Nolan's take on the Dark Knight universe thrives on the basis that despite how fantastical the villains and eponymous hero may be, they are at least a little feasible. However, some come with a bit of a twist - Harvey Dent would most likely not come down with a sense of injustice and near psychotic levels of a breakdown if he'd been blown half to hell, more than he would instead be left with a serious case of deadness. So, here is where we apply the "superhero" rule; say one outrageous facet of each character becomes accepted as normal, and KAPOW! you've got a Nolan take on a Batman villain.
So who else would have worked? Why would they have worked? Why would they have been a total disaster? Who would we have liked to play them? Allow me to splurge about it for a while.
The Penguin
Why: Imagine, if you will, a faithful to the comics crime lord, holding reign over a syndicate of bookies, clubs and factories in our favourite fallen city. Basically, the Vito Corleone of Gotham; but instead of hmi being of the thuggish Marone ilk, he's all sinister and nearly cartoonishly disfigured with a hunch, hooked nose, is under 5ft tall and has an exceptionally creepy voice. Yep, it'd be pretty awesome.
Why Not: I genuinely though that the Penguin in Tim Burton's Batman Returns was superb. That character, if you toned down the campyness a level, would fit fairly easily into Nolan's version. Therefore, we've already seen it, and there's not much point in doing pretty much the same thing again.
Played By: I'd just stick with DeVito really, the character really was just that good.
Harley Quinn
Why Not: Well there are a couple of problems here. First, on face value of that plot, it was already done in The Dark Knight, there wouldn't really be that much of a point of having Batman face off against the same villain but with a new accomplice. The second problem is obvious, the death of Heath Ledger means that no collaboration is possible, and I would question if the character is strong enough to really hold her own as a lead villain.
Played By: Ellen Page? Forgetting the Nolan connection, she's young enough to play the character, has a good amount of comedy timing and is seemingly open to quirky roles. So just throw in an extra bucketload of crazy and voila, you'd have Harley Quinn. Also, remembering the Nolan connection, almost every actor in Inception has been in at least one of Nolan's Batman films, so there's that.
The Riddler
Why: As enjoyable as I found the film, the Jim Carrey version of the Riddler in Batman Forever was so camp and ridiculous that he wouldn't have worked if the film wasn't as mad as he was. However, I think there'd be a good way of using him as a way of getting the caped crusader to frantically comb the city, looking for the answers to the Riddler's questions before some poor bystanders are blown to bits. And if anyone could come up with something complicated and confusing, it would be Nolan.
Why Not: The boat hostage situation in The Dark Knight means that we've already seen what it'd be like if Batman was faced with a conundrum by one of the supervillains. Also, it'd be in serious danger of running very similar to the plot of Die Hard With A Vengeance, and I'd probably end up waiting for Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson to turn up and put him to rights.
Played By: Now here there are loads of options. Personally, I loved the rumours of Robin Williams for the role when we were speculating on the villains for The Dark Knight Rises, as he can certainly do crazy-creepy very well. There had also been rumours (or, people making stuff up and hoping) of Johnny Depp, Jude Law, David Tennant, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and more being lined up for the role. However, and it once again goes back to a Nolan connection, my personal choice would have to be Guy Pearce. He's flat out spectacular in most things, and has does the off-kilter take on reality before in Memento, would have been a goodun.
Victor Zsasz
Why: Well, as we saw him being released with all the other inmates in Batman Begins (being played by the lead singer of the band James, no less), many of us thought we might see a little more of Mr. Zsasz either later in the movie or later in the franchise, but it never happened. Nolan's Gotham is exceptionally dark and overflowing with a sinister breed of criminals, and not all of them need a super-power type gimic. Zsasz is a serial killer of repulsive proportions, cutting a notch on his body for each of his victims, what could Batman find less useful than a straight forward nutjob murderer tearing through the streets when he's trying to take down the more circusy villains?
Why Not: Things would quite probably run a little too close to a Silence Of The Lambs meets Se7en sort of plot. Also, like Harley Quinn we have to consider if Zsasz would be a strong enough villain to warrant a starring role, or if he'd even keep Batman busy for long enough.
Played By: Jackie Earle Haley would have it nailed on for me. He already has that whole "I don't mean it, but I look a smidge like a serial killer" thing about him, and has shown he can do it with his version of Freddy Krueger in the reboot of A Nightmare On Elm Street.
Honorable Mentions: If they were a little less fantasy, it'd be nice to have seen the likes of Poison Ivy, Clayface or Killer Croc in film as good as the current trilogy. Furthermore, had his story not been so brilliant in Arkham City, Hugo Strange would have been a good watch too. And of course, it would have been amazing if Nolan had given us a way to reclaim Mr. Freeze, blocking out all images of this:
I'm sorry...I'm so, so sorry.
On that horrifying note, I'm off to put on my utility belt and sit perched on top of my bannister, watching over the rotting, crime ridden corners of...my living room.
Until the review of The Dark Knight Rises, thanks for reading.
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