Or Johnny Depp. Batman can’t “be broken” in the films. This isn’t Marty Scorsese.

mob has been taken over by black mask
bane comes in takes over mob, learns of identity from black mask since black mask is always after bruce wayne
catwoman is introduced as a subtle thief trying to bag some profit while cops are distracted
catwoman steps on banes feet and rips off his men
bane attacks catwoman
catwoman helps batman (romance scene?) .. batman begins dismantling banes gang
final showdown between bane and batman
bane breaks batman in front of everyone (just like in comic) and once he throws batman down, gordon and his men open fire
batmans fate is in the hands of the city, they decide to leave his mask covered. lucious fox and alfred take him away.. build new batcave etc. while he recovers, and while he recoveres jim gordon and gpd control streets. DONE wrap perfect trilogy

realistic characters, a menacing yet extremely intelligent bane, a slick and smart thief, a gangster with a black mask, simple, realistic and easy to make also holds true to the comics and DONE PERFECT TRILOGY.. if characters are portrayed to their roles in the comics then it will easily match Dark Knight or do better.

The city has been saved from the Joker
The city is hunting down Batman
Meaning that the police is preoccupied with the hunt for Batman
The Media gives negative publicity to Batman and the world watches
The mob is temporarily run by small time thugs nobody big…

A new player by the name of Bane sees this oppurtunity and comes in to take over leadership of the underworld…
-Bane does not have to be a maniacal CGI hulk figure he can be someone subtle, slightly above average physique, does not have to pump a secret solution into his veins, could use a high dosage steroid which he calls venom
-everyone is talking about gangs and gangsters, in Knightfall, Bane is a gangster who takes over the underworld, extremely smart and intelligent and has no mercy

Another character sees the Gotham PD distracted with the Bat and this new character Bane who is causing an upheaval in the underworld and enters, she is Catwoman, a simple subtle thief.

This also holds true to the comics because in the Knightfall series Catwoman does have a few encounters with Bane when he is the head of Gothams underworld. IF you need to spice it up some more you can throw in a third character who may be secondary to Bane and Catwoman… Black Mask. Black Mask has always gone after Bruce Wayne, he can discover that Batman = Bruce Wayne, and after Bane “breaks hehe i couldnt help it” Black mask then he finds out from him that Bruce Wayne = Batman

Now Bane is going after Bruce Wayne/Batman, Catwoman has been hurt by Bane and helps Batman dismantle Banes criminal empire

THEN OMG THIS ENDING WOULD BE A PERFECT WAY TO END A TRILOGY ABSOLUTELY PERFECT

Bane and Batman fight EXACTLY how the fight is in the Comic, they both duke it out on a reasonably high building, beating each other to a total pulp while the city watches on (this is to signify Batman becoming their hero once again) and Bane in his final ounce of strength breaks batman (or injures him very severley) and throws him down…. the police who have been holding their fire so as not to shoot Batman see him being broken and open fire on Bane, Bane = dead or injured and captured…. THE PEOPLE carry Batman to the ambulance, cutscene and dramatics follow, we find out he is in serious but stable condition and is recovering ANDDDDDDD then Commissioner Gordon talks to a secondary character or one of his cops and explains how his people will take over the city until Batman can return

PERFECTTTTTTTTT ENDINGGGGG TO THE TRILOGYYYY

Read more, view the Movie Trailer and comment on The Dark Knight at Walrus Films

http://www.walrusfilms.com/movies/the-dark-kni ght.html

The riddler can work if he’s not done in an over the top manner. I have no problem with him being a bit screw-loose, but I think he needs to be portrayed as a serious threat, who is not just playing a game with everyone, but rather has some solid motives.

I think in an interesting twist, the Riddler shouldn’t be feuding with the Police by committing crimes, but perhaps trying to aid the Police and the city in trying to discover Batman’s identity, as well as putting batman through the gauntlet of riddles.

Back story would be important to touch on, but not excessively. It would be interesting if the Riddler were an ex government opperative, who worked in one of the intelligence agencies; a think tank type of guy. That gives him more credibility, because right away we know he is not only intelligent, but highly trained and skilled. I just don’t buy the Riddler being a random fruitcake who is very intelligent, and has nothing better to do than come up with riddles that have life and death implications.

