the main villain, but I wouldn't count on seeing her at all.

Deacon Blackfire

In 1988's The Cult, Gotham City's homeless population is disappearing. Batman investigates, and ends up finding an underground army of Gotham's poor and downtrodden, lead by Deacon Blackfire, a charismatic cult leader. Drugged and tortured, Batman is eventually brainwashed into becoming one of Blackfire's followers, even to the point of committing murder while under Deacon Blackfire's spell. Blackfire and his cult take over Gotham, hoping to purge the city of crime by keeping it under the rule of the homeless army. Eventually Batman is freed, and he gets in a Batmobile that looks a lot like a monster truck (see it here at the History of the Batmobile site), and takes down Blackfire and the cult.

Pros: Blackfire's a somewhat interesting villain, in that he appeals to Batman's sense of justice, but he takes it too far.

Cons: The Cult was a controversial story for its violence and gore (decapitated heads, Batman murdering someone, a badly scarred hooker). It's also out of print, I think, so Blackfire is not going to be all that well known. And the central element of his story is breaking down Batman until he's crying like a little girl, which is not exactly consistent with the badass Batman we know and love. The idea of Batman as a superhero to me is that he may not have a superhuman body like Superman, but he has a superhuman will, and seeing someone break that will just doesn't work for me.

How I'd do it: Eh, I don't think I would. But the basic premise of a cult leader recruiting the downtrodden to take back the city works. I just don't know about the brainwashing of Batman.

Casting Guesses: I could see Russell Crowe doing it.

Verdict: Personally, I hated The Cult. I hated Emo Batman, I hated the Bigfoot Batmobile. It tries really hard to be The Dark Knight Returns but it isn't. Not even close. However, lots of people disagree. Kirk at the Weekly Crisis listed it in his top 10 lesser known Batman stories, and IGN put it at #6 on their top 25 Batman stories ever. So some people don't hate it, which I guess makes it possible.

The Monk

One of Batman's oldest nemeses, The Monk is a good old fashioned vampire who wears a red cloak and red hood with a gold skull and crossbones on it. Among his powers: turning others into vampires, mind control, and just generally being hard to kill. He has a henchwoman of sorts in Dala, who isn't a vampire, but hopes that by serving the Monk, he will turn her into one.

Although he first appeared in 1939, the Monk hasn't been seen all that often. Most recently, he was featured in Matt Wagner's Batman and the Mad Monk.

Pros: He's a relative unknown, but has a very striking costume and loads of story possibilities.

Cons: He won't generate the same type of buzz as Catwoman or one of the other villains people remember from the earlier movies or the Adam West series. He's entirely supernatural, which is an element the movies have been avoiding.

Also, I'm not sure how the hood thing works in a live action movie. I have issues with certain masks and sometimes even heavy makeup in live action movies, where it removes the facial expressions that actors rely on to sell their performances. I hated the Green Goblin mask from Spider-man, every time Willem Dafoe put it on and spoke, I felt a total disconnect, like it was some guy in a suit while Willem Dafoe stood off camera saying his lines. And any time I'm thinking of the characters as actors on a set, I'm not all that engaged in the movie.

While these types of hoods are common in comics and cartoons (Yu-Ti, X the Eliminator), I don't think I've ever seen one in a live action movie. I suppose the G.I. Joe movie will be the test case for me there.

How I'd do it: No avoiding the supernatural here, so I'd just go right for it. GCPD finds a body and there's some circumstantial evidence pointing to a spooky house on the outskirts of Gotham. They can't get a warrant, but this one strikes Gordon as Batman's kind of case. Even though he's public enemy #1, they've worked out a way to discreetly communicate, and Batman heads to the house. It looks like something out of Dracula, but Batman confidently laughs it off, knowing that all he'll find inside is just a man. A crazy man, but just a man. Instead he faces a hooded vampire in a battle that he nearly loses. This shakes him up pretty badly, and forces him to realize that he's only prepared to fight men, not monsters, and heads off to study the supernatural (with Zatara? Zatanna? Probably can't use John Constantine, though), clearing the way for all kinds of craziness if they made a 4th movie.

Casting Guesses: With the hood, the look of the guy doesn't matter much. That means you have to have someone with a cool British accent. I'll say John Hurt.

