Robin - Jason Todd

Jason Todd was introduced when Dick Grayson moved on after many years as Robin (more on that in a few days). Initially, he was practically a clone of Robin, growing up in a circus, his parents murdered (by Killer Croc), and Batman takes him on. In 1985, DC Comics "rebooted" their entire universe and revamped many of their characters, and Jason Todd was recreated as an orphan living on the streets, doing whatever it takes to make ends meet. Batman first meets the boy while he's trying to steal the tires off of the Batmobile.

Batman enrolls Jason in a school for troubled boys, but Ma Gunn, who runs the school, turns out to be a criminal herself. Jason helps Batman take her down, and that sets him on the path to becoming the next Robin.

While Batman and Dick Grayson endured single tragic events in their childhood, Jason's early years consisted of nothing but problems. As a result he was angry, moody, impulsive, and had trouble with authority. This was a stark contrast to Dick Grayson who was a little too much of a yes man for my tastes. But Jason Todd was not well received by fans, and in one of the strangest publicity stunts I know of, DC Comics opened up a 1-900 line for fans to vote on whether he should live or die. And you can probably guess how that went from the title of 1988's A Death in the Family.

Pros: I complained about Dick Grayson being a little too boring, and Jason certainly brings some conflict to the table.

Cons: He was obviously not popular. Casual fans only know Dick Grayson as Robin. Putting a kid in the line of fire is wildly irresponsible. Just like Dick Grayson, he wore the short shorts. And as I've mentioned many times before, Robin won't be happening no matter who he is.

How I'd do it: Still saving this for after I've covered the big 3 Robins.

Casting Guesses: Again, you'd have to do the legwork to find a kid who fits the part.

Verdict: No way. As much as I liked the effort to get away from Dick Grayson's Robin, Jason Todd was a mistake from start to finish.

News & Notes

From around the web:

• DVD/Blu-Ray details! The Dark Knight drops December 9th on both DVD and Blu-Ray in a 2 disc special edition. Fork out some extra cash and you can get the Batpod Edition (pictured above). More pictures at mtv.com.


• A while back I mentioned a "favorite Batman villain" poll on the CBR forums. Well the results are in, head over there to see them.

The "what to do next" poll is over, with no real consensus, but as you can see below I started in on sidekicks. I'll probably do that for a while, I do have 5 or 6 more villains to get through at some point, and I might come up with some more as I go. And I'll have a new poll up at some point this week.

Robin - Dick Grayson

Taking a week-ish long break from villains to talk about some characters friendly to Batman who might pop up, starting with the original Robin.

Probably the best known origin of anyone in Gotham other than Batman, Dick Grayson grew up in the circus as a member of the acrobatic Flying Graysons. While still just a boy, Dick saw his parents murdered by mobster Tony Zucco. Having suffered through the same thing as a boy, Bruce Wayne takes Dick Grayson on as a ward, and when Dick discovers Bruce's secret identity as Batman, Dick becomes his sidekick Robin, the Boy Wonder.

Pros: Out of all the Robins, Dick is the most famous. So much so that any other Robin would probably confuse fans who associate Robin with Chris O'Donnell or Burt Ward. The acrobat backstory provides an excuse for his agility and fearlessness.

Cons: First, and I'm probably going to mention this in every Robin, we're already pretty sure there won't be a Robin, and Robin is a tough sell anyway. In a semi-realistic interpretation of Batman, it's hard to justify putting a kid in that kind of danger.

Second, there's the short pants. He's a kid, and the costume was designed almost 70 years ago, so I can't blame Bob Kane/Bill Finger, but it's not a good look.

Third, and this is a personal opinion, he's a little bit boring. At least as Robin. He rarely seemed to challenge Batman and almost never did anything on his own. He was just an occasionally wisecracking kid who did flips, kicked people, and got taken hostage.

How I'd do it: I'm going to save this until after I've covered the three (major) Robins, since I'd include elements of at least two of them.

