Two's company Three's A Crowd

Two's company Three's A Crowd

As the third major villain is confirmed in what is quickly being referred to as "the most anticipated comic book movie of all time" fans can only wonder and worry if three major villains is too much for the final chapter in the most successful comic book franchise of all time.

Editorial Opinion
By tset22 - Jun 01, 2011 01:06 AM EST
Filed Under: Batman
Source: buzzfocus





As the countdown to TDKR continues many fans have begun to ask the same questions "how many more villains is Nolan going to premiere?" It has already been announced that Tom Hardy will play the role of Bane and Anne Hathaway will play as the sultry Catwoman, but now with Josh Pence playing the role as a young Ra's Al Ghul, Matthew Modine playing a political villain named Nixon and even Marion Cotillard's character rumored to be Thila Al Ghul, fans have begun to murmur that nolan may have bitten off more than he can chew. Now there are a lot of good reasons why fans are concerned so I have put together some issues that might jeopardize the film.

1. Where do I begin? : Ra's has one, Two Face has one, Bruce Wayne has one and the joker had several. Main characters are nothing without a genesis, an origin that gives the character relevance to the story. Jerry Bruckheimer, the producer of The Pirates Of The Caribbean was once quoted saying "the problem with the pirate movies is that there were way too many characters to keep up with" In TDK Nolan did an excellent job in giving each main character not only a genesis but a purpose and a motivation. But with the overwhelming roster of great actors and villains, could Nolan have backed himself into a corner.

2. All things must come to an end ... right? : The final scenes of TDK where amazing, poetic and most of all full of holes. Now I was one of the first bat fans pulling for Two Face to make a full recovery and get back to terrorizing Gotham, but Mr. Nolan had other ideas. While I wasn't sure what Nolan had in mind when I first learned that Bane would be the new villain for the final “Nolanized” batman film, but many fans have come to the conclusion that bane is the only character that broke the bats back, therefore ensuring that this would be the final film. The biggest head scratcher however is the addition of catwoman. I have racked my brain over this time and time again and I cannot see a reason to add this sexy feline. Now while it is true that Bruce will be devastated over the lost of Rachel this fact doesn't fully explain catwoman's presence, maybe Selina Kyle but not catwoman. While catwoman's genesis has been altered from a flight attendant, to a prostitute and even an assistant, one thing is for sure; catwoman is not a villain but more of an anti-hero. She doesn't have any plans to take over Gotham or kill innocent people; she instead provides herself with confidence and steals jewelry to satisfy her own desires. Catwoman's traits portray a femme fatale rather than a villain, in Batman: Knightfall she is approached by Bane to join him but she refuses as he his known as the man who "broke" the bat. This could be one reason why catwoman has been added; which would further prove accusations that Nolan is planning for batman be incapacitated for an undetermined portion of the movie. Catwoman in many ways admires batman for being an army of one and for being a symbol of inner strength that she longs to be, and while catwoman and batman's relationship is infamous, I'm not sure if there will be enough time in this film to fully establish it.

3. No time for new friends: With so many complexities that must go into the final film of this dark saga the question has been raised, "is there really enough room for so many new characters". With the addition of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Matthew Modine, Juno Temple, and Brett Cullen to any already all star fleet of actors how will Nolan balance the characters so that the new addition can be as relevant as the original cast without down playing said cast? One way to do this is to ensure that the new cast fills in the space left available by the original. In TDK judge Surrillo was blown to kingdom come and Gordon was a few cops short after some members of his special task force proved to be working on the darker side of the law. This problem maybe the easiest to fix for Nolan as we see that each new actors role fills a part of the story that TDK left blank. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is set to play John Blake, a cop under gordon's new unit, Brett Cullen is playing the role of a judge which will obliviously take the place of Surillo. Marion Cotillard whom I thought would have been the only female lead in the movie should serve as Bruce Wayne's new love interest. Matthew Modine will play a powerful politician which could serve as both a leader for Gotham and Gotham's criminals as his character is set to be a key villain. While there are still more actors stepping forward with news of their involvement in TDKR Nolan seems to know how to give the true fans closure.

