Yesterday, Warner Bros. Discovery chairman Toby Emmerich announced a sequel to The Batman at CinemaCon. But other than the return of stars Robert Pattinson and Zöe Kravitz, and director Matt Reeves, no other details have been announced. But that hasn’t stopped fans of the Caped Crusader from speculating on who the main villain of the next film will be.
A post-credit cameo suggests that Barry Keoghan’s horribly deformed Joker will be the sequel’s main villain, something that director Matt Reeves has taken pre-emptive measures to deny. Fans have taken to social media to debate who the sequel’s primary antagonist will be, and demand that secret society The Court of Owls be featured as Batman’s primary antagonists.
The Court of Owls, first appearing in a 2011 issue of D.C.’s The New 52, is a secret cabal of Gotham City’s wealthiest, most powerful citizens who use assassins called “the Talons” to affect history. They’ve been featured in the 2015 D.C. Animated film Batman vs. Robin, and then appeared again on the TV series Gotham.
A recurring theme on Twitter has been that fans would like to see D.C. Cinematic Universe dig deeper into the title’s mythology and feature villains other than the Joker or any other character who has been seen many other times in Batman TV series and movies over the years:
Another fan tied in the Court of Owls to a beloved character whom fans hope may appear in Reeves’ sequel:
While this Marvel fan points out that the Court of Owls fits into Reeves’ take on the character’s darker tone:
This fan claims that featuring the Court of Owls is Reeves’ one-way ticket to greatness:
