Now that Heath Ledger’s posthumous award has shown once and for all that superhero movies are as worthy as any other films of the best talent out there, it seems like an even better time to discuss casting for Bat-sequels.
MTV Splash Page has an interview with Greg Rucka saying he’d love to see Catwoman in the next Nolan Bat-movie, and I couldn’t agree more. As Rucka said, with the death of Rachel Dawes, the time is ripe to introduce a new love interest, and the traumatized Bruce Wayne we saw at the end of The Dark Knight would be ripe for an unhealthy, dark, messy relationship with a Nolanized Selina Kyle.
Nothing campy about Catwoman in Nolan’s Gotham City. She’d have to be sexy, of course, but also capable of being conflicted, complicated–as much so as Bruce/Batman himself. I love the idea floated of Rachel Weisz (also, the picture!). She did the genre in Constantine (eminently watchable if you allow yourself to forget that Keanu Reeves is supposed to be playing, well, John Constantine), and she’s pretty but not in a conventional way (not unlike Maggie Gyllenhaal, who fit so well into the Dark Knight cast).
At a party at NYCC, I got into a discussion with the lovely Molly Crabapple about what we’d like to see in another Batman film, and we both agreed that it was time to up the female presence. To make the film pass the Bechdel test, what if Nolan added Harley Quinn? The Joker’s gone–they’re obviously not going to replace Heath Ledger this soon. So what about a psychotic Harley out for revenge? Instead of the girlfriend in the background, she’s in the foreground, out for blood.
I love the Joker archetype and I would love to see a woman playing that type of character. Molly and I quickly tossed out a few rules for Harley: we want her to not be uber-pretty, and even better if she’s a bit older. We want her dangerous, like the Joker but both more seductive and more unhinged, Angelina Jolie in Girl, Interrupted ramped up to 11. But who could play the role? Angelina, sure, but she’d have the pretty-pretty thing going.
We didn’t reach any conclusions that night, but it hit me the next day:
Courtney Love.
Discuss.
February 23rd, 2009 at 4:57 pm
“and she’s pretty but not in a conventional way (not unlike Maggie Gyllenhaal, ”
ok, number one, rachel weisz is pretty, period.
second, maggie gyllenhaal is “pretty but not in a conventional way”, if by “pretty but not in a conventional way” you mean ugly.
February 23rd, 2009 at 5:04 pm
Rhona Mitra = Talia Al’Ghul
Michelle Williams = Harley Quinn
James Van Der Beek = The Riddler.
Okay, I was joking about the last one but completely serious about Michelle Williams as Harley Quinn.
February 23rd, 2009 at 5:19 pm
As much as I would like Harley to get some big screen time, I think the next movie would suffer if it is too much a tribute to the Dark Knight (think Superman Returns). So no Harley. Ditto Talia. I don’t have any suggestions for Bat’s love life, but I think it would be pretty cool to Anthony Hopkins play a serious Riddler.
February 23rd, 2009 at 5:24 pm
I’d like Portia DeRossi as Harley Quinn.
Weisz would be awesome as Catwoman.
February 23rd, 2009 at 5:32 pm
Hmmmm….
If there not going to replace Ledger,Harley could be intoduced in the movie as someone copycating The Joker like Batman had copycats.Harley also works real well with Poison Ivy.
Poison Ivy,Scarlett J maybe,she’s a soild actress.Can;t really think of anyone off hand.
Zooey Deschanel,Shannyn Sossamon,Michelle Williams for Harley?
Weisz for Catwoman,she does have a sexy look and is a good actress.
I like the earlier rumors of Depp as the Riddler and PS Hoffman as penguin.
Bob Hoskins works for the Penguin to.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Dick Grayson.
Maybe Anthony Hopkins would work better as Hugo Strange?
The 1# thing is to make sure they can act.
February 23rd, 2009 at 5:35 pm
Rachel Weisz would make a perfect casting as Cat Woman. Great actress and a great beauty as well.
February 23rd, 2009 at 6:04 pm
I keep on hoping that the next villain will be Scarface and his dummy.
February 23rd, 2009 at 6:04 pm
Sorry, but I don’t want Harley Quinn in a Bat-movie… Never liked her on B:TAS, and I think she would just make it the sort of campy movie that Nolan’s (thankfully) avoided making. Hell, people are going to disagree me but Joker episodes were usually amongst my least favorite episodes of that show. Not that Mark Hamill wasn’t great, it’s just that Joker was too goofy, and not so scary (Yeah, I know it was *supposed* to be a kiddie show,. technically… I’m just saying that I think there were much better episodes than Joker episodes)
Besides, there’s plenty of good choices out there that are better than Harley. First and foremost: Talia Al Ghul. I still picture Catherine Zeta Jones in that role, age be damned (she still looks awesome). I’d like to see Talia introduced, and Ra’s revived by a Lazarus pit.
Catwoman’s an obvious choice, and Rachel Weisz would be as good a choice as anyone. Hush, Black Mask, and Hugo Strange would all be good choices. I’d be interested in seeing how Nolan might approach either Killer Croc or Bane, but I’m not sure if he’d be interested in either of those villains. Penguin would work too, but only if he’s made to be a ruthless crime lord, and not some goofy quacking caricature (or worse still, the half-man, half-animal freakshow that Danny Devito and Tim Burton went for).
