Robert Pattinson will soon appear on the silver screen as Bruce Wayne and Batman, the titular superhero of the upcoming film The Batman, taking on villains and solving mysteries. We know a decent bit about the film – where it fits in with the rest of the DC films, what kind of Batman Pattinson will be playing and what the film will be rated (M in Australia, PG13 in the U.S.).
But who are the villains in The Batman?
The Batman trailer
If you haven’t seen it already, here’s the trailer for The Batman.
We got a decent amount of content in that trailer. Depictions of certain characters, shots from some scenes, a good idea of the plot and a great idea for what tone the movie has (a dark one with a seemingly bigger focus on action than Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy).
Now that’s out of the way, I present:
The villains in The Batman
The Riddler
The main villain of The Batman, The Riddler, is a famous Batman villain, who last appeared on the silver screen portrayed by Jim Carey (in the 1995 film Batman Forever). He was a main villain in that film too, but he’s a bit… darker in The Batman, being played by Paul Dano.
Yeah, a darker take. A better one? Maybe. The Riddler’s whole deal is giving Batman riddles to solve. Of course, Carrey’s Riddler has a bit of fun with it, but Dano’s Riddler seems a bit… Broken, going for the more psychotic and essentials-only approach.
With a concept as broad as “He does riddles” you can be pretty creative with this character, known as Edward Nashton when not going by The Riddler monicker. It looks like he’ll turn Gotham upside down in The Batman, with some pretty clear inspiration drawn from the real world, in particular from the Zodiac Killer.
The Penguin
Oswald Cobblepot, The Penguin, is a gangster and crimelord in Gotham City, played in The Batman by Colin Farrell. Though The Penguin last appeared on the silver screen played by Danny DeVito back in 1992 (in Batman Returns), it looks like Farrell’s Penguin will be much more focused on being a crimelord and less focused on eating raw fish and tending to actual live penguins.
The Penguin’s whole deal is running his underground crime syndicate. He’s a gangster and loves money. He’ll be appearing more as a crimelord than a penguin in The Batman, although he does look the villain part with his suit and nose.
Catwoman
Played by Zoë Kravitz, Catwoman is appearing in The Batman as more of an anti-hero, true to how Catwoman has been portrayed in the comics and The Dark Knight Rises (2012), played by Anne Hathaway. Without the ears and all the burglary, Catwoman is known at Selina Kyle and is often Batman’s unlikely girlfriend.
We’re unsure of how Kravitz’s Catwoman will be different from Hathaway’s, given they’re being portrayed very similarly, however it’ll be interesting to see a new actor in the role. She’ll likely team up with Batman in the film on the odd occasion. There’s also a whole trailer dedicated to The Bat and The Cat.
Carman Falcone
I didn’t realise Carman Falcone would be appearing in the film until I saw it pointed out by Screenrant, but this isn’t his first Batman outing. Carmine Falcone is a crimelord in the Batman comics and is very much a stand-in for any organised crime plot. He last appeared in Batman Begins (2005) as the leader of the Falcone Crime Family and it’s likely he’ll be getting his hands dirty once again. He’ll be played by John Turturro in The Batman, but was played by Tom Wilkinson in Batman Begins.
Will other villains appear in The Batman?
While this is already a pretty heavy cast of villains and darkness, there is the chance that more villains could show up in The Batman. For the moment though, we’ll call it unlikely – it’s possible that this film could be crushed under the weight of its villains, so bad guys like Scarecrow, Two-face and Bane will likely be skipped. It’s also likely that the film will feature some original villains.
Adding to this, it’s unlikely that Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker will appear in The Batman, given it’s set in a whole different time period and that it was made to be a standalone film. This goes for the villains of the DCEU as well, as it’s a different universe entirely.
The Batman release date
The Batman finally looks like it’s coming to cinemas in Australia on March 3, 2022.
While you wait, why not check out all the other sci-fi, horror and fantasy films coming our way in 2022.