When you hear the name Mr. Freeze, a lot of people instantly get flashbacks to Arnold Schwarzenegger in Joel Schumacher’s Batman & Robin, puffing on silver-painted cigars and dropping terrible ice-related puns what felt like every ten seconds. However, Victor Fries is arguably one of the more underrated villains in the Caped Crusader’s extensive rogues gallery, with a tragic and complex backstory that deserves the proper big screen treatment.
Matt Reeves’ The Batman is already reportedly loaded with enough bad guys as it is, but with at least a trilogy planned for Robert Pattinson’s Dark Knight, there will be plenty of scope to bring in many more of his adversaries over the coming years. While a lot of comic book reboots have faced criticism for re-using villains that we’ve already seen in movies before, a seemingly innocuous tweet has started gathering some real momentum online behind the idea of Breaking Bad’s Giancarlo Esposito playing Mr. Freeze, and you can check out some of the reactions below.
Works for me pic.twitter.com/ORUNhiVcVP
— 𝕒𝕞𝕡𝕚𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕚𝕟 (@ampinstein) May 4, 2020
@mattreevesLA pic.twitter.com/FECbUf0AMW
— 〰Whoadie〰 (@trukurself) May 4, 2020
That would be fucking great. He is a great actor.
— Subjective Clock (@filmusic42) May 4, 2020
Amazing. He would be great in many roles, though. That’s how good he is.
Alfred, Gordon, Dent.— Paolo Gil (@paologil) May 4, 2020
Wow, never crossed my mind but it’s brilliant
— Steve ☥ (@PharaohSteve) May 4, 2020
Yes, please. I can picture it in my head and it's so damn good.
— K. (@Aditkusu) May 4, 2020
https://twitter.com/headlessbiker97/status/1257393566856380420?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1257393566856380420&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fmovieweb.com%2Fbatman-mr-freeze-giancarlo-esposito%2F
OMG!!! HOW HAVE I NOT THOUGHT OF THIS?!?!
— Geoff Foster (@GeoffGlitchy) May 4, 2020
I think it’s masterful casting.
He has the voice and presence for the role
— VENGEANCE🦇 (@Bat_Source) May 4, 2020
I never knew I wanted this until just now.
Incidentally I'm watching Breaking Bad again with my wife as I type this.— David Riley (@DRileyamusing) May 3, 2020
Not only does Esposito most definitely look the part, but he’s also proven to be more than capable of playing highly intelligent villains that can often be outright terrifying, without even having to raise his voice. With Reeves’ Batman movies set to be more character-driven than ever before, the thought of seeing the Caped Crusader engaged in battles of wits rather than fists makes the idea of a rebooted version of Mr. Freeze played by the actor that brought us the iconic Gus Fring an incredibly exciting prospect.
Esposito already has his hands full playing a bad guy in one of the world’s biggest franchises thanks to his role as Moff Gideon in The Mandalorian, but if Matt Reeves does decide to introduce Mr. Freeze into his rebooted movie universe, then there’s already a ready-made choice for the part staring him right in the face.
