Batman has arguably the most iconic villains of any superhero, with many of them being known the world over. Yet with all the villains Batman has encountered, his movies tend to go through the same foes. The Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher Batman films went with the most iconic Batman villains that were already well known, like Joker, Catwoman, Penguin, Riddler, Two-Face, Mr. Freeze, and Poison Ivy, and their big-screen incarnations cemented them as the most famous Batman villains.
Batman Begins broke away by using Scarecrow and Ra’s al Ghul, two villains who had not only never appeared in the Batman films prior but also never appeared on the Adam West series, but The Dark Knight trilogy follow-up films introduced audiences to new incarnations of Joker, Two-Face, Bane, and Catwoman. In The Batman, Catwoman is getting her third live-action appearance in a Batman movie, and radically new takes on Riddler and Penguin are set to appear, the first time the characters have appeared since the 90s Batman films.
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With The Batman set for release on March 4th, audiences are already speculating about the future of the franchise, with many wondering if Robert Pattinson will soon meet his version of the Joker, and director Matt Reeves expressing interest in doing a version of Mr. Freeze. Yet despite all this, there are still plenty of great Batman villains who have never gotten the big-screen treatment that would make for interesting foes for the caped crusader. Warner Bros. has started to pull from Batman’s rich mythology by bringing in villains like Harley Quinn and Killer Croc in Suicide Squad, Black Mask in Birds of Prey, and Firefly for the upcoming HBO Max film Batgirl. Here are six great Batman villains who could take on the caped crusader in either the DCEU or in the stand-alone universe of The Batman.
The Batman Who Laughs
DC Comics
The most recent addition to the comics, The Batman Who Laughs is a Bruce Wayne from another Earth where Batman becomes infected with the Joker chemicals and takes over his universe, killing off many of his former allies. He has all of Batman’s intelligence and strength but also Joker’s sadistic and violent sense of humor. While a combination of Batman and Joker may sound like a very focus-tested idea, it also creates an interesting dynamic for Batman to face.
With DC going full in on the multiverse in the upcoming movie The Flash, The Batman Who Laughs could come over from his universe and meet the DCEU Batman, where Batman is forced to face a version of himself that also allows them to do Joker without having to repeat the same character again after so many times. Since DC and Warner Bros. are so heavily focused on the idea of evil Superman in games like Injustice, television shows like Superman & Lois, and even films like Zack Snyder’s Justice League, one imagines that an evil version of Batman would be a nice change of pace and actually test the Dark Knight to confront his worst fear, the idea that he would become the thing he hates the most.
Clayface
There are eight different versions of Clayface in the comics, and that isn’t including versions introduced in the animated series, so there are plenty of iterations of this one character to draw from. The thing all versions of Clayface have in common is their ability to shapeshift and possess incredible strength. Depending on the interpretation, a Batman movie with Clayface at the center of it could be a horror film or a paranoid thriller with everybody’s identity in question and a task for the World’s Greatest Detective to solve. Doctor Sleep director Mike Flanagan has pitched an idea for a standalone Clayface movie which he imagined it as a horror/thriller and tragedy, which sounds like a great pitch.
Mad Hatter
One of the oldest members in Batman’s rogue’s gallery, Mad Hatter was introduced in Batman #49 in October 1948 and has been a constant thorn in the caped crusader’s side ever since. Jervis Tech is a scientist who invents a mind control technology and modeled himself after the Mad Hatter character from Lewis Carrolls’ Alice in Wonderland books.
While the character’s very colorful costume is often overlooked in favor of characters like Joker and Riddler, and his mind control isn’t as popular as Poison Ivy or Scarecrow, the character provides a lot of unique opportunities for the filmmakers. In both the DCEU and the new continuity created by The Batman, Mad Hatter’s mind control plans could be a welcome return to the big bombastic elaborate plans of the villains in the 90s films, and the character himself and his Alice in Wonderland-inspired motif could explore Batman’s psychosis, forcing the hero down the rabbit hole of his own mind.
Hush
Hush was introduced in the critically acclaimed Batman: Hush storyline that ran from 2002 and 2003, which in many ways is the beginning of the modern era of Batman comics. The character’s identity is a mystery throughout the story but is finally revealed to be Thomas Elliot, Bruce Wayne’s childhood friend who tried to kill his own parents but whose plans were foiled by Bruce’s father, Thomas Wayne. As a villain, Hush can explore Bruce Wayne’s childhood before his parents’ death, as well as create a contrast between the two men, as Bruce is someone who lost his parents against his will, while Thomas wanted to lose his but was stuck with them.
While comics writers have often struggled with Hush since his original creation, as much of the storyline involves the mystery of the character, there is a strong central dynamic between Bruce and Thomas Elliot to be explored, much more so than in the direct-to-video animated movie from 2019.
Talons
Talons are a group of deadly assassins who work for the Court of Owls and were introduced during the New 52 Batman run. These assassins remain dormant until called upon, and are highly trained in hand-to-hand combat and proficient with knives. While there are a number of Talons, the most famous one is William Cobb, who was born in 1901 and is in fact the great-grandfather of Dick Grayson (aka Robin). A highly-trained assassin who is put on ice for years at a time very much sounds like the Batman version of The Winter Soldier, which would make for some exciting hand-to-hand combat scenes.
While Batman has numerous assassins in his rogues’ gallery, from Ra’s al Ghul and Deathstroke, Talon not only ties into the recently popular Court of Owls but, with a connection to Robin, makes for some interesting familial dynamics to explore as Robin would have to choose between the last of his bloodline or the found family he has made with Bruce Wayne. Even the prospect of a whole army of Talons puts Batman in a dilemma where he would need more help, from recruiting more allies like various members of the Justice League or his extended Bat-family, to possibly calling upon his enemies to battle a threat that would seek to threaten Gotham.
Man-Bat
Dr. Kirk Langstrom is a scientist who transforms himself into a feral bat-like creature, aptly named Man-Bat. It is a pretty simple setup, pulled straight from classic horror movies, but the character provides a number of interesting possibilities for a Batman foe in film. The obvious one is that the character is a direct inverse of Batman, being the actual monster that Gotham imagines Batman to be, so the appearance of a monstrous bat-like creature would certainly do a lot to damage Batman’s reputation around Gotham City.
It provides a chance to do a new type of foe that is different from the gangster criminals that many of the Dark Knight’s antagonists fall into, and unlike physical threats like Bane or Killer Croc, Man-Bat is not someone Batman can communicate with, making Man-Bat unlike any other foe Batman has faced. His presence would allow for a Batman movie to try a different genre, a classic monster movie. This man who turns himself into a monster is both a dangerous foe but also a sympathetic character, whom Batman could save and become an eventual ally for Batman. The character had been considered for Batman movies twice before, in the period between Batman and Robin and Batman Begins, so there is (or was) active interest from the studio on some level. Now is the time to let Batman fight The Man-Bat.