Verdict: Normally I'd say no chance to anyone this inherently supernatural. But the Monk was one of the original supernatural Batman villains, so if you wanted to open the door to vampires and werewolves and magic, who could be better?

Whisper A'Daire

Whisper A'Daire is at least eighty years old, but looks pretty good for her age. Her boss, Ra's al-Ghul, gave her a serum by her boss to make her effectively immortal, which also gave her some kind of shape shifting snake powers. She sheds her skin to keep looking young, can do some kind of mind control stuff, and at least at one point could spit acid or venom or something. She's also given Ra's serum to her henchmen, like Kyle Abbot (pictured), who changes into a wolfman.

Pros: With the demise of Rachel Dawes, Batman probably needs a lady friend for the next movie. And she ties back in to Ra's al-Ghul from Batman Begins.

Cons: Ra's in Batman Begins didn't have the Lazarus pit or anything, so him giving some lady an immortality serum doesn't make much sense. Also, nothing supernatural has happened so far, so a snake lady with mind control doesn't really fit.

How I'd do it: I guess have her as a follower of Ra's, after revenge for Batman foiling the League of Shadows' plan to take down Gotham. Plus she can be a love interest or a femme fatale.

Casting Guesses: Not too many redheads out there. I already suggested Christina Hendricks for Poison Ivy, and she's not much of a fit, physically at least, for Whisper A'Daire. So I'll go with Alicia Witt.

Verdict: I say no chance. Not that she's a bad character, but Talia al-Ghul can bring the same call-back to Batman Begins and serve as a potential love interest, but she isn't based around supernatural abilities and is much better known.

Doctor Death

Dr. Karl Hellfern was the first recurring villain and first real supervillain to face Batman in the comic books. In his first appearance (nice article about that here), he threatens Gotham City's wealthiest citizens with a toxic gas unless they pay him a hefty sum. He's been reinventied as a paraplegic with the same poison gas gimmick, and more recently as biological and chemical weapons expert for sale to the highest terrorist bidder.

Pros: He's a blank slate. Doctor Death is a name some comics fans know for his historical significance, but few have read much of anything featuring the character. So there's plenty of freedom to update or make changes to the character.

Cons: The name "Doctor Death" these days makes most people think of Jack Kevorkian. No matter what your opinion on doctor assisted suicide, I think you'll agree it's not a great thing for people to be thinking about during your blockbuster action movie.

How I'd do it: I might avoid the Doctor Death name, let people call him that in discussion on the internet and stuff, but I'm not sure you really have to use the name in the movie. I feel like this has been done before in a movie, but the closest example I can think of is that I'm pretty sure they never used the word "Bizarro" for the evil duplicate of Clark on Smallville. As for the story, I can't really expect him to be the main villain, but he could be a secondary guy. Maybe criminals in Gotham are sick of Dr. Crane's fear toxin, but do like the whole toxin idea, so they go to another crazy scientist? That's probably a stretch. But these movie writers are far more clever than I am.

Casting Guesses: The only depictions of Doctor Death I remember all have him as a balding guy with a beard. And I like the idea of a creepy old guy. So Joel Grey, or Ron Rifkin?

Verdict: Possible. Like many others, Doctor Death has little chance of being the main villain, but he's a perfectly decent character and could be used if the story calls for it.

Amygdala

Aaron Helzinger had some serious anger management issues, so a doctor removed his amygdala, a part of the brain that controls emotional responses. But the surgery resulted in him becoming easily manipulated, and just as prone to fits of rage. Until somewhat recently, when he became largely cured and an ally of Dick Grayson, nearly every one of Amygdala's appearances have involved another villain convincing Amygdala to attack Batman.

Pros: A medical treatment gone awry could work in the movie universe, realism-wise, and Batman really hasn't dealt with an opponent who was purely a physical threat yet.

Cons: He's kind of a poor man's Hulk. Childlike mind, anger issues, freakishly strong (though I've never been clear how strong Amygdala is, relative to Bane or Killer Croc or anything). And you certainly can't have a whole movie based around him as the villain, since he's just a strong, not very bright guy.

How I'd do it: You'd have to have another villain calling the shots.

Casting Guesses: Some huge wrestler? I have no idea. Or Dalip Sing, the huge guy from Get Smart and The Longest Yard remake, who I just learned is also a wrestler.