Casting Guesses: Who knows with kids, but I'm sure it'd be a long, difficult casting process.

Verdict: From the above link, apparently not.

News & Notes

From around the web:

• Remember KGBeast? Check out Chris Sims' tribute to the silly-named villain..


• Brett Ratner, who helmed the crappy X-Men: the Last Stand, wanted to direct Batman movies. Thank goodness they gave it to Nolan instead. But Brett Ratner now wants to do a Joker spinoff movie. Yikes.

No character today... because I honestly forgot. I'll try to make up for it with a weekend villain.

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.

News & Notes

The news, rumors, and thoughts from other folks are coming in slower the longer we get from the initial Dark Knight mania from the summer. The only thing I've got for today is an article from the UConn student paper offering some casting suggestions. Leonardo DiCaprio for Hush is not something I would've thought of, and he'd be good, but it doesn't seem like the kind of role he'd take. In lieu of more news, here's a mildly funny Dark Knight video:

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 Hangman

The identity of the Hangman is the central mystery of Dark Victory, the sequel to Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's earlier work The Long Halloween, so beware spoilers aplenty for both books.

The Hangman is a serial killer, targeting Gotham City cops, both clean and dirty. At each crime scene the victim is hung, with a game of Hangman (with some of the letters still missing) left behind. All signs point to Harvey Dent, but something doesn't quite add up.

While the serial killings go on, a gang war rages between the Falcones and the Maronis after Two-Face killed Carmine Falcone and Carmine's son Alberto confessed to the Holiday murders. The only major Falcone left is Sofia Falcone Gigante, daughter of Carmine, who was left paralyzed by the climactic battle in The Long Halloween.

In the end, it is revealed that Sofia was faking her paralysis to avoid suspicion, and that she was responsible for the murders. Out to avenge her father's murder, she first went after all the cops who helped make Harvey Dent's career. Batman is able to save Two-Face, her ultimate target, but Two-Face turns on Sofia and kills her.

Pros: Commenter A put it best:

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

Cons: More from A:

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

I'd also add that the identity of the villain will leak, whoever it may end up being, and those that haven't read Dark Victory will be told that Sofia's faked her paralysis to commit the murders in the comics, so to preserve the mystery of the Hangman, they would have to change it around quite a bit.

How I'd do it: Parts of the setup don't work in the "Nolanverse." Two-Face is dead. Carmine Falcone, last we heard, was in Arkham. Sal Maroni was the mobster Two-Face took out. I think the best way to go about it would be to have Falcone's children targetted by someone looking to take hold of the Falcone crime family. They survive, barely, but know that if their father wasn't in Arkham, no one would have tried anything like that. They visit their father and he's still crazed, mumbling about the Scarecrow.

The initial attack gives you an excuse for the fake paralysis (either to follow the Dark Victory formula, or as a red herring), and have the Hangman target the Scarecrow, and the doctors, lawyers, and judges who helped his career.

Casting Guesses: Could be anyone, really, the Falcone family isn't as iconic as the regular villains. Sofia does look a bit like Drea Di Matteo, though, but with darker hair.

Verdict: I think there are just too many cons. And honestly, I didn't like Dark Victory all that much. But it's possible, I guess. I just hope not.

News & Notes

From around the web:

• Check out Earl's blog for his thoughts on the Riddler


• Shirley Manson to MTV: "I'd love to play Catwoman"

And speaking of Ms. Kyle, she easily won the love interest poll at 37%. Talia al-Ghul and a celibate Batman tied for 2nd at 31%.

The new poll is asking what you'd like to see here. Unless I start going for goofy villains who only showed up in one comic 20+ years ago (which I have already done a few times), I'm running out. Though I'll still be keeping up with rumors and things like that, I'd like to keep up with (mostly) daily features. The ideas I've had so far include sidekicks (Robins, Batgirls, etc), Gotham City cops (Renee Montoya, Harvey Bullock, etc), Batman and Bruce Wayne's love interests, or just ditching the character stuff for a while and looking at influential Batman stories, and what might be drawn from them for a future Batman movie. I'm curious what you guys want to read about, so vote away.

