[quote name='Tybee']You'll never see the Joker again. If Ledger was still around, maybe. But with him gone, there's no reason for the Joker to appear in a sequel. For better or worse, the franchise is about Batman, not the Joker, and there are more than enough villains to chose from for the next outing.
So who's next? Well, I don't think you could ever make the Penguin or Killer Croc work in Nolan's version of Gotham. But I think the Riddler could certainly be reimagined and made very compelling...Make him more along the lines of Kevin Spacey in Se7en....Brilliant, reclusive, laying out elaborate riddle trails (and victims). Always one step ahead (admittedly, somewhat derivative of Ledger's Joker). There are other ways you could go too, such as to make him like an evil Bill Gates...Super rich, reclusive ultra nerd...Nice foil to Batman. Mr. Freeze also comes with a lot of pathos and could work with the Nolan touch.
The one thing that makes me sad about no more Joker is there's less chance we'll see Harley Quinn. Or maybe we could. Maybe she could turn up to avenge him? Bring on the bad girls.
, you've cleared the way for Catwoman (tough to top Michelle Pfeiffer's turn in this role) as a love interest. Poison Ivy could also be worked in. Batman versus three chicks....Who wouldn't love that?[/quote]
It's late out here, and I'm sleepy, so forgive any grammatical or spelling mistake for the rest of this post. I, personally, still think that the Joker can be done in Nolan's vision for the series. It would make sense, and at the end of TDK just feels like it's set for something like that to take place. Again, R.I.P. and it is so sad that Ledger had to die. It would just take an actor of great magnitude to step into the part. The problem that would really arise is that fact that any further actor will inexplicably be compared to that of Ledger's performance. I don't know if any actor will want to undertake such a task as it could end up undermining their career. This isn't simply a simple casting switch, such as from Katie "wacko (we don't want you, we'll call you - don't call us)" Holmes to Maggie Gyllenhall. At this point, the Joker is Heath Ledger and I think that as time goes by, he will further be identified as the character. It would be like taking Marlon Brando out of the Godfather. You just simply couldn't see it be done.
I think with some alterations, the Penguin could absolutely be done. Tell the tale a bit darker, say he became what he is by being mutated from some chemical/product from Wayne Industries that either he took as a baby or his parent(s) took while they were pregnant with him, thus causing complications during the pregnancy/infancy. Throw in something like the city/government in Gotham simply didn't act sufficiently and he find them responsible and wants to become the mayor of the city to enact his revenge/power/etc. (kind of a metaphor for our recent problems with a number of Chinese products). Or in a slight modification from the above, he could have had a terrible childhood and had to struggle and scrimp his way to a position of power, one where is he ruling the underworld, looking for power, etc. It would need a great actor for the part, but it could be done.
Killer Croc doesn't really fit anywhere in the Nolan universe, and anyhow, he never was one of the ultra-rogues in Batman's rogues gallery. Then again, it is rumored that the black prisoner at the end of the film might be Killer Croc. I guess it could be done, I just don't see how they would get the skin disease/croc-like being done.
Riddler absolutely works in Nolan's vision. Strange, though, that it would thus set up the third film to have Two-Face/Riddler in it again. It could play a bit awkward.
Mr Freeze would definitely work.
Personally, and this might just be me, but I'd love to see some rogues that have become popular in recent times come to the big screen. I think that with how well it dealt with Harvey Dent, that Hush would be absolutely perfect and fit in wonderfully into the setting Nolan has built for himself. Of course, then the Riddler would have to first come into play.
The other recent rogue I would like to see is the Black Mask. If I had to choose one or the other, I would go with Hush because I can absolutely see how that would just kick ass.
Regardless, I wouldn't mind seeing the Riddler done again, or a proper Mr. Freeze. I really don't care in either direction if they do Catwoman, but hopefully Nolan can finally change my mind about that character (though Pfeifer (sp) was great in the second one from Burton)
Any other recent rogues you guys would include?