Yeah, 'The Dark Knight' was pretty awesome

Who should be the next Batman villain? Christopher Nolan has a serious vision and some bad guys just don't fit it.

MSNBC doesn't think it's too early to start thinking about which villain should show up in the next Batman movie, either. Here's a rundown of their list:

The Riddler

I don't know how easy it'd be for him to follow the Joker's act without looking like a cheap Joker knock-off himself, but with sharp writing, I think the Riddler could make a very interesting villain. Making him into yet another bloodthirsty, psychopathic murderer would be a mistake -- I'd actually suggest that the Riddler have no interest at all in killing people. If they really wanted to push the envelope, they should keep his body count at a whopping zero. The Riddler's motive should be an unrelenting and insatiable desire to stump Batman with one of his puzzles. I'm someone who constantly flaunts my lofty IQ, so I can understand the unhealthy (and borderline sociopathic) tendencies that can be shown by someone who always believes himself to be the smartest person in the room. The Riddler shouldn't have the same aspirations -- money, mayhem, notoriety -- as the common criminal; his main concern is proving his own worth as a self-proclaimed genius. This is what will separate him from the Joker and other lunatic criminals: he isn't nuts, he's just vain. Publically shaming Batman with an unsolvable riddle will validate his intelligence.

Now, the trick is making an audience feel any suspense over a villain who has no desire to kill. That'll take good writing.

Killer Croc

As far as hand-to-hand combat goes, Batman has fought three villains who are considerably below his fighting level (Scarecrow, Joker, Two-Face) and one villain who is, more or less, at his level (Ras Al Ghul). Basically, only 1/4 of the villains he's faced in two movies would be able to hold their own against Batman in a straight-forward boxing match. So I think this is the angle that could make Killer Croc an interesting character: he's bigger, faster, and stronger than Batman. Much more than his physical equal, Croc would be his physical superior.

I hate it when super hero movies try to cram too many super-villains into one movie -- i.e. Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy, and Bane in Batman and Robin; Sandman, Harry Osborn, Venom in Spider-Man 3 -- but the article points out that Killer Croc may not have enough depth to his character to carry an entire movie, and I can agree with that for the most part. I could live with him appearing briefly in the third movie, getting into a run-in or two with Batman, and then getting quickly sent to jail. I think that could work. With so many of the other villain wrought with deep-rooted psychological issues, it could actually be refreshing to see Croc portrayed as a dumbed down, rampaging punching-machine. It'll make for good action scenes of gratuitous violence.

Visually, Killer Croc's monstrous and foreboding appearance (he was born with a rare disorder that gave him thick, scaly reptilian skin) could still fit right in with the rooted-in-reality image Christopher Nolan has created with his Batman series. If done right, I definitely think Croc could look scary without also looking ridiculous.

The Penguin

In the comics, the Penguin doesn't share any anatomical characteristics with actual penguins (the way he was portrayed in Batman Returns, for example). Instead, he's just a crime lord that likes wearing tuxedos. And while Batman's main antagonist should always be organized crime, I don't necessarily see anything specific to his character that would distinguish himself from any other crime boss. Basically, he's superfluous.


Man-Bat

I loved all the episodes with Man-Bat in the old animated series, but the idea of a scientist turning into half-man, half-bat creature seems too supernatural for Nolan's style.

It wouldn't translate well from comics to cinema, but he really is a dope villain.







Clayface

Same deal here. Visually, I'm sure he'd look awesome on the big screen. But I don't know how practical it is for the movie-version of Batman to fight a big clay monster that could morph his body into any and all shapes. It might be too out there.




The Ventriloquist and Scarface

The MSN article dismissed the idea of this villain -- he's a ventriloquist with an extremely suppressed personality disorder that leaves him in a nearly paralyzed state of shyness and meekness in his normal everyday life, but erupts in violence and hostility whenever he speaks through his dummy, Scarface -- being able to successfully resonate with fans, but I disagree. If the campiness is played down and the creepiness is played up, I think he could make for a very disturbing, twisted villain. He definitely couldn't carry an entire movie by himself, but I think he could support a minor subplot.