The Mutants

The Mutants were a gang from Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns. And if you haven't read that, quit reading my crap and go get it, and not just because this will be one big spoiler after another.

For some reason I'm striking out on decent images of the mutants (if I come up with one, I'll replace the above, which is of Batman on his way to kick the tar out of the leader of the Mutants), but physically they're notable for generally being young, their extremely pale skin, and their 80s quasi-futuristic sunglasses (the kind that sorta look like Geordi Laforge's visor from Star Trek, but with a single red lens stretched across both eyes). You can see them in this video from the Batman: The Animated Series episode "Legends of the Dark Knight." They speak with a unique brand of slang that's barely intelligible ("Batman don't shiv. He nasty. Balls nasty.").

In chapter 2 of The Dark Knight Returns, "The Dark Knight Triumphant," the Mutants, like most every other gang, want to kill Batman and Jim Gordon and take over the city. Which by itself doesn't seem all that interesting. What makes them unique is their reaction to defeat. Batman nearly loses his first fight with the Mutant's leader, saved only by Carrie Kelly (Robin). Though the battle results in the leader's arrest and imprisonment, the Mutants themselves continue to terrorize Gotham. Batman realizes that the only way to beat them is to humiliate them. He arranges for the leader to escape, and for all the Mutants to be at the same place at once to witness the rematch. Carefully choosing the location, and using what he learned in the first fight, Batman breaks the leader and shows the Mutants what will happen to them if they defy him. Their reaction? They become the Sons of Batman (and somehow I was able to find a picture of them, at left), painting the Bat-logo on their face and bringing vigilante justice to all of Gotham.

Pros: With Batman left as public enemy #1, winning over a gang and turning them from crime to crimefighting is a good way for him to be redeemed.

Cons: What passed for cool and futuristic in 1986 is neither cool nor futuristic now.

How I'd do it: It'd be hard to use the look of the mutants, especially the leader, the slang might not work, and they'd have to be made older (having violent kid vigilantes calling themselves the Sons of Batman is probably not the kind of thing parents' groups would react well to) but the plot can be used almost entirely. A gang of youths rises up wreaking havoc all over Gotham. Fugitive Batman takes down their leader in front of them all, and they're so impressed that they become his disciples.

Casting Guesses: There'd be dozens of them, so I'm not going to bother with casting guesses here.

Verdict: They're a good fit. My only concerns are the transition from Mutants to Sons of Batman, which was done rather abruptly in one panel in the comic, and how to let Batman command his army of former gang members in a way that's not reckless (recklessness is something The Dark Knight Returns wasn't especially concerned with).

Rumor Mill Recap

The rumor mill seems to have quieted, with nothing new to report since Monday, so I thought this would be a good time to recap what we've heard so far. The short version: we know basically nothing. Here's the long version:

• The Riddler: We've heard the most rumors about this guy. Johnny Depp is the most popular name, but he has not been approached about the role. Guy Pearce seemed more open to the idea. Reportedly David Tennant of Dr. Who wants it bad. Brian Austin Green of 90210 and now Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles also wants to be the Riddler. And The Riddler will appear in Supermax, a Green Arrow movie set in a prison for supervillains.


• The Penguin: Philip Seymour Hoffman is the big rumor here, but he hasn't been contacted either and isn't sure he'd do it if asked.


• Catwoman: Angelina Jolie is the big name, a casting choice supported by TV Catwoman Julie Newmar. There was a rumor floating around that Maggie Gyllenhaal's Rachel Dawes would be returning, and becoming Catwoman (but parts of that rumor seem to have been discredited with regards to Two-Face (see below)). A rumor floated around for a minute that they wanted Cher to play an older Catwoman, but that was shot down in a matter of hours.

