Even though director Christopher Nolan recently told Empire that he is not officially attached to direct the as-yet-untitled Batman 3, considering how successful the previous two movies were and the fact that his brother, Jonathan Nolan is working on the script, it seems a foregone conclusion that he will be directing the movie. Perhaps he's really got tunnel vision for his latest movie, Inception, or maybe he's holding out for the biggest possible paycheck he can get, but whatever the case may be, there's no doubt in the minds of comic book movie fans that he will be at the helm of the next (and possibly final) chapter in the current Batman movie franchise.
So, what evidence do we have so far?
Nolan said emphatically that Mr. Freeze will not be in Batman 3 and it would be in extremely poor taste to bring back the Joker without Heath Ledger. There's a seemingly throwaway line in The Dark Knight (TDK) that some have taken to indicate that Catwoman might very well be appearing in the next movie. Others have pointed out that "Mr. Reese," the man who discovered Bruce Wayne's identity in TDK, sounds a lot like "mysteries" and that this may be a clue that the character will be returning as the Riddler.
Whatever the case may be, CBM fans have spoken and they want the Riddler. The Batman 3 Villain Poll received over 5,000 votes and nearly 40% of those were for the Riddler. Surprisingly, Bane was the second most requested villain to appear in Batman 3, with Catwoman coming in third.
Here's the breakdown:
The Riddler
2,597 Votes (39.90%)
Bane
675 Votes (10.37%)
Catwoman
624 Votes (9.59%)
The Penguin
462 Votes (7.10%)
Black Mask
450 Votes (6.91%)
Harley Quinn
366 Votes (5.62%)
Clayface
313 Votes (4.81%)
Hush
296 Votes (4.55%)
Mr. Freeze
231 Votes (3.55%)
Man-Bat
181 Votes (2.78%)
Red Hood
144 Votes (2.21%)
Poison Ivy
124 Votes (1.91%)
Anarky
46 Votes (0.71%)
So, what do you think? Will it be the Riddler? Should it be the Riddler? And, if so, who should play the Riddler?