Manic Expression

Hello and welcome to In Too Deep, where I over-analyse a certain section of pop culture.

Now by the time you read this, the Dark Knight Rises would have been out for ages, so I don't need to worry about spoilers. But as I searched online Nolan said the three films were about fear, chaos and pain. That got me thinking: what other themes could be used; and how would those characters emulate them? Well join me as I count down the top six.

First off, lets quickly cover up the villains in the first three movies. Scarecrow creates the fear gas, which is spread by Ra's al Ghul. The film deals with Bruce Wayne conquering his fears and using fear to help make him a legend. The Joker is an agent of chaos, spreading it around and corrupting Two-Face into chaos. Batman has to restore order by defeating the chaos spread by the Joker (which explains why he's not mentioned in the third film. He's like a natural disaster: he comes to town, destroys lives, then disappears and is quickly forgotten about). Bane is in crippling pain, so he makes Bruce Wayne feel not just physical pane, but the emotional pain of having Gotham being destroyed. Catwoman is in the pain of being trapped in her life, while Talia al Ghul is in pain from the loss of her father (making her and Bruce not so different). Bruce Wayne overcomes the pain to take down the bad guys. Fear, Chaos and Pain define the three movies. But where else could they go?

6)Man-Bat Evolves/Mad Hatter Hypnotises: Man-Bat is a character that looks like a giant bat because the man took the Bat serum that transformed him into a giant, well, Man-Bat. Perhaps too much like science-fiction for Nolan, but imagine if he did include this character. What would it be about? Well it'd be about evolution. Evolving, adapting, changing. Man-Bat represents that physical change. Bruce Wayne likewise goes through a metaphysical change where he has to come to terms with the animistic side of him, the Id that enjoys hurting others since it dulls his own pain. Basically imagine the story of Inception, where we go into Bruce Wayne's mind. The Man-Bat is Bruce's psychological Id, which he must control within his own subconscious. So if we had the Mad Hatter put Bruce into a world of his own making, we could seem him come to terms with it. Sure it'll be retreading Batman Begins, but it's what they were trying to do with Batman Forever.

5)Poison Ivy Poisons: Again, not the most likely of all the candidates, but imagine for a moment that Poison Ivy was given a role in the Nolan movies. The theme would be poison, naturally. She poisons characters around her whilst trying to seduce Batman. Naturally she wants to destroy Gotham, making it a new Eden. It'd be a great way to introduce Batwoman, since she could take down Poison Ivy. But it'd be interesting to see the idea of poison and growth mix together, since we could have Poison Ivy corrupting Batman and needing Batwoman to take over. Just a thought.

4)Mr Freeze's Loss: Once again, unlikely, but probably the most likely out of all the fantastical villain to work. Mr Freeze is evil because of who he lost, so he'd make the perfect opponent against Batman. Have not only Freeze trying to freeze Gotham, but have Batman coming to terms with the loss of his parents. Or the loss of some other loved one. Have him see how far he could go if he wasn't careful. That sense of loss would be interesting to see Bruce overcome.

But all that was just padding. No the next three are generally serious ideas about what villains they could use in future instalments.

3)The Penguin Corrupts: Nolan said he would never use the Penguin because he couldn't see an interesting way of using the character. I say he'd probably be the best character to use when it comes to having a corrupt official. Yes I know they did the whole 'Penguin becoming mayor' in Batman Returns, but it's not a bad idea. Just make him not a freak of nature, but a generally horrible person that corrupts Gotham. That makes it into a worst place. But make it so Batman can't just beat him up, but has to use his power as Bruce Wayne in tandem to fighting Penguin's mooks. So yeah, the Penguin would work if you made him the corrupt politician.

2)The Riddler Confuses: Have the Riddler in his Arkham City type appearance, where makes sadistic death traps for Batman. Have the character take over Gotham by stealing people and putting them in traps to prove that he was smart. Sure it wouldn't make for an interesting physical bad guy, but you could make the Joker-type madness where the Riddler is constantly outsmarting Batman. Plus Nolan's a smart guy, he'd be able to write it well. A villain that uses brains over brawn to constantly put the police in a spin would be an interesting threat indeed.

1)Hush revenges: If Bane is the anti-Batman in The Dark Knight Rises, then Hush is the anti-Batman in general. So he'd be the perfect character to bring in to try and take Batman down. Have this shadow archetype that uses his knowledge of Bruce Wayne to psychologically attack him, like burying him with his parents or attacking him when he wasn't ready. Ruining the name of Bruce Wayne however he can. Taking down the symbol of the Batman by turning the city against him. It'd be interesting to see the anti-Batman in full effect.

So there you have it. Six badly pitched ideas about what they could have done with the Batman films. If you disagree with anything, or have anything to add, feel free to leave a comment. Till next time.