So like I was sittin' there in me room one night thinkin' to myself: with the behemoth critical and financial success of Inception, and how big Christopher Nolan's yarbles have undoubtedly swolen to at this point. Success after success after success. While the fanbase, the press, and at this point the general public is more or less expecting an appearance from the Riddler. And Nolan reportedly urging DC/Warner Bros. towards Leonardo Dicaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, or Tom Hardy, what can we really expect?
I expect this idea must have been discussed before, but just incase it hasn't I thought I'd throw it out there. Considering Heath Ledger's masterful interpretation of The Joker was based largely in part on punk innovator Sid Vicious. It seems likely that whatever actors are chosen to play the rogues in the sequel to TDK are going to at the very least 1. respectfully compete with Ledger's performance, and 2. Draw some influence for their characters from other pop culture icons.
If The Riddler pops up (which seems to become more and more likely everyday), one of the most similar and picture perfect characters ever to have graced the silver screen, is Stanley Kubrick's "Alex" played by Malcolm MCdowell in
A Clockwork Orange. Similar to how Johnny Depp drew from Keith Richards for Cap'n Jack Sparrow, it seems just too perfect to pass up.
After many months of taking things under consideration and paying close attention to public opinion, it seems a given most of us are expecting a darker, sadistic, more violent, more serious, and less cartoonish Riddler than has been depicted before.
I'm not going to spend alot of time analyzing the reasons why this makes alot of sense, but it's not only the superficial appearance of the two (Alex's bowler hat was a last minute addition to "stick it to the establishment" at the time, it turns out ironically enough). They're both [The Riddler and Alex geniuses, into vanity, compulsive towards what they do, and appreciators of "the finer things in life".
Anyhow, I would again suggest to whoever gets the part: Dig deep into Kubrick's "Alex", add your own twist, and you may come up with something that rivals Ledger's Joker.