Actual things we know:

• Two-Face: The fate of Harvey Dent, which was the source of a lot of speculation, is cleared up here and here.


• Warner Bros. hopes to have Batman 3 out by 2011, but there's no script and director Christopher Nolan still isn't signed for a Dark Knight followup, and will probably want to do a non-Batman movie before returning to Gotham City (like he did with The Prestige between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight).

The Tally Man

The original Tally Man grew up poor. His father owed money to a loan shark and they struggled to pay their debts. When his father died, matters only got worse. When a collector threatened his mother, young Tally Man killed him, spending most of the rest of his youth in juvie. When he got out, the rest of his family was all dead and he lost it. He apparently had a talent for shooting, and ended up working for the mob, killing people who couldn't pay their debts. He was completely nuts though, becoming downright gleeful while killing his victims.

The second Tally Man appeared during the Face the Face storyline (spoilers to follow). Working for the Great White Shark (who I just realized I haven't covered here), he kills Orca, The Ventriloquist, KGBeast, and Magpie, framing Two-Face for the crimes. He was stopped pretty quickly after his first appearance, and I don't think he's shown up since.

Pros: Essentialy just an mob hitman, either Tally Man fits with the presence of organized crime through each of the first two movies.

Cons: I doubt the mob would go to someone as obviously crazy as the first Tally Man after their experience with the Joker. And the second is a minor, minor character.

How I'd do it: I'd go with the second Tally Man. Just have him be a hired gun, nothing more to it.

Casting Guesses: The second Tally Man kinda looks like Mos Def, but bigger. I might go with Common, just because he's impressed me in the few movies I've seen him in.

Verdict: Almost no chance. There are so many other assassins to choose from. The only possibility is for a tiny cameo, in a situation where the better known assassins aren't available (because DC/WB is saving them for non-Batman movies).

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?

News & Notes

Swamped at work today so no villain, but I did get a chance to comb through the news, and here's the most exciting thing I came up with:


Papercraft South Park Batman! In other words, there's no news. It is kinda nifty though. If you're so inclined, there's a pdf and instructions here, but it looks way too complicated for me.

Tweedledee and Tweedledum

Denver and Dumfree Tweed are cousins who look not only like identical twins, but also like Lewis Carrol's characters Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Not generally affiliated with Mad Hatter even though they're all based on Alice in Wonderland characters, Tweedledee and Tweedledum are strategists who let henchmen carry out their plans. Recently they did hook up with the Mad Hatter and formed the Wonderland Gang (no relation to the actual gang), adding some new Alice in Wonderland-themed characters.

Pros: Nothing supernatural, they're just criminals looking for money.

Cons: The Mad Hatter's a much better (and better known) Wonderland villain. Tweedledee and Tweedledum haven't been involved in many of the bigger Batman stories, so they wouldn't generate much fan interest.

How I'd do it: Have the Tweeds be low level criminals who had been stopped by Batman in the past. When they see Batman on the run from the cops, they think it's open season for crime and set out on their own.

Casting Guesses: Two portly gentlemen who look alike... the only actors who are coming to mind are comedic ones. Jack Black types who would be more than a little out of place in a Christopher Nolan Batman movie. I'm sure there are a couple of perfect guys for the part, but I doubt they'll get the chance to prove it.

Verdict: Nope. When there are two similar villains and one is just that much better than the other (like Catman and Catwoman), I don't see any reason to include the crappy one.

News & Notes

No news to report from the weekend. A new fan made poster is floating around though, featuring the Riddler. No idea who made this one, but I saw it linked from here. See here, here, and here for previous fan posters.

Catman

Thomas Blake was a big game hunter who, now bored of killing lions, decided to move to Gotham and take up costumed crime. He borrowed Catwoman's theme and costume (much to her chagrin) and named himself Catman. Many of his early stories relate to his competition with Catwoman. His cat-themed crimes are often falsely pinned on her, so she has joined forces with Batman to stop Blake.

