Back when the pieces for Matt Reeves’ The Batman began falling into place, rumors abounded that the Caped Crusader’s latest reboot would involve at least half a dozen villains, if not more. While history has shown that stuffing too many antagonists into a comic book blockbuster is rarely a wise idea, we know that we’re getting at least three.
Reeves explained that The Batman isn’t an origin story for the title hero, with Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne on his second year as Gotham City’s resident nocturnal vigilante, but it explores the beginnings of some iconic villains. Paul Dano’s Riddler, Zoe Kravitz’s Catwoman and Colin Farrell’s Penguin will all be at the start of their criminal careers, which could set them up for bigger things to come in future installments.
We’re now hearing from our sources – the same ones who told us Ben Affleck would be returning as Batman in The Flash long before it was confirmed – that the sequel could follow roughly the same template as the opening chapter, by roping in a multitude of big bads to provide opposition to the Dark Knight.
We’ve heard plenty of tales that everyone from Two-Face to the Joker will be teased in The Batman, and all it takes is a scene set in Arkham Asylum to lay the foundations for virtually anyone from Bruce Wayne’s lenghty rogues’ gallery to show up in the future. Their identities remain shrouded in mystery for now, but if several villains works in the first film, then we can reasonably expect the trend to continue throughout the franchise.
