It is without a doubt one of the most hotly contested, debate, and speculated questions in geekdom at the moment: what villains will make their appearance in the third Batman movie, and who will play them. We’ve seen horrible rumors about Cher playing Catwoman. We haven’t even heard from Christopher Nolan as to whether he’ll even return immediately for a third. But we’re still debating it like it’s all cast in stone.
But for the first time, there is a semi-legit half-confirmation from Michael Caine, who plays Alfred in the Nolan Batman files, on a previously reported rumor that has got all the fanboys and girls in a twist: Johnny Depp as the Riddler and Phillip Seymour Hoffman as the Penguin.
In a radio interview, Depp had denied the rumor to be true, yet expressed his interest in the role nonetheless.
In an interview with MTV, Caine seemed to confirm that these are the actors that Warner Bros. are currently seeking, for characters that, presumably, have already been decided upon.
Apparently, Caine saw the rumors in the newspaper, along with the rest of us. But being an inside man, he went and got confirmation from an unnamed WB executive.
“I was with [a Warner Bros.] executive and I said, “˜Are we going to make another one?’ They said yeah. I said, “˜How the hell are we going to top Heath? And he says “˜I’ll tell you how you top Heath “” Johnny Depp as The Riddler and Philip Seymour Hoffman as The Penguin.’ I said, “˜S–t, they’ve done it again!'”
From a purely theoretical point of view, the Riddler and the Penguin make sense as characters for a third film, and the actors attached to them also fit, especially considering Nolan’s desire to make his films realistic. But I still can’t get past the fact that Nolan hasn’t announced he’ll be coming back, and that in the past, he has had massive creative control over the films. Everything seems a little backward at the moment. Nevertheless, if these rumors turn out to be true, I’ll be happy. I just want Catwoman as well added to the mix!
damn. im speechless. F#&*IN YYYYEAHHH!!!!
Comment by Siah — September 8, 2008 @ 5:44 pm
too many characters, and how will they explain jokers disappearance?
i doubt nolan will simply let the character fade away cause of heath’s early demise.
Comment by mo — September 8, 2008 @ 7:38 pm
It would be nice if they focus on one villain at a time .. otherwise you cant show each ones potential. They should think about matching TDK (The whole cast not just Heath, even though he did shine in that role) instead of “Topping” it. Topping the movie or Heath will not be an easy task.
Comment by JoJo — September 8, 2008 @ 11:01 pm
I would rather have david tennant as the riddler, and have bane in the next film as covert goverment operative tasked with taking batman down. It would make sense given the ending of tdk.
Comment by korollocke — September 8, 2008 @ 11:19 pm
I’d rather not see the Riddler or the Penguin in these movies. They would probably break the “realistic and gritty” aesthetic to breaking point.
More villans like The Scarecrow please!
Comment by DanJW — September 9, 2008 @ 6:27 am
I love the people that keep saying stick with 1 bad guy…not one of the movies so far stuck with 1 villain. The first movie had Ra’s Al Ghul and the Scarecrow. The second movie you had Scarecrow, Joker, and Two-Face. If the movie is done properly you don’t even notice it. Not like the first series of Batman Movies where they loaded it up with Villains, but didn’t complete the movie properly.
I also love how Hollywood is using Depp to replace ledger. First they used him (and 2 other actors) to finish The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and now they are using him to try to top the role of Joker. Now don’t get me wrong Depp is probably my fav actor…I just find it funny how Hollywood acts.
Comment by Syko — September 9, 2008 @ 8:41 am
When I saw the headline my first thought was, “Oh crap, Dustin Hoffman in a Batman flick.” I was relieved to see it was Philip Seymour and not Dustin. Personally, I’d like to see a cinematic treatment of Clayface. We have already seen the rest of the rogues gallery. Maybe Killer Croc would be fun as well.
Comment by BukaHobbit — September 9, 2008 @ 11:28 am
Well, just saying that it would be nice if they focus on one villain. Anyone can tell that its rarely done that way.
Comment by JoJo — September 9, 2008 @ 5:10 pm
I doubt that Penguin’s gonna show up in any Batman movies again. I’m sorry, but Nolan has expressed a dislike for this character (even though I myself adore Penguin); he even went as far as to say that he would never put Penguin in a Batman film so long as he directed because he seemed too unrealistic. Personally, I think that he could be made more realistic if done properly, but for now I think he’ll still remain in people’s minds as Danny DeVito from Batman Returns (or as Burgess Meredith from the old 60’s show, for those who know/remember).
While we’re on the topic of Penguin, I must note that Phillip Seymore Hoffman isn’t the first Hoffman that could’ve been Penguin; Dustin Lee Hoffman was the first choice for the part in Batman Returns. So…
Comment by DustyPenguinQueen — January 28, 2010 @ 2:03 pm