Later, Blake was portrayed as a joke among supervillains, a loser even among those who always lose to Batman. So he and Killer Moth formed a team of D-list villains called the Misfits. Later still, Blake has joined the Secret Six, a group of villains including Deadshot and Bane.

As a hunter, Blake's abilities include tracking, hand-to-hand combat, and a number of weapon skills, and he has metal claws built into his suit.

Pros: No supernatural powers, so he's not a stretch realism-wise. That's about it.

Cons: His backstory is that he's bored and needs money, so he puts on a cat costume and steals stuff, which is pretty weak. And Catman in a movie would feel like a poor substitute for Catwoman.

How I'd do it: I think I'd just rip off Kraven the Hunter from Spider-man. Thomas Blake decides that the hunt for Batman is the ultimate challenge.

Casting Guesses: I have suggested him before but Thomas Jane looks just like this guy.


Verdict: Nope. Catwoman is iconic, Catman is a novelty.

News & Notes

From around the web:

• Every Day Is Like Wednesday thinks it'd be cool to stick a whole mess of villains in the next movie, and looks at some comics such a movie might draw from


• Scandalist gives a run-down on the biggest rumors so far. The short version: we know nothing.


• IGN lists 10 things they want to see in the next Batman movie.


• Frank Miller told the LA Times he wants to film The Dark Knight Returns with Sylvester Stallone as Batman. Given his comparison to Rocky Balboa, I get where he's coming from, but Stallone never sounds especially bright, while Batman is supposed to be incredibly intelligent.


• Showbizspy has a really dubious story saying Dustin Hoffman wants to be the Penguin, but they say he told "thestonereport.com" which doesn't seem to be a legitimate site. At least it doesn't come up in google, which makes me reluctant to actually visit it. So take that with a metric ton of salt.


• And sloganyams (whatever that means) has a few ideas for villains, I like the line about Scarecrow having received the "Count Dooku treatment."

New poll up about Batman's love interest for the next movie. I picked the few obvious ones and threw in the most recent ones featured in the comics. Let me know in the comments if you want me to add in Silver St. Cloud, Sasha Bordeaux, Shondra Kinsolving, or anyone else, but I figured they wouldn't get all that much support anyway.

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.

David Cain

David Cain is yet another assassin, who's best known as the father of Cassandra Cain, the current Batgirl (Lady Shiva, another assassin, is Cassandra's mother). A former member of Ra's al-Ghul's League of Assassins, he is one of many people who trained Bruce Wayne as he prepared to become Batman.

In the Bruce Wayne: Murderer?/Bruce Wayne: Fugitive arcs (spoilers to follow), David Cain shows his attention to detail and intense preparation by sneaking into Wayne Manor undetected and murdering Bruce Wayne's ex-girlfriend, framing Bruce in such a way that his only defense is that he was in the city as Batman.

Pros: Assassins work well in the movie setting. He's a good foe for Batman because he has the same kind of obsessive nature.

Cons: He's a more recent and lesser-known assassin. Based on the poll here, Deadshot's probably a heck of a lot more popular. A lot of his story is tied to Cassandra, who we won't be seeing in a movie anytime soon (Batgirl is unlikely, but if we do get one you can be sure it'll be Barbara Gordon).

How I'd do it: Like all the other assassins, one of the criminal types Batman's ticked off in the first two movies hires Cain to take out the Bat.

Casting Guesses: He's an older guy, but still in good shape, and tough as nails. Terrence Stamp in The Limey is about right, but that's almost 10 years old now, and Terrence Stamp probably can't pull off the in shape/tough part as well anymore. I bet Eric Roberts could do it, but he was already in The Dark Knight. The best I can think of is Viggo Mortensen, who if you can believe it, will turn 50 later this year.

Verdict: Possible, but pretty unlikely relative to other assasins. We're more likely to see Cain than Zeiss, but Deadshot's a much better bet.

