New 'Batman 3' Rumors: Riddler & Penguin
Filed under: Casting, RumorMonger, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels
Part of the allure of Batman Begins was seeing a Batman I'd picked out a few years before (when my friend and I tried to figure out who the perfect people were to play all the iconic superhero roles). Now this latest influx of rumor-laden Batman 3 gossip is taking me back there. First, we had Angelina Jolie as Catwoman.Now, Aceshowbiz reports that new "rumors" are tapping Johnny Depp and Philip Seymour Hoffman to grab villainous roles in Batman 3 (something tells me "rumors" means someone scoured the comment section on Cinematical during our Who Should Batman Fight Next post). I'm sure you need no help figuring out who would play who. For some reason, neither of these men ever occured to me, but they could do wonders with the roles -- especially Depp. If you were going to take the RIddler, and make it dark Christopher Nolan-style, is there anyone who could even come close to Depp's suitability? The Riddler came after Tim Burton's days with Batman, but it could also give us an idea of how Joel Schumacher's film would've been different with a darker touch. And PSH as the Penguin? So good.
But what do you think? Do you have any better ideas?










Reader Comments (Page 1 of 12)
7-31-2008 @ 10:53AM
techstar25 said...
Actually I was thinking Depp could do some justice to the role of Joker, in the event that he were to appear in the next film. If anybody could pull it off, Depp could.
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7-31-2008 @ 10:42AM
peter said...
I think you're heading for a disaster if you try to squeeze too many characters into the next movie. Take Spidey 3 for example. It should have either been all Sandman or all Venom. It could have been awesome with either, but kinda sucked with both.
I think they should bring back Two-Face and have Catwoman dropped into the mix. My 3 cents
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7-31-2008 @ 1:11PM
rachel said...
While I agree with Peter that you really can't squeeze too many villains into one movie without losing some cohesion and flow to the story, I do not want to see Catwoman show up. I am hoping for the return of Two-Face (Eckhart) and perhaps the introduction of Riddler or Penguin. Three enemies would be far too many. The casting of Depp or PSH, though, sounds genius. Both are incredible actors that would do Nolan's re-imagination of the comic book series justice.
7-31-2008 @ 8:18PM
jerry (j-bird) said...
I agree that Catwoman should be next introduced in these reinterpretations which obviously follow the darker DC comics as opposed to the cartoonish era of Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher, but we should steer clear of having too many villians in one film. More than one adversary adds excitement but opposes the development of each villian. The next Batman film should simply be titled "Gotham" with a focus on Catwoman being a mass danger to the city. I'd love to write this script and I can envision each scene just like a perfect storyboard...anyone listening...the film opens with cat burglars (Catwoman's mineons)
stripping a museum of rare jewels and one of them decides to commit mutiny and take a few for himself...we see a black whip in the foreground slowly hitting the floor and raveling into a circle as it lands...this is followed by a black boot with impossible spaghetti heels touching down...we see a third of Catwoman's rear figure in frame and she says " you know I have always told a would-be thief if your going to take someone else's possession, you must always, always take them first " ...having approached the burglar she then plunges her razor-sharp nails into his spine (censored of course). Catwoman must be slightly less sexual and more sadistic this time around. Angelina Jolie would be too predictable as Catwoman. Another less popular actress would try harder to perfect the role therefore besting any other possible performance. With that said lets look at Kate Beckinsale (despite having played a heroine and tight-wearing heroine several times over already)..Kate has the beautiful yet more intimidating face. There is an underdog choice such as Mena Suvari who could surprise in perfecting the role..Saffron Burrows...Parker Posey..who knows. All of these actresses in my opinion would be good candidates but regardless lets just take the time with this film so that it can match or eclipse "The Dark Knight's" box office intake and critical acclaim. Make the Cat a truly menacing and near invincible force and it'll be a smash.
8-06-2008 @ 11:47PM
Mike said...
From the stand point of a screenwriter, I don't think that anyone should be thinking about what names to cast rather than what they already have to work with. The riddler would be great even though he is a joker knock-off, but why even consider depp when you have William Fichtner who plaid the bank manager that the joker let live. There is a perfect set up, you have a great actor who barely appears in the film, he could be linked back to the Joker and you could really take his character to any size shoe and it should fit nicely. I think with some creative writing,William Fichtner could become an excellent riddler while everyone else's attention is drawn toward PSH as Penguin or maybe even just simply one villain could do fine. I just think that Harvey Dent worked out rather well in this film. From the studio's perspective, you could have a film made of shit, as long as you have Johnny Depp's name, you WILL make your money.