Verdict: I'm tempted to say no chance, but he's the kind of guy who could get a tiny background appearance like Zsasz had in the first movie.

Abattoir

Arnold Etchison is a regular old crazy person. A serial killer. The twist is that his victims are people he's related to, believing that he gains their strength when he kills them. I don't think he eats their brains or hearts or anything, but there's a limit to the gore you can have in all-ages Batman comics, so I bet they at least wanted him to. While acting as Batman, Jean-Paul Valley allowed Abattoir to fall to his death (which became part of the reason for Bruce Wayne to become Batman again). Etchison came back as a ghost in a later Batman storyline that's probably best forgotten.

Pros: No supernatural stuff (not counting the ghost part).

Cons: He's not all that interesting.

How I'd do it: You don't really have to change the character, except come up with some way for the audience to be frightened by him.

Casting Guesses: James Spader. I have no idea why, but I feel like he'd be a good crazy Abattoir.

Verdict: Nah. If you're going to have a regular crazy murderer, Zsasz is the best choice.

Azrael

Jean-Paul Valley's story is pretty complicated, but here's the quick version. His father was a super assassin type guy for the Order of St. Dumas. His father secretly trained Jean-Paul from birth with subconscious commands, called "The System," on how to be a super assassin too. When his father dies, Jean-Paul becomes Azrael. On one of his first tasks, Azrael runs across Batman, and decides to ditch the assassin gig and join Batman with the superheroics. Batman grows to trust Azrael so much that when Bane breaks his back, Batman asks Jean-Paul to take over. The only problem is that The System is constantly fighting for control of Jean-Paul's mind, and he becomes more and more violent, violating all of Batman's principles. Eventually, Bruce recovers and has to take back what they constantly referred to as "the mantle of the Bat" by force. Not long after, Azrael was presumed dead in the comics and Jean-Paul Valley hasn't been seen since, but I keep hearing rumors of his imminent return.

Pros: Personally, I hated the character and every story he was involved in. Drop a comment if you liked him and why, please, cause I'm stumped.

Cons: He was very 90s-comics. Big muscles, mental anguish, fonts meant to imply spooky/scary voice, giant fireballs, stuff like that. He didn't have pouches strapped everywhere though, maybe that could go in the "Pros" section.

How I'd do it: You have to ditch the costume (or modify it so radically that it's unrecognizable) and ditch The System. There's a super secret organization called the Order of St. Dumas that doesn't like the whole Batman thing, so they send their best assassin, codenamed Azrael. But that's awfully close to the League of Shadows being pissed at Batman for killing Ra's al Ghul and having Talia send their best assassin, Lady Shiva. And the League of Shadows/Talia/Shiva story is much better, I think.

Casting Guesses: Jean-Paul's supposed to be European, I think (Swiss?), and in good shape. Karl Urban isn't European, but he's good at faking it. I think I suggested him for some other part, too, but oh well. Thomas Kretschmann is German but looks the part a little.

Verdict: I can't imagine any reason it would happen. I just didn't find him to be a character who was in any way interesting. Any Azrael-related story could be better handled by another existing Batman character.

Holiday

The identity of the Holiday killer was the central mystery of The Long Halloween, so there are lots of spoilers ahead. And it's a good read, so don't spoil it for yourself if you haven't read it already.

Holiday was the name of a serial killer who struck only on holidays. Holday's targets were mobsters, at first members of the Falcone family, but later targeting the rival Maronis (you may remember Tom Wilkinson as Carmine Falcone in Batman Begins, or Eric Roberts as Sal Maroni in The Dark Knight). Holiday struck with a .22 caliber pistol, the serial number filed off, and a baby bottle's nipple used as a silencer. At each crime scene, Holiday would leave behind a holiday-appropriate item as a calling card (a jack-o-lantern on Halloween, a snow globe on Christmas, etc).