News & Notes

Been sick as a dog, hence the lack of updates. I also missed a bunch of stuff earlier this week:

• First, Michael Caine said he talked to a Warner Bros. exec who confirmed the Johnny Depp/Riddler and Phillip Seymour Hoffman/Penguin rumors.


• Then Phillip Seymour Hoffman said no one had talked to him about it, and he's not even sure he'd do it if they asked him to.


• The Silver Age Comics blog has a Obscure Batman Villains quiz, which stumped me except for #1 and #2 (not profiled here... yet... or possibly ever). Answers here.


• Some guy drew a slick Joker and super evil looking Penguin.

The assassin poll is closed, apparently people really love Deadshot (65%), with Lady Shiva (17%) as the only other choice to get more than token support. I'll get a new poll up later this week.

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.

News & Notes

Special Saturday edition, because I got lazy yesterday:

• I thought we wrapped this up a few weeks ago but Aaron Eckhart makes it doubly clear what happened to Harvey Dent.


• After Johnny Depp expressed some possible mild interest, here's Guy Pearce being a little more talkative about The Riddler:

• Gotgame has a lengthy article on potential villains, suggesting Black Mask, Hugo Strange, and Hush

Blockbuster

Mark Desmond was a scientist experimenting with steroids who turned himself into a giant, stupid, super-strong man/monster called Blockbuster. His brother Roland, an aspiring criminal, cared for Mark and manipulated him into criminal acts. Batman eventually stopped Blockbuster, who was recruited into Amanda Waller's Suicide Squad, and eventually died.

Later, Roland Desmond fell ill and took a steroid treatment not unlike his brother's and underwent the same transformation. Unhappy with his condition's effect on his mind, the new Blockbuster struck a deal with Neron, the DC Universe's version of the devil, and Roland gained the intellect to match his strength and ambition. He went to Bludhaven, the city protected by Nightwing (Dick Grayson, formerly Robin), and took over the criminal underworld there.

Eventually Roland Desmond died too, and a third Blockbuster emerged in the crossover series 52, but he wasn't even tangentialy a Batman enemy.

Pros: He's a big scary strong guy. And steroids are a significant cultural issue, so maybe there's some relevance to a story with Blockbuster. Roland Desmond, despite being a superstrong albino, is basically a mobster, which fits perfectly with the movies.

Cons: Mark Desmond isn't much more than Dr. Jeckyll permanently turning into Mr. Hyde. Roland Desmond's a more interesting character, but is more of a Nightwing enemy than a Batman one. And there are far more significant and more iconic big scary strong enemies for Batman to face.

How I'd do it: Personally, I'd probably use Roland Desmond to borrow good ideas from Spider-Man and Daredevil stories (like this) featuring the Kingpin. Ignore the steroids and the superhuman strength, and just make him a very large, very strong man in a fancy mobster suit.

Casting Guesses: Another one where a wrestler might be the best choice, and I don't follow wrestling.

Verdict: He won't be a featured villain, no chance there. The first Blockbuster was a pretty minor villain, and the second barely ever fought Batman. But naming some strong guy Blockbuster (or Desmond) is certainly a possibility. Heck, you could retroactively name Tiny Lister's Dark Knight character Blockbuster.

Cluemaster

Arthur Brown is obsessed with clues, and he intentionally leaves behind clues at all his crime scenes. Though his clues are technically not riddles, he is basically a poor man's Riddler.

His main contributions to Batman comics are forming the Injustice League with a group of lesser-known villains, and fathering Stephanie Brown, aka Spoiler, who briefly served as Robin.

Pros:You can take most potential Riddler stories and turn them into Cluemaster stories.

Cons: But they wouldn't be as good.

How I'd do it: I probably wouldn't. Any Cluemaster story would feel like a cheap version of a Riddler story. And having him as a cameo would require too much time to explain his impulse to leave clues behind.

Casting Guesses: I tend to think of him as an older guy, father of a teenage daughter. Character actor Gregg Henry could fit the part.

