Another Villain Added to The Dark Knight Rises? Plus Batman Going to ... Jersey?
Posted 06.01.11 by BrentJS
The downfall of many a comic book movie franchise can be (at least partially) attributed to the fact that as the number of movies in the franchise increases, so too does the number of villains facing off against the hero. Two of the biggest offenders of this franchise-ending trend are Batman & Robin, the fourth and final movie in the original Batman movie series with three major villains — Mr. Freeze (Arnold Schwarzenegger), Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman), and Bane (Jeep Swenson) — and Spider-Man 3, which also upped the ante to three villains — Green Goblin II (James Franco), Sandman (Thomas Haden Church) and Venom (Topher Grace).
So far director Christopher Nolan seems to have avoided this "curse," pitting his Batman (Academy Award-winner Christian Bale) against both the Joker (Heath Ledger) and Two-Face (Aaron Eckhart) — and, technically Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy), as well, though it was more of a glorified cameo — in his highly acclaimed sequel The Dark Knight. But Nolan may be tempting fate by upping the villain quota even more in his third and final Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises (TDKR). The cast already includes the villains Bane (Tom Hardy), Catwoman (Anne Hathaway), Ra's al Ghul (Josh Pence), and a corrupt politician named Nixon (Matthew Modine), and now there's the possibility that another villain might be joining Batman's rogues gallery.
Yesterday, writer-director-actor Jeff Hammond (I Know Who Killed Me, The Girls on Film Canadian TV series) tweeted that he is "in talks" with Nolan "to play another villain" in TDKR, adding that he "can't wait to show" his "new face." Hammond has yet to respond to his followers' queries about the tweet, but fan speculation has immediately turned to the "new face" part of his comment, with many jumping to the conclusion that he might be playing Black Mask, a non-powered Gotham crime lord whose father was a friend of Bruce Wayne's father, Thomas. Of course, it could have simply been an attempt by Hammond to get some publicity...
In other TDKR news, Newark Mayor Cory Booker revealed via twitter that he has met with "the producer and studio team" behind Nolan's new movie and that Batman could be heading to the largest city in New Jersey. In a follow-up tweet, Mayor Booker joked that he "offered to play" Nightwing, Batman's first sidekick and the current Batman in the DC Comics on which the movie is based, but that "they just smiled politely & looked at their watches."
Returning cast members include Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, Sir Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth, Nestor Carbonell as the mayor of Gotham City, and Gary Oldman as Commissioner James Gordon. New additions include Juno Temple as Holly Robinson, Marion Cotillard as Wayne Enterprises board member Miranda Tate, Joseph Gordon-Levitt as policeman John Blake, Alon Aboutboul as a "mad scientist," Brett Cullen as a judge, Chris Ellis as a priest, and Tom Conti and Joey King in as-yet-unspecified roles.
Next Showing: The Dark Knight Rises opens July 20, 2012