Who Will Nolan Choose in Batman Begins 3?

Christopher Nolan has a knack for picking amazing actors to play the villains in his Batman movies. First, we were treated to Liam Neeson as Ra's al Ghul and Cillian Murphy as Dr. Jonathan "Scarecrow" Crane in Batman Begins. Then, we were blown away by the performance of Heath Ledger as the Joker, and Aaron Eckhart put out an incredible effort as Harvey "Two-Face" Dent. Now, with rumors of a third film flying around, you have to wonder... just who will Nolan choose for his villain(s) in the third film? Time to take a look at who would work, who wouldn't, and who Nolan will probably choose.

THESE GUYS ARE OUT

Penguin
As Nolan said in an interview with Esquire magazine,

"'I'd be more excited to have Philip Seymour Hoffman in the film than to have the Penguin. There are certain characters that are easier to mesh with the more real take on Batman we're doing. The Penguin would be tricky."

I guess we won't be seeing him in a Batman movie as long as Nolan is at the helm... hey, wait a second... Hoffman as Penguin would be awesome!

Catwoman
Personally, I think Nolan could make Catwoman work incredibly well. Unfortunately, his brother has already shot down any chance of either Catwoman or Penguin making an appearance in the third film. Just imagine

The Joker
Heath Ledger, God rest him, gave the performance of a lifetime in The Dark Knight. Nolan has stated he will not be recasting the Joker, nor would he ever. So there's that one.

Two-Face
For obvious reasons evident in The Dark Knight, there's not much of a chance Two-Face could be in the third film. That's all I'll say for fear of spoiling it for one of the twelve people left out there who haven't seen The Dark Knight.

Harley Quinn
Since The Joker is kind of, you know, essential to Harley Quinn's story... and since Nolan has already gone on the record as saying he won't recast The Joker... it makes Harley Quinn's chances of showing up slim-to-none. Such a shame, too, because I think Nolan would have fun casting Harley... would he go with demented in his portrayal and nab someone like Helena Bonham Carter? Or would he go with the more striking beauty and try to get someone like Marion Cotillard or Fairuza Balk? I guess we'll never know.


THESE GUYS SHOULDN'T HAPPEN

Talia al Ghul
Somebody is going to shoot me for this one, but I think trying to bring in Talia into one movie and use her as a villain would be rather... boring. ESPECIALLY after such amazing performances from the two villains in The Dark Knight. Better to leave her dead and buried, along with Ra's.

The Riddler
As much as Joel Schumacher sucks, I think Jim Carrey provided the penultimate performance of The Riddler (TLJ as Two-Face... not so much). Not to mention, bringing in The Riddler immediately after The Joker exits stage right seems like an ill-fated move. The Riddler is a bit too similar for The Joker, not to mention there's very little places left to take The Riddler, and we don't want it to seem like re-hash now, do we? The only way I could possibly accept this is if Nolan, by some miraculous work, was able to convince Johnny Depp or Michael Emerson to sign on to the project. THEN we'd have a real villain in the works...

Poison Ivy
LEAVE. HER. DEAD. End of that.

Mr. Freeze
Thanks to Ah-Nold, I'm left with the burning image in my mind of Mr. Freeze as an Eastern European bodybuilder. Not to mention, the character of Mr. Freeze is a bit far-fetched. I don't really see how Nolan could translate Freeze into his world without completely destroying everything he has worked to build in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.


THESE GUYS HAVE POTENTIAL

Ventriloquist
He's one of the more underrated villains in the Batman universe, and despite being corny and cheesy on the cartoons I loved so dearly as a child... there is a definite way to make him fit into the Nolan universe. Some random guy with dissociative identity disorder who never speaks unless through his ventriloquist dummy? I think Nolan could make that work, especially if we got to see someone interesting playing the part of Ventriloquist *and* doing the voice of Scarface, the Dummy. Someone like Tobin Bell... or, in a perfect world, Malcolm McDowell. It's been awhile since Malcolm has explored a psychologically deprived character like Alex from A Clockwork Orange, and Ventriloquist could really kick the series into a whole different stratosphere if done correctly.

Black Mask
Nolan may have to tweak the backstory a little bit to make it more believable, but having Black Mask as a henchman of sorts to some kind of overboss might not be such a bad idea. He's an interesting villain, or at least, he could be if done correctly.

Bane
I refuse to acknowledge the existence of Bane on film. EVER. Don't bring it up. Bane was one of Batman's most intelligent villains, as well as his most physically challenging. I've seen mentions of Javier Bardem turning up as Bane, which could work, especially if they had Bane break Batman's back and let chaos run rampant in Gotham for a year or so while Batman recovers. Then the film jumps forward, and Batman goes out to clean up the city. This could be where multiple villains pop up in the city as underbosses, and the film can climax in the fight between Bane and Batman. The biggest problem with Bane, however, is trying to top a performance like Ledger's Joker. Bardem might be able to do it, but it would require some fancy scriptwriting from the Nolan brothers.

The Hangman
Also a very overlooked villain in the Batman franchises, The Hangman could work in making Nolan's film even darker. I'd only be happy for The Hangman to appear, however, if she (yes, SHE) was in the movie with Two-Face. It's the only way to end the Hangman's storyline correctly, and plus I feel like Two-Face deserves a return. Since Hangman never really gets caught (until the end of the story), it wouldn't matter who was cast as The Hangman.



Well, that's all I've got for the time being. Nolan's going to face some pretty hard challenges in finding villains for the rumored third film. Post with your own feedback/opinions.