This film comes with just as much anticipation as any movie to date. Batman fans have truly appreciated Nolan’s ability to tell stories in a way that is not only stylized but also cemented in gritty realism that often reflects on our own society. However Nolan decides to create this final chapter I'm confident he will treat batman with all the complexion and emotion that this iconic figure deserves. So please as always comment and discuss.
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Hellsing
Hellsing - 6/1/2011, 3:28 AM
oh wait so every one that got killed has to be replaced does it really matter who replaces the dead judge from TDK. No its doesn't, I don't want to sound like a dick but you don't know any thing about the movie neither do I. I remember some one talking about how fan expectation and the way people drool over every little bit news about this movie would kill it, I disagreed but I now believe that person might have been right. I don't worship nolan like a lot of people do on here, but you can't judge a movie with out any solid info. People should wait until you hear some thing official about the plot before speculating whether there's too many villains or not.
Orphix
Orphix - 6/1/2011, 3:53 AM
Batman Begins was a textbook example of how to design a cast for a film. A sort of screenwriters lesson 101.

Basically every character in that film represented and challenged a different aspect of the main character (Bruce Wayne). Sort of like satelites circling around the earth.

I am gonna assume (dangerous, I know!) that this film will follow the same principle. Nolan will look at where Batman is in this film and from that work out who should be in it, what they represent and discover the themes of the piece.
Redhood88
Redhood88 - 6/1/2011, 5:06 AM
@Orphix

I love this site. It's a great place to read wild speculation and petty squabbling.

Well done for contributing one of the few truly perceptive comments.
tset22
tset22 - 6/1/2011, 5:19 AM
@hellsing my point was to illustrate why these actors are being cast, obliviously if a judge dying is not a big deal then why have they casted another major actor to play a judge. Also this is a fan site the whole point of this is to talk about plots and make predictions its fun and if u don't think so then maybe u shouldn't be on this site.
Orphix
Orphix - 6/1/2011, 6:00 AM
@Redhood88

Cheers dude - I try my best!!

All I would add is that when looking at potential villains ask yourself what they could represent to the character and theme of the film.

In Batman Begins Bruce Wayne was struggling with his own fears as well as trying to put the fear of god into those he opposed. What better way than to explore that concept than with The Scarecrow/Crane. The guy is all about fear.

Then you can look at other aspects of Bruce Wayne.

- Vigilantism (Rha's Al Ghul)
- Corporate ethics (Earle)
- Organised crime (Falcone)

Each one of these areas defines Bruce Wayne's character so each villain allows us to explore those themes. The same can be said about his allies too.
GillytheKid33
GillytheKid33 - 6/1/2011, 6:16 AM
Yeah I'm ganna have to agree with @Orphix and @hellsing.

Its just too early to assume anything with this film. And the bitching about the size of the cast is stupid. Nolan hand picks actors/tress to breath life into the character and make it theres. And plus everybody in Hollywood wants a part in these Bat movies because of The Dark Knight so you know that these guys are going to bring their best acting to the table even if it is for only 5 mins. Which most of these guys are going to have anyways.
DarthDan
DarthDan - 6/1/2011, 7:12 AM
I still get hung up by what Gary Oldman said in an interview months ago regarding "the" (main) villian in TDKR.. Forgive me for paraphrasing:

"It's an old one..."

Bane first appeared in 1993.. In Nolan we trust.
TMNTDude
TMNTDude - 6/1/2011, 7:35 AM
It bugs me how so many people get hung up on how many villains are in the movies. This fear is only based off of crappy scripts and/or crappy directors just trying to introduce character for fan clout. Spiderman 3 was crappy not because of too many villains, but a crappy script. Schumacher’s films were crap because of a crap script and crap direction. You have to give every character a purpose and motivation within the film and not have them just pop in with a half assed plot twist or back story.
Nolan has proved he can introduce so many villains successfully with Batman Begins and TDK so why worry now? Hell, look at how many main characters are in Inception.
My favorite part about Nolan’s Batman universe is how he connects a thrilling political drama about a city overthrown by organized crime and a dude that dresses up like a bat. Don’t worry, this movie will be awesome. I haven’t seen a Nolan flick that wasn’t epic yet.
CoolioVids
CoolioVids - 6/1/2011, 9:21 AM
"Threes company too"
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 6/1/2011, 9:27 AM
As long as the movie is done right, and the characters are given some story, i don't think three villains is too much. it all comes down to the writing.

Look at TDK. It had Joker, Two-Face, and the Mob. (i kind of look at the mob as a collective 3rd villain)

Now, replace the mob with, say, Black Mask, or at least put him at the head, and I don't think it would have hurt TDK in the slightest.