I see Catwoman as a rogue, but naturally someone who lives for acquiring wealth and thrills. She could possibly be hired by the riddler for a large contract, that involves industrial espionage of Wayne Enterprises. I don’t know…

Of course, you would have Selena and Bruce get introduced and have the dual relationship. I think they should go a step further with their relationship, and make them fall in love. Then near the middle of the film, they discover each other’s identities and have to decide what more important: their love for each other, or their individual agendas.

For a plot twist, well, not really a twist, but Selena could be discovered as Carmine Falcone’s daughter. Actually, in “Batman: The Long Halloween”, it is implied that Selena Kyle is Carmine Falcone’s daughter. So, that could be cool.

Ultimately, the plot should be about Batman trying to continue to help Gotham, while trying not to get apprehended by the continuing pressure from the Police. A good idea, would be to have a new cop introduced who is charged with the task of leading a task force to capture Batman. This will be good for Jim Gordon’s character, because he knows that Batman is a hero, but at the same time, he’s the Police commissioner and his job is to uphold the law.

Anyway, I’m sure Nolan and company will come up with something a lot better than what I have mentioned. Guaranteed. I can’t wait until the next movie!

Look at it this way; if I told you 2 years ago that Heath Ledger would play The Joker, you would’ve laughed at my notion. You would have said “Nobody beats Jack Nicolson’. Look at how things have shaped up to be now. 20 years down the road, someone will remake Batman, and The Joker will return, and someone will revolutionize the character once again. It’s inevitable. I say bring someone with the credibility and talent to play The Joker. If done right, nobody will sense the differnce although they know it’s a different actor. Allow the character to thrive. That’s the beauty of comics. What happens in the real world, no matter how bitter, cannot completely destroy a comic character.

Here’s how it goes; The Riddler is a new menace. They should make him look like the one in The Batman cartoon. He’s psychotic, but he’s also obsessed with solving puzzles. And the greatest puzzle is; who is Batman? He finds the truth somehow and knows it’s Wayne. He murders people and only lets them go if they can solve a riddle. Somwhat like the SAW movies, only not as gory. He’s just psycho…but incredibly smart. It comes to a point where Gotham needs Batman, but not even Batman can crack The Riddler’s sadistic game. He won’t allow himself to think like a madman. Gordon and Batman come to realize that they need help. In all irony, from The Joker. They go to Arkham. We see The Joker in his cell. Something like the Hannibal stories where Lecter helps the good guys from the inside. The Joker taunts and provokes the Bat, saying that he’s only in Arkham because he wants to be. Right there we see a female doctor walk in. Nametag? Harleen Quinzell. Perfect cameo! We’ll probably see a cell tagged ‘Harvey Dent’ as well.

So you see, we don’t need much of The Joker. Just a bit. Just enough to make an impact. Something to tell us that there’s no escape from his anarchy. That he can and will escape. Bane could be another villain. Someone with brut strength who overrides the mob. We need to see more physicality between Batman and his enemies. A major fight scene. And Bane’s just right for the role. Towards the end, the grand finale of the trilog, we see montage sequences…one showing Dr.Harleen walk out of Joker’s cell and leave the gate wide open. Just to tell us that he’s back, he’s out, and Gotham needs to be terrified again. There doesn’t even have to be a fourth installment. Just a sign that tells us what Batman’s life is going to be like.

Phew…that was one long rant. So my picks…The Riddler, Bane, as main villains, and The Joker along the way.

I read earlier this month a column rhapsodizing over the possibility of an Angelina Jolie Catwoman. God help us. What a casting disaster that would be!!

A retooled Riddler would work fine in this series, but ultimately the script and screenplay along with sound casting (who would have thought Ledger would have been so brilliant) will make any chosen adversary work.

Other possibilities include the Black Mask introducing himself as the new face of organized crime in Gotham, with the mob running and hiding after the events of The Dark Knight.

1) Depp is an extremely talented actor able to take on a wide array of roles and do them WELL. From Willy Wonka to Sweeney Todd to Jack Sparrow, the man is able to give a role what it needs.