Verdict: Not going to happen. If they ever started making Robin movies featuring Tim Drake, he'd probably have to show up. But in Robin-less Batman, he's a nobody.

Killer Moth

Killer Moth is a strange, kinda goofy, but oddly popular second rate villain. Originally, he attempts to become the anti-Batman. He creats the Mothmobile and the Mothcave, and gives Gotham's crimnal underworld their own Moth-signal, with which they can summon his help (for a price). He even has his own millionaire philanthropist persona, Cameron Van Cleer, though this similarity to Bruce Wayne was purely by accident on his part (but clearly on purpose by the writers).

In more recent stories, Killer Moth has become a moth monster creature known as Charaxes, and is pretty much Killer Croc but moth-y instead of crocodile-y.

Pros: Killer Moth, in some circles, is a beloved villain. There's even a Killer Moth Appreciation and Preservation Society with a webpage and a blog (there's tons of Killer Moth info there, so if you're interested I highly recommend checking them out).

Cons: He's a guy in a moth suit. That worked for Arthur, but in a dark, semi-realistic Batman story, it doesn't work so well.

How I'd do it: I guess you could do Killer Moth like the imitation Batman in The Dark Knight, where it's another dangerous copycat, only moth-themed.

Casting Guesses: Old school Cameron van Cleer looks like a young Kirk Douglas. I'm not sure who fits that bill now though. The character could be played for laughs I guess, in the copycat mode, which would open the door to most any comedic actor. Or more likely a no-name.

Verdict: Sorry, Killer Moth Appreciators, but it's doubtful. But I'm not going to say it's impossible. Just highly unlikely.

News & Notes

The Riddler poll is closed. Guy Pearce got 17% of the vote, David Tennant 27%, and Johny Depp 41%.

Speaking of Mr. Depp, he said in an interview that no one had contacted him about the part, but it sounded like "a fun gig." Skip to 3:40 in the youtube video on that page for the Riddler parts.

The other piece of news is almost certainly fake, since it includes a pretty detailed summary of plot points and characters (Talia al Ghul, Riddler, and Black Mask), even though I don't think anyone's even writing a script or a treatment or anything yet. Plus it's not on a very professional looking site. But whoever wrote it claims to have "inside information." And I've been linking to whatever rumors I find, no matter how certain I am that they're fake, so this gets a link too.

And there's a new poll up, this time featuring assassins.

Calculator

Noah Kuttler built an awesome suit with a calculator keypad on his chest. Punching a few buttons allowed the big light mounted on his head to do cool Green Lantern type things, making solid objects out of light. This qualified him as one of the goofiest villains ever, alongside guys like Crazy Quilt.

But a few years ago, Calculator was reinvented. The calculator keypad, head lamp thing, and general gimmickry are all gone, and instead Calculator is a computer genius, hacker, and information broker to all the supervillains. The anti-Oracle.

Pros: Someone evil might need some hard to find piece of information, and it would make perfect sense for him to ask Kuttler.

Cons: The Calculator suit version can't work for obvious reasons. And he can't really be the anti-Oracle because there aren't enough supervillains in the movie universe to need their own Oracle.

How I'd do it: Either just a cameo finding information for someone, or he could be Oracle to the Gotham City mob. Providing, for a price, up to the minute information on where Batman is, and allowing them to pull the kinds of crimes I think I read in Brian Michael Bendis' Daredevil, where they would have one group of criminals commit some noisy high profile crime to get Batman's attention on one side of the city, then shortly after, start a more discreet, but more profitable job.

Casting Guesses: The current Noah Kuttler is kind of a sleazy nerd, and I can't help but think he'd be played for some laughs if he was the Oracle of organized crime. So Joel Moore is the first name that comes to mind, but I'm sure there are others who could be just as good.

Verdict: Not likely to be a featured villain, but he could pop up in a supporting role or in a cameo.