So I think its entirely possible to to have three villains and still make a good movie.
PapaEmeritus
PapaEmeritus - 6/1/2011, 9:47 AM
Doesn't matter! Nolan can put 100 characters plus 100 villains in the damn movie, even so the shit will work. You know by far, the guy have TALENT. that's the difference. Ok, besides that, he don't have the studio smelling his ass all the time like Raimi's did. Warner [they ain't stupid] gives Nolan full freedom [and $$$$] 'cause they trust the guy. Until now, he doesn't screwed once, for the contrary: won all times!

Said so, this articles is made for teenagers whining fanboys who think cinema means Transformers.
TheLight
TheLight - 6/1/2011, 10:00 AM
Nothing can be surely said about this movie because of all the secrets Nolan likes keeping. All in all, I want to at least see some shots of the characters soon.
SKOne
SKOne - 6/1/2011, 10:31 AM
Christopher Nolan knows what he is doing. Just look at his past work and the fact that because of Inception and The Dark Knight, Warner Bros wants to keep him as happy as possible so he'll help Zack Snyder and the next Batman director. They won't interfere with what he's doing like Sony did with Sam Raimi and Fox did with Brett Ratner and Gavin Hood.

Now I'm sure Nolan will end up with extra money in the budget as he really seems like someone who could do a lot with a little. He also has pre-existing relationships with Modine, Cullen, Gordon-Levitt and Cotillard. It's not going to do any more for their careers to be featured and he could really just shoot deleted scenes with them that would expand his Batman universe for the DVD.

At the end of the day, Nolan is a huge success because he obviously loves the whole Batman universe and has a ton of respect for the source material.
AC1
AC1 - 6/1/2011, 12:45 PM
Just so you know, all the movies so far have technically had 3 villains: Begins had Ra's, Scarecrow, and Falcone. TDK had Joker, Two Face, and Maroni. Now TDKR has Bane, Catwoman, and possibly someone else.

Nolan knows what he's doing.
AC1
AC1 - 6/1/2011, 12:59 PM
@Darth Dan maybe he meant Catwoman, since she appeared in Batman #1?
Amazo
Amazo - 6/1/2011, 3:15 PM
@Helsing
Well put.
There are alot of recognisible names in this movie,but there were alot in the other two aswell,and not many of them played characters with any more than a handful of scenes.Just because he's fleshing out the parts with the best actors he can and the studio has given him permission and the budget to do so does NOT mean that every actor announced is going to be a major villain with their own story arc.Get real folks.
Rutger Hauer,Michael Caine,Eric Roberts etc etc were supporting actors.Most of the new names will be too.
CrimeAlley
CrimeAlley - 6/1/2011, 4:33 PM
Nixons real name is roman sionis. Had to change his name and alias after he killed his parents, inherited there fortune, and used the money to become politicaly involved as well as run the underworld.

Tate is taliah. This movie will have many twists, and bane is definitley going to incapasitate batman. He's gonna rise in the eyes of the public and rise against physical injury and threat.
BigK1337
BigK1337 - 6/1/2011, 6:24 PM
@TheLight
Where have you been? They showed a picture of Tom Hardy as Banes many weeks ago.

Anyway, as much as I enjoyed the Nolan films; I hope the amount of characters featured in the movie fits right with the plot. I mean Bane, Catwoman and a third villain makes me want to question how they would all fit in (I understand it for Bane, but not for Catwoman).
manymade1
manymade1 - 6/1/2011, 6:43 PM
Y'now I still don't understand how Levitt went from playing Alberto Falcone to this other dude.
RunDTC
RunDTC - 6/1/2011, 8:59 PM
I trust Nolan. all his films are great, have a great cast and he knows what he is doing. I'm not worried. just intrigued.
nuck82
nuck82 - 6/2/2011, 10:50 AM
come and knock on my door?
tset22
tset22 - 6/2/2011, 11:19 AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-u2pYu8ifU&feature=mh_lolz&list=WLF2F864565CFE4C46
RobGrizzly
RobGrizzly - 6/2/2011, 5:49 PM
Honestly, I'd love to see little cameos of all of Batman's main villains before Nolan calls it a day. Just to see his take on them. It could be as simple as Batman walking down the halls of Arkham and we see them in their cells. Just something- anything
Supersonicboobs
Supersonicboobs - 6/3/2011, 2:55 PM
what's going on with Man of steel?
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