Now that Christopher Nolan has committed to another project, we know the next Batman movie won’t be coming anytime soon. But that just means we have more time to have fun speculating which legendary Bat-villains will be the next in line to receive a Joker-style reimagining. There’s already been discussion of Johnny Depp playing the Riddler (too similar to the Joker!) and Phillip Seymour Hoffman taking on the Penguin (please make this happen!!!), but for now, let’s take a minute to consider which female character should appear in the next Batman film and which actress should play her:

HARLEY QUINN

Who she is: A villainess first introduced in Batman: The Animated Series, Quinn is a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum who falls under the spell of the Joker, eventually becoming his frequent accomplice and sometimes love interest.

Why She’d Be Great: She's a fresh villain who hasn't already been played to death in other Batman films. Also, the psychotic Quinn would be a juicy role for any actress to sink her teeth into.

Why They Shouldn’t Go There: It would be hard to tell her story without having the Joker appear on screen, and recasting that role simply isn’t an option.

Casting Suggestions: Anne Hathaway, Leighton Meester or, as previously suggested, Kristen Bell

POISON IVY

Who she is: A botany-obsessed eco-terrorist.

Why She’d Be Great: An environmentally-obsessed villainess would give Nolan a chance to create another timely story that would resonate with audiences.

Why They Shouldn’t Go There: It might be hard to fit Ivy’s mad scientist stuff into Nolan’s quasi-realistic vision of Gotham City. Do we really want to see Christian Bale’s Batman under the influence of a love potion?

Casting Suggestions: Isla Fisher or Amy Adams

CATWOMAN

Who she is: A whip-wielding cat burglar who may also be the love of Bruce Wayne’s life.

Why She’d Be Great: Because of their mutual attraction to each other, Catwoman gets under Batman’s skin like no other villain can.

Why They Shouldn’t Go There: Halle Berry’s Razzie-winning Catwoman movie may have turned the world against the character for good.

Casting Suggestions: Maggie Gyllenhaal! How cool would it be for the woman we’ve already been watching Bruce Wayne pine for over the first two films to rise from the dead (we never saw a body!) and seek vengeance on him for his failures? Yes, it would be rewriting the mythology of the character, but Catwoman’s always had conflicting origin stories. And if anyone could keep this kind of tragic love story from turning into melodrama, it’s Nolan. I’m really hoping they’ll go this route, and even suspect that the reason they replaced Katie Holmes with a stronger actress was that they had bigger plans for Rachel Dawes beyond her apparent death in The Dark Knight. But if they do decide to stick with the Selina Kyle story, my pick for the role would have to be Emily Blunt.

BATGIRL

Who she is: No, I’m not even going to bother discussing her. They wouldn’t do that to us ... right?

Recommend (0)

|  Comments (0)

|  Email

|  Share

Share  Facebook Digg del.icio.us