I certainly wouldn’t mind if Two-Face ended up actually surviving his fall at the end of TDK (Not happening, I know).
Oh, and Sarah… I have to take exception with your opening line: “Now that Heath Ledger’s posthumous award has shown once and for all that superhero movies are as worthy as any other films of the best talent out there…” Seems to me that Batman Begins proved that already. Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman and Liam Neeson. What more could a movie need? Ledger’s performance (and Oscar win) just proved what all of us geeks already knew.
February 23rd, 2009 at 8:09 pm
“Zooey Deschanel,Shannyn Sossamon,Michelle Williams for Harley?”
How about Sossamon as Talia Al Ghul?? :/
Oh and GEOFFREY RUSH as the Penguin all the way!!!
February 23rd, 2009 at 9:08 pm
I want to see the Killer Croc!
Also I think it’s obvious that Ra’s is going to come back in the third instalment. Throw in Catwoman and Talia and you have a nice little love triangle.
Also with having the Joker and Two-Face, Nolan has opened the door for more villian’s to come along. Before TDK I couldn’t really how it was going to stay with it’s gritty roots but of course they pulled it off.
There was a poster above that said the Penguin would have to be a crime lord. I agree, but stay away from his fish like persona. The penguin is so weak that he would have to have some kind of Mutated bodyguard, enter THE KILLER CROC!
Either way I cannot wait for the third instalment.
February 23rd, 2009 at 10:39 pm
First off: No Poison Ivy; science-y or supernatural villains won’t work in the world Nolan’s built. Clayface, Mr. Freeze, Man-Bat, Killer Croc and the return of Ra’s al Ghul (at least via Lazarus Pit) are all out for the same reason. That said, certain villains that usually fit into this mold could easily be altered without losing the core of the character; Mad Hatter, Maxie Zeus and Scarface and the Ventriloquist come to mind off the top of my head, but I know there are more out there.
Second: No going back to the well. That means no Talia, no Harley, no Ra’s, and Harvey stays dead. The one exception: Cillian Murphy’s Scarecrow has become a constant in the series, and I like that trend, but if he were to return in the third he can’t be a major player.
Third: No sidekicks. No Robin, no Batgirl, no Nightwing, no Spoiler.
Here’s what I’d like to see happen: a thematic inverse to The Dark Knight. The Dark Knight was about a guy who everyone hoped (Batman included) would remove the need for Batman at all in Gotham, and instead became a criminal Batman needed to take down. Harvey lived long enough to see himself become a villain. So the next one should be the opposite: someone who sets out to be a criminal but is forced through circumstances to become a hero.
So clearly we’re talking Catwoman here. I’d be on board with Rachel Weisz as Catwoman, but I don’t think she’s the only choice. Some other actors I think could handle it: Julia Stile, Mena Suvari (don’t laugh–both of them are solid actors in need of a break-out role). There must be others, but I can’t think of any off the top of my head.
Other potential villain casting I’d be on board with:
The Riddler: Hugh Laurie would be great, as would Edward Norton. William H. Macy and John Turturro come to mind as well. John McGinley would be interesting. But please no Johnny Depp–we’ve already had two Tim Burton Batman films.
The Penguin: I’m totally on board with the aforementioned ideas of Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bob Hoskins or Geoffrey Rush. Let’s add John C. Reilly as a possibility as well.
The Mad Hatter: I doubt Tim Blake Nelson would want to take a role in another superhero flick after doing the Incredible Hulk, but I think he’d make a great Jervis Tetch. So would Dustin Hoffman.
So those are my thoughts.
Oh, and eaglesfillthesky? Maggie Gyllenhall is hot as hell–brains are sexy.
February 23rd, 2009 at 11:11 pm
Courtney Love? I guess that’s no less really-dumb than expecting us to buy Bale and Eckhart being into Maggie Gyllenhaal.
Brittany Murphy would be my choice for Harley Quinn, not just for her looks but her voice. She had the right kind of sound in Sin City.
February 24th, 2009 at 9:47 am
talia i think would be the better batman love thing than catwoman just cos shes a not very well known character and ties into the movies so well.
brittany murphey would have to be harley quinn, she just fits everything. watch this for proof
http://justpressplay.net/movies/movie-news/4882-todays-short-qjoker-a-harley-quinn-circlesq.html
February 24th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Man you have WEIRD taste…
February 24th, 2009 at 7:35 pm
No Robin! and No Riddler! We dont need to see another Batman Forever. I’d love to see Kate Beckinsale as Catwoman! And I’d really like to see what Nolan could do for villains like Black Mask, Hush, Ventriloquist, Hugo Strange, or Bane.
It would be awesome if Aaron Eckhart came back as Two Face, since his performance was seriously underrated in the dark knight, but Nolan considers Two Face dead.
They need another movie like Batman Begins, where they portray villains who have never really been put on the big screen. In Batman Begins, it was scarecrow and Rha’s Al Ghul.