Amph ITT...I'm Batman (Discussion)

It was funny when TDK didn't have a title yet and the working title was Batman Continues

 

That seems like a bad move business wise but we'll see (and good for Nolan not putting it in 3D for no particular reason).

 

Agreed. But the long term problem is that they're running out of eponymous movie titles. Is there even anything left besides "Caped Crusader?"

 

And really, how old do you have to be to think that sounds cool?

 

If they were to bring in Robin they could call it The Dynamic Duo.

 

He used to be known as the Darknight Detective.

Bat-eared Bozo was another nickname I remember.

 

"World's Finest Without Superman"

 

GOTHAM

 

What about Gotham. City FALLS?!

 

I do not mind the title. Nolan has said that the Penguin is OUT and now so is the RIDDLER.

That leaves Catwoman as the logical choice in a 'Real World' setting. Rachael is dead so Bruce Wayne is looking, could be that Wayne Manor is restored by this time. There will be no Robin, Bale said he would "Bail" if Robin were brought in.

I hope he closes it out well, 3rd films usually fall flat.

Also the Joker is not dead, only the best actor to ever play him is. The only actor I could think of to bring that intensity back would be Johnny Depp. I doubt it will happen.

 

Well, Nolan also said he has no plans on bringing back the Joker. So, if we're keeping a tally, Two-Face is dead, Joker is a no-show (probably in Arkham), no Riddler, no Penguin.

My guess is no Bane, Poison Ivy or Mr. Freeze, they're too unrealistic for Nolan's Batman world, and they all impose the risk of reminding people of Batman & Robin.

That pretty much leaves Catwoman or a number of lesser known Batman villains. From the sounds of it, Nolan seems more concerned with bringing his trilogy to a proper end as opposed to introducing new villains, which I respect. As much as I would have loved to see the Riddler given his proper due on screen, I like Nolan's desire to end his series on the right note. And with Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Prestige, and Inception all among my favorite films list, I have complete confidence in him.

 

Considering this story is about Batman's redemption and an escalating fight against crime, I doubt Catwoman would be the primary antagonist, unless they go completely off formula with her. I've never known her to be a criminal mastermind, nor one that could out-do the Joker in terms of scale. The villain will have to be someone that really challenges Batman and makes him earn the respect of the people of Gotham. I think people are looking too hard at names and not hard enough at character. After all neither Scarecrow nor Ra's Al Ghul were household names with most people before Batman Begins, but both made perfect sense in the scope of the story.

 

YES

 

Ahem. There's always Talia Al-Ghul you know, seeking to avenge her father or otherwise finish what he started. That would give Batman a villain that can potentially be a love interest as well as someone willing to stick a knife through his heart.

But the title does leave a bit to be desired. It'd all make sense if, say Batman Begins had been named Batman: The Dark Knight Begins, TDK had been named something like The Dark Knight Returns (ok, so it reads too much like "Batman Returns" but hey, it sounds good) and then, after the bitersweet ending of #2 and the position Bats put himself at, #3 had been named The Dark Knight Triumphant.

 

I think Talia Al-Ghul is a strong possibility.
So is Harley Quinn, even if it's just to replace the role the Joker would have played.
Catwoman is the most popular choice, but I don't see how she could be a credible threat in Nolan's universe without completely reinventing her character.
Poison Ivy could be altered to fit into Nolan's universe, and would tie back into Ras Al-Ghuls's goal in the first movie to reset everything.

Maybe there is even a way to combine all four of those characters into one. The daughter of Ras Al-Ghul, taking over his criminal empire and with his philosophy. But she was a botanist before her father's death, until some accident around the time of Batman Begins made her as crazy as the Joker, and to embrace the legacy of her father and being anti-civilization, but her past as a botanist giving it an environmentalist streak. And she performs and leads in her own burglaries of scientific laboratories for her master plan, in a cat-like outfit, again going with the nature theme of her character. And her "normal" identity, as Talia (but with a different last name), becomes Bruce Wayne's first true love interest after Rachel's death. But there will be some revelation about Rachel that connects her to all this as well.

 

What if Nolan were to create a brand new villain?

 

The villain should be Clock King.

 

The Villain should be the Rhino.

Oh wait, wrong genre.

 

Right genre, wrong franchise.

 

I'm glad there's no Riddler. In the Nolan world he'd just be too similar to Joker.

 

Or Calendar Man!

 

I actually think Azrael might work well as the villain. Deathstroke the Terminator is another foe I wouldn't mind Bats squaring-off with, though he's not primarily a Batman bad-guy.

 

Ra's with Scarecrow again with one or two supporting villains I think is the way to go. Catwoman works if the relistic twist is that she is done like Catherine Zeta Jones in Entrapment. Since Batman is on the run though still fighting crime it sets up a meeting with her, and Ra's takes it as perfect timing to rise again to topple Gotham.

 

My guess is Hugo Strange. Catwomen can't carry the final part of the trilogy by herself. She's not really that much of a villain, and since the only real big villain, the Riddler, is apparently a no then Strange seems the most logical choice.

 

I see Catwoman being in it as more of a love interest, and not the actual main villain. She is, after all, Batman's one true love. Not only is Rachel dead now, but she had already said she couldn't be with Bruce because the Bruce she knew was gone, replaced by the dark psyche of the Batman. And now that she's dead and that part of him has fully enveloped him, as he is now completely "The Dark Knight," THAT'S the guy that falls for someone like Catwoman.

Anyone else notice that Deadline reported that Tom Hardy is in the movie?

Slimy!