[Batman] Well, finally...

[Mouseferatu]

R'as is an excellent choice of villain; he's one of the few world domination villains Batman has. The rest are just nuts. R'as is too, but he has what he sees are excellent reasons.

Agree 100%. Ra's is one of the coolest Batman villains. I'd still love to see Scarecrow (heck, I'd love to see Joke, thus proving this movie has different continuity than the others), but Ra's is a wonderful choice.

Too bad we probably won't see a Robin in this movie, nor probably for one or two more to come.

And here I disagree 100%. I think the very concept of Robin is a blight on everything Batman should be, and if we see a dozen Batman movies without any mention of a kid sidekick, I'll be all the happier.

But hey, that's just me.

 

[ForceUser]

It's me too. I curse the day Robin ever spoiled the pages of the Caped Crusader.

 

[LuYangShih]

If Robin is done well, he only adds to the Batman mythos. Especially if they were to use Tim Drake instead of Dick Gracen this time around.

I would prefer they avoid any confrontation with more than one villian per movie, and focus almost completely on the main enemy, so I hope Scarecrows role is a minimal one.

 

[Kenpo Wolf]

Using Ghul as a villain is a awesome choice but it just reaffirms my opinion that this should be a origin trilogy or a two parter rather then a one shot.

Part 0ne
Ghul led a organization of assassins, if I recall correctly, which is where future Bats Bruce Wayne could have gained his martial arts training. Realizing that the dojo he attended was a assassin recruitment front, he turned against the dojo and it's instructors. Ghul, the leader of this organization, sends some of his top henchmen after him. One of these henchmen is a chemist, who uses the Scarecrow name, uses a paranoia drug to mess with Bruce Wayne's mind. Overcoming the effects of the drug, Bruce goes after Ghul who has escaped to the USA with his daughter Talia, Scarecrow, and some more of his henchmen. With Talia's help, Bruce finally dons the mantle of the Bat and thwarts Ghul's plan of using the paranoia drug on Gotham City
Part Two
Wanting revenge on Bruce Wayne for destroying his organization, Ghul hatches a plan to create a super warrior to destroy him mentally and physically. This super soldier, Blockbuster, goes on a serial killing spree and frames Bats for it. Finally defeating Blockbuster in front of the police, the severely beaten Bats goes after Ghul who escapes again at the end

 

[The Serge]

Well, while I'm tentatively pleased with Bale's casting, I'll withhold judgement on whether the film will be good or bad.

I think it's fairly obvious that WB sees this as a "reboot." They've selected a much younger actor to portray the Dark Knight and they apparently don't intend on having Robin.

I am not pleased to hear that they're thinking of having multiple villains. As far as i can tell, multiple villains are there for the marketing element of the film rather than for the story. Ra's Al Ghul, or The Scarecrow, or Two-Face, or The Joker, or Bane, or most of The Batman's enemies can carry a film on their own. Indeed, the only major villains who could work with another villain are The Catwoman and The Penguin. I think both Al Ghul and The Scarecrow are too much.

Frankly, I think they should have gone with a Year One/