8-03-2008 @ 12:17AM
H.w.O said...
All I Gotta Say Is David Hyde Pierce/Riddler
8-05-2008 @ 1:49AM
lucky said...
i think you have to have the joker back in the movie. he did make the dak night, he's the reason everyone watched it. also i dnt know bout you but i dont think 2 face should have died waste of a character. i say bring back the joker mayb harley quinn can help him escape from prison or jail wherever he went. and you can add the riddler(johnny depp). put the penguin in part 4 with catwoman (hallie berry). one more thing when do you think we will see a robin?
9-01-2008 @ 6:49PM
Jack said...
tom waits as the riddler. how perfect would that be? C. bale haunted throughout gotham by wait's dark spoken word riddles. phonomonal. plus he looks the part and would be completely non-chelant about the whole deal.
9-07-2008 @ 9:06PM
john said...
i have a list of people who could do a good job with riddler:
Will Arnett has the look and deep voice that would pull it off.
Nicolas Cage i mean its nicolas cage...
michael keaton if he did a similar portray of beetlejuice
michael douglass i thing he could do wonders.
honorable mentions
jeff bridges
billy burke
timothy olyphant
christopher lloyd
9-08-2008 @ 9:33PM
himsifa said...
i think that johnny depp would do a good job as the riddler. as of the part of sweeny tood and edward scizzorhands we see that johnny depp has some great potential in his character. as of the penguin i dont know, with this actor i dont know he can surprise you. i think they should bring scarecrow back. i cant wait to see this movie. so as of all you people dissing the johnny depp act i disagree. we have seen that johnny did a excellent job at everything he has ever played i mean come on who wasnt surprised at the secret window. so good idea to use johnny.
-thomas
9-11-2008 @ 5:56PM
aj said...
you just said you didnt want more than one villain, then you said catwoman and riddler...make up your mind
9-11-2008 @ 6:08PM
Ben said...
Jason Statham should play the next bad guy. And before anyone jumps me on that suggestion, watch teh elevator scene from the movie Revolver. He is creepy and terrifying in that scene. I also think Bib Hoskins as the Penguin woudl be great, not the sick weird penguin Danny DeVito played, but more akin to the comic books. Also Mr. Zsasz would be a cool bad guy, more obscure plus he's really dark and twisted. He was already in Batman Begins, and he was subsequently let loose. No word on whether he got caught and brought back. Clayface would be cool as well.
9-11-2008 @ 10:25AM
Chris said...
Many of the former batman movies had two villains.
Poison Ivy, Mr freeze
Two Face, The Riddler
Catwoman, Penguin
Two Face, Joker
Scarecrow, Ras whatever
Seems almost traditional
9-11-2008 @ 9:13PM
Ken said...
Paul Giamatti as the Penguin, Daniel Day Lewis as The riddler, and Michael Keaton, as Dr. Eugo Strange. Jake Gyllenhaal as Robin, (if we have to have one, that is...) And Scarlett Johansson as Catwoman.
9-18-2008 @ 11:07PM
Gabriel Haze said...
Just to put this out there since everyone is talking about roles people should play, I would love to see Sadie Frost from Bram Stokers Dracula play poison ivy.
10-16-2008 @ 8:55PM
ZH said...
Ok 1st of all Spiderman 3 sucked all around & 2ndly who the hell wanted to see Sandman in the 1st place??? Batman movies have always worked out well no matter how many big roles there are, Judging by the other 2 ones, a darker version of the Riddler & Penguin are needed to clear the comedic ones we already know. I love Tim Burton's works, but the Batman movies didn't grasp the true nature of the Bat.
10-23-2008 @ 2:43PM
Alec said...
Dude, there is no two face. He's dead. It's written in the script that he died at the end of the movie. The cheeesy batman a few years ago did an alright job of incorporating the riddlr and two face as a combo, so maybe they'll do something like that
7-31-2008 @ 10:51AM
joey m said...
Penguins weird. I don't think he'd be too appealing. Talia al Ghul would be a good choice, along with the Riddler. Who would play Talia? i don't know. Riddler? Umm... Edward Norton?
look at the picture to the right
http://www.myclassiclyrics.com/artist_biographies/Edward-Norton-Biography.htm
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9-11-2008 @ 5:56PM
aj said...
youre right
7-31-2008 @ 11:02AM
Stranger said...
I thing that getting Johnny Depp in to the Batman movies will be great,
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