2) The Riddler is not always “Joker-Lite”. The best example of this is his appearances in the 1990s animated series, where he is given a calm, cool and collected sort of intelligence as opposed to the wackiness of The Riddler.

Depp has an ability to portray calm yet captivating characters, so he if he plays The Riddler as a calm genius as opposed to a wacky genius like the Joker, the film can have a different villain and someone who challenges Batman on an intellectual level.

Harley Quinn I feel is impossible to do in this film series because of the death of Heath Ledger. They won’t recast The Joker, and without The Joker there’s no effective way of bringing Harley to the big screen. If we had dialouge explain her past and the lack of Joker, it’d feel awkward and forced, so we’re not going to see her (despite my love for the character).

The Phantasm could be an interesting character, but there would be a difficulty in Bruce falling in love again so quickly so a femme fatale that dosn’t neccesarily make Bruce fall in love but tempt him with lust makes Talia, Catwoman or Ivy legitimate choices for the next film and are almost a neccesity. We’ve seen squeaky clean Rachel Dawes, and Batman isn’t ready for love again, but he’ll have to deal with seductresses that are far different from his childhood friend. They’d serve as an excellent foil compared to the love interest from the first two films.

I think Black Mask is a likely villain because of the mob connections, his foil to Batman and the fact that he was written into the script for The Dark Knight at one point. However, I think it’s likely they’re going to fuse the character with Hush to make the character more interesting (because, let’s face it, Hush is basically an improved version of Black Mask) and the whole connection to Bruce’s past brings the story full circle.

Another possiblity I haven’t seen ANYONE mention is taking cues from the current Batman storyarc, Batman RIP. For those who don’t know, in the arc there’s a suggestions that the Wayne family weren’t such goodie two-shoes and that Bruce’s parents induldged in drugs and orgies and that Bruce’s mother had an affair with Alfred, possibly making him the father. Also, to add to the conspiracy, there are suggestions that Bruce’s Dad hired the hit on his wife as revenge for adultery and faked his own death alongside her. Of course, at this point the storyarc is ongoing and it may be true that Dr. Simon Hurt really isn’t Thomas Wayne, but there are some truly interesting elements in Batman RIP that can truly bring about a climactic finale.

The big thing to remember is that the next movie needs to be about Batman and not the villain. We need to see how Bruce is affected, we need to see emotion coming from him and we need a villain that compliments the “hated vigilante” theme, and yes, we do need redemption in the eyes of the public and the only way to do that is stopping a truly catastrophic event.

So what we need in the next movie is a female love interest to contrast with Rachel Dawes, a threat/villain that is public enough to demand public support of Batman, and something that grabs at the soul of Bruce Wayne.

So, what do get in the next film? I’d guess Catwoman as the femme fatale who steals but ultimately isn’t too evil and helps out in the end, and the “major” villain being either The Riddler or Black Mask/Hush. The Thomas Wayne story idea is great for film (maybe a 4th film), but dosn’t fit in well with the whole “Batman the outcast” scenario they set up.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lew_Moxon

Moxon is most famous for hiring Joe Chill to murder young Bruce Wayne’s parents (in early versions of Batman’s origin story), thus making him indirectly responsible for Batman’s existence.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrath_(comics)

The Wrath served as a sort of anti-Batman. The Wrath’s appearance and motivation are reminiscent of Batman’s, but with notable differences. The Wrath (like Batman) is distinguished by perfectionism and obsession in what he does. His costume is also very similar to Batman’s (though colored in crimson and purple with a W-insignia on the chest and cowl). The Wrath’s parents were a couple of burglars, similar to Joe Chill. They were shot by a young policeman who mistook them for committing a robbery. Due to this, the Wrath dedicated his life to a campaign of revenge against law and law-enforcers. When the Wrath finally returns to Gotham City, he comes to kill the man who had shot his parents. The Wrath’s target turns out to be James Gordon, commissioner of the Gotham City Police and an ally of Batman.

If Batman is ever to escape the label of being a murderer in the Nolan Universe, then the character of The Wrath can assist in the police believing that it was The Wrath who committed the murders in “The Dark Knight”

I think having these two characters, along with the return of Joker or Two-face could definitly form a great script based around the theme of “revenge”.