The initial suspects were all mobsters. Calendar Man was obviously questioned, since it's his kind of crime, but he was locked up in Arkham the whole time. Eventually, Alberto Falcone, the somewhat neglected son of Carmine who had been Holiday's New Year's Eve victim, reappeared, very much alive, and confessed to the crimes. But later, as Two-Face is being arrested for a separate crime, he says to Batman and Gordon, "You both know, don't you? There were two Holiday killers." Batman assumes it's a side effect of Two-Face's obsession with duality, but we're then shown a scene of Gilda, Harvey Dent's wife, disposing of evidence and confessing to the first three murders to herself. Harvey had told her once the Falcones were taken down, he would have time to start a family, so she'd decided to hurry that process along. When someone else started committing Holiday murders, she assumed Harvey had realized what she was up to and taken over, but in fact it was Alberto Falcone.

Or at least that's how I read it. This guy claims that Alberto was the killer the whole time, but I don't buy it.

Pros: The Long Halloween was a big influence on both of the first two movies, and Holiday targeting gangsters fits with the movies making everything mob-related.

Cons: There's no Gilda Dent in the movies. And the Holiday thing fits better in an episodic format (monthly comic books, a tv series, etc) than a single movie.

How I'd do it: You could have Alberto Falcone kill some people over the course of a year. Have Batman be the initial suspect. Call in The Riddler, private investigator, to figure out who did it. A fun time would be had by all, but it would be missing something, I think.

Casting Guesses: Alberto Falcone is kind of nerdy -- the kid who goes to Harvard is the black sheep in a family of gangsters -- but he's also angry and bitter. Ryan Phillipe could pull it off. Zachary Quinto too, but after playing Sylar, people might just automatically assume he's the murderer.

Verdict: I doubt it, but it's not impossible. There's been some talk about an animated adaptation of The Long Halloween, and doing that would present a more fun version of Holiday (see this and scroll way down for a mention of the animation possibilities).

The Red Hood

The Red Hood was the original Joker origin story. Similar to the Jack Nicholson origin in Batman, The Red Hood was cornered by Batman, dove into a vat of chemicals to avoid capture, and came out of it with green hair, white skin, and went completely insane.

In The Killing Joke, Alan Moore changed the story a little (major Killing Joke spoilers ahead...). First, the future Joker wasn't the only one to wear the Red Hood. A couple of thieves would recruit an inside man for each job and have him wear the hood, so that if they were caught people would assume the Red Hood was the mastermind. It worked perfectly, Batman walks up to the first time criminal under the hood and says "we meet again," causing a terrified future Joker to flee into a vat of chemicals. The best touch of The Killing Joke was that after all the flashbacks supposedly telling his origin, the Joker notes that every time he remembers the story it's different ("If I'm going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice!"), an element of the character that got incorporated wonderfully into The Dark Knight.

Another Red Hood appeared more recently, in one of the stupidest retcons ever. Jason Todd was the second Robin. In a controversial storyline, readers were asked to call a 1-900 number to vote whether or not Jason, who had grown somewhat unpopular, should be killed off. In a close vote, readers gave Robin a thumbs down, and the Joker beat him to death with a crowbar, and then I think blew up the building he was in. It was kind of an ugly moment in Batman history, but the third Robin turned out to be a much better character (I think), so it was best to move on and forget about it. But then about 15 years later, and there's no way to put this that doesn't sound stupid, Superboy Prime punched the walls of reality, causing a ripple effect that changed all sorts of events in the DC universe, including Jason Todd being suddenly alive again. He put on the Red Hood and it brought back unpleasant memories of the 1-900 thing and, in my opinion, was generally pretty dumb.

Pros: The Killing Joke was great.

Cons: The Joker is best without an origin (or with multiple choice origins), and bringing in the first Red Hood would require not only a new Joker story without Heath Ledger, but flashing back to an origin. For the other Red Hood, we likely won't be seeing any Robins any time soon, so that's not going to happen.

How I'd do it: I guess if you had to flash back to some time around Batman Begins, you could have Batman beat down on a criminal in a red hood as a little easter egg for fans, but anything more than that would be a mistake.

Casting Guesses: I'm going to say none.

Verdict: Not going to happen. But given the significance of the character I thought he was worth mentioning here. Plus, that's a pretty cool image up top, stolen from Matt Wagner.

Hush

Hush was the main villain in Batman: Hush, a very popular comic book storyline from 2002, and since the mystery of his identity was a main element of the story, many Hush spoilers will follow...

The Elliots were close family friends of the Waynes, and Tommy Elliot was young Bruce Wayne's best friend. But while Bruce adored his parents, Tommy wanted to be free of parental control and to have access to his family fortune. So Tommy attempted to murder his parents by cutting the brake line on their car. Though his father was killed, Dr. Thomas Wayne was able to save Tommy's mother. Not only would he not inherit their money, but Tommy was now forced to help care for his mother, a situation he blamed on Thomas Wayne. Later, when Thomas and Martha Wayne were murdered, Bruce had everything Tommy had ever wanted, so Tommy redirected his anger at Bruce.

Despite his many childhood issues, he somehow managed to become a relatively productive person, becoming an accomplished surgeon. He came to treat the Riddler, who had just deduced Batman's secret identity. Learning that they shared a common enemy, Elliot wrapped his head in bandages, started calling himself Hush, and he and Riddler hatched an elaborate plan to get at Batman. Obviously it didn't work, but Hush has returned a few times since, still armed with the knowledge of Bruce's double life, and is able to cause a lot of trouble in Gotham.

Pros: His origins are tied with Bruce Wayne's, so digging through Tommy Elliot's origins would allow for some good scenes with young Bruce. He has no supernatural powers, so he fits with the movies' realism.

Cons: It's a bit of a stretch to buy an angry surgeon as a real threat to Batman, even if he does know Batman's identity. Hush in the comics relies on manipulating a number of Batman's costumed enemies so that they can actually hurt him, but the movie Batman only has a few enemies still alive to do anything with.

How I'd do it: Tommy Elliot would have to hook up with Coleman Reese. Learning Batman's identity is hugely important for turning Elliot into Hush, and Reese is the only one who might possibly let it slip. Then I guess you'd have him attack Batman through Bruce's friends, who at this point seem to only be Jim Gordon, Alfred, and Lucius Fox.

Casting Guesses: Under the bandages, Tommy Elliot's a redhead, so Damian Lewis (the TV series Life) is the first name that came to mind. Not just because he'd be good for the role (which he would be), but because I'm blanking on other red haired actors of appropriate age.

Verdict: It could happen, and though technically he should probably be considered a good fit, I just don't like him that much as a villain. I got most of the way through the Hush storyline without realizing Hush was a person. And then they started running a campaign to have people guess who Hush's identity was, and I hadn't realized I was supposed to be guessing. That left me somewhat unhappy with the character. I'm warming to him a little through the current storyline in Detective Comics, so maybe as that progresses I might change my mind, but for now I'll just say he's a possibility.

Solomon Grundy

A body is dumped into a Gotham City swamp, then fifty years later the body arises, disfigured, super-strong, and with no memory of his former life. Basically a big hulking zombie, Solomon Grundy has varied in strength and intelligence over the years. In The Long Halloween (pictured), where he strikes up an unusual friendship with Harvey Dent, Grundy is barely able to say more than "Solomon Grundy, born on a Monday," and though he's very strong, Batman is able to defeat him in combat. In other versions, he's not exactly smart but he can carry on conversations, and he's sometimes so strong that Superman has trouble with him.

Pros: Batman hasn't fought anyone freakishly strong in the movies yet. And many people have fond memories of Grundy, either from the comics or from being part of the Legion of Doom on The Superfriends cartoons. And visually, he's pretty cool looking.

Cons: Zombies are a stretch, realism-wise. The movies have favored the psychological over the physical, and Grundy's lack of intelligence doesn't fit well with that. Finally, Solomon Grundy has faced off against many other DC superheroes, so Warner Bros. bosses might want to save Grundy for a Green Lantern movie, where his supernatural origins might fit perfectly.

How I'd do it: I guess the best way to do it is to have a very big and very strong guy beaten to a pulp and left for dead. He survives, but with massive brain damage he can't even remember his own name. One of his origin stories has him only remembering that he was born on a Monday, and someone suggests Solomon Grundy as a name, referencing a nursery rhyme that I'd never heard of before reading it in the comics. So you could go with that. You're left with a big strong guy who's angry at the world because he can't remember it, which might be enough to fill a TV episode, but I don't think you can stretch two hours of plot from that.

Casting Guesses: The usual actors I suggest for big guy roles: Michael Clarke Duncan, The Rock, etc.

Verdict: Nah. Like about half of Batman's villains, they're quality characters, but the movie franchise's choice of realism makes it hard to do supernatural bad guys.

Man-Bat

Dr. Kirk Langstrom is losing his hearing. As a geneticist, he thinks he can give bats' heightened sense of hearing to people, curing not only his own ailment, but deafness entirely. He thinks he's close to completion, but his obsession with the project begins to cause problems with his marriage and eventually the funding for his research is cut off. Like most every other tragic/mad scientist in fiction, he decides the only way to prove himself right is to dangerously test his experiment on himself. It works perfectly at first, but obviously from the image above, he ends up turning into a half-man, half-bat monster. The beast still retains some of Langstrom, particularly his affection for his wife, but he mostly likes flies around Gotham, scares the crap out of people, and occasionally gets blamed for (but is not usually guilty of) murders.

Pros: Villains that reflect aspects of Batman work very well, and Langstrom's transformation into a bat-monster does a good job of that. I also have a personal connection to the character, since the first comic book I ever read featured Man-Bat.

Cons: Like Mr. Freeze, the science fiction aspects that won't work in a realistic movie are integral to the character.

How I'd do it: There have been some good Man-Bat stories over the years, but I don't think you can do the Man-Bat transformation, so I don't think you can do any version of the Man-Bat.

Casting Guesses: My initial instinct was Steve Buscemi, since the actor would have to be a little bit nerdy. But he also has to be sympathetic, and Buscemi usually excels more at being a little creepy. Maybe Alan Tudyk? He's slightly nerdy, sympathetic, and a great actor.

Verdict: I wish it could happen, and again if the movies had chosen a different style it really could have, but the Man-Bat just doesn't fit.

Zsasz

Victor Zsasz is just a regular old serial killer. No supernatural powers, no elaborate costume, no obsession with birds or plants or cats, no lifelong hatred of Bruce Wayne. He just likes to kill people. The only thing that separates him from Dahmer or Gacy or any other serial killer is that Zsasz carves a mark into himself for each victim. Most drawings make him look like he's well into triple figures, which I have to think would be some kind of record.

Pros: Zsasz is different from your standard Batman villain. He's frightening in a much more realistic way.

Cons: He's not too much of a physical challenge for Batman, to do his murders justice might make it hard to keep the PG-13 rating of the past two movies, and he doesn't really make for exciting chase scenes or dramatic rescues.

How I'd do it: Technically, we've already seen Zsasz. He appeared briefly early on in Batman Begins, portrayed as a mob hitman, with Rachel Dawes trying to keep him in regular prison and out of Dr. Crane's care. He later shows up among the Arkham escapees and his trademark scars can be seen if you look closely. The transition into full blown serial killer is an easy one, since we can assume he was subject to the Scarecrow's experiments, and now he's roaming the streets of Gotham. Zsasz is another guy who can't be the featured villain, so if he shows up I'd keep his appearance brief.

Casting Guesses: Tim Booth was just fine as Zsasz in the first one.

Verdict: He could get a token appearance, but again there's no way he's the main villain in Batman 3.

Superman

How can the next Batman bad guy be the only good guy in comics as famous as Batman? Easy! Though they're partners in the Justice League and share a passion for fighting crime and helping people, they have a lot of differences. Just look at their costumes. Superman wears bright colors looking somewhat patriotic and standing out in a crowd, while Batman hides in the shadows and tries to frighten people with his appearance. They fight fairly often in the comic books, most famously in The Dark Knight Returns, but on a number of other occasions as well. Most every time Superman comes to Gotham City, he's greeted with something along the lines of "this is my city, get out."

Pros: If done right, it would unquestionably kick ass.

Cons: It makes terrible business sense. Superman Returns was a box office failure compared to Batman Begins (they made about the same in box office receipts, but Superman cost quite a bit more to make), and The Dark Knight's success only wides the gaps between the franchises. So it could be argued that at this point putting the two heroes together could be a step down for Batman.

More importantly, should the movie be a bomb, it would damage two valuable movie franchises. A huge budget Batman vs. Superman movie that is a critical and commercial disaster would probably make audiences reluctant to see either character again anytime soon. Prior to both Batman Begins and Superman Returns, there were real plans to have the Dark Knight and the Man of Steel face off in a movie, but eventually everyone came to their senses and moved on.

How I'd do it: Superman's a reporter and is obviously aware of the goings on in Gotham City. Batman is a brilliant detective who's known to plan for any situation, so having heard of Metropolis's nigh-invulnerable hero, he's figured out not only
Superman's weakness but also his identity as Clark Kent. Superman arrives in Gotham City to help out, and Batman's there to greet him with a "get out of Gotham, Clark, it's mine." Superman's freaked out at being identified, and since Batman's a wanted criminal, his instinct is to bring Batman to the police, at Batman's response is to pull out some Kryptonite. Superman retreats, and they both go off to prepare for what would have to be a 30 minute long final showdown full of destroyed Bat-vehicles and gadgets, heat vision blasts, Kryptonite-infused punches to Superman's face, and other things that would cause most comic book geeks to die from awesomeness overdose.

Casting Guesses: Brandon Routh wasn't bad in Superman Returns, but he wasn't great either. Superman is almost impossible to cast with established stars, so I'd say go with an unknown.

Verdict: It may happen someday, but not anytime soon, and, I'm sad to say, certainly not in the next Batman movie.

Amanda Waller

Amanda Waller is the DC universe's preferred government agent. She's best known as the leader of the Suicide Squad, a team of villains who are promised amnesty in exchange for serving on a government strike force, but she's also worked with Checkmate, a more traditional spy organization, and had a position in the government when Lex Luthor was President. She's bright, very clever, a strong leader, and wields the power of the federal government.

The main reason I see her as a potential foe for Batman in a follow-up to The Dark Knight is that Batman is cast as a dangerous outlaw at the conclusion of the film. In the animated Justice League Unlimited, Amanda Waller headed up the government's response to a perceived superhero threat, and the season-spanning arc detailing Project Cadmus's efforts under Waller to deal with the Justice League situation is one of the better superhero stories I know.

Pros: If the Feds get involved with the Batman problem in Gotham, Waller would be the perfect choice to lead them.

Cons: Detours to Asia in each of the first two movies aside, the movies are all about Gotham City, and bringing Washington into the picture, in the form of federal agents, might detract from that a little. Also, with every comic book series seemingly headed for the big screen these days, Warner Bros. might want to save Ms. Waller for a Suicide Squad movie.

How I'd do it: Waller and a group of soldiers show up at Jim Gordon's office, telling him that Gotham City police aren't equipped to handle a criminal like Batman, he's too well-equipped and he's already shown (as far as everyone but Batman and Gordon are concerned) that he doesn't mind killing cops.

Casting Guesses: CCH Pounder voiced the animated Amanda Waller, and since she looks the part as well, I have a tough time imagining anyone else.

Verdict: With no supernatural abilities and an easy entrance into the story, I'd say she's an excellent fit. Really, if there's federal involvement in the hunt for Batman in "Batman 3," for lack of a better title, I'd be disappointed if we didn't see at least a cameo Amanda Waller.

Killer Croc

Waylon Jones was born with a condition that made his skin scaly, tough, and green. Ridiculed as a child, he grew up to be very big and very strong, and began wrestling crocodiles under the name Killer Croc. He headed to Gotham, deciding that crime was a better way to make a buck. He's been a thief, a mob enforcer, and he briefly ran his own criminal organization, which was odd since he's never been shown to be all that bright. Recently, his medical condition has been portrayed as progressive, slowly turning not just his skin, but his whole body and even his mind into that of a reptile. At this point in the comic books, he's usually shown as a reptilian monster living in the sewers of Gotham City.

Pros: Big scary dumb guys can make for some cool fight scenes.

Cons: The crocodile-man aspect of the character doesn't fit in the movie Gotham. And big scary dumb guys aren't as interesting from a storytelling point of view. With the Joker, Scarecrow, and Two-Face, three guys Batman can easily best in a toe-to-toe fight, the folks behind the movies have shown a preference for characters who are psychological threats more than physical ones.

How I'd do it: You can't make him actually turn into a crocodile, and probably can't even have him green, but I'm sure there's a real skin condition out there that could be used to make a movie Killer Croc frightening to look at. But he's too simple a character to really base a movie around, but like Firefly he'd make a decent villain for a side plot.

Casting Guesses: Michael Clarke Duncan seems to be the go-to actor for huge muscular guys. And he is huge and muscular (and a good actor, too).

Verdict: He could appear, but it would be next to impossible to base a whole movie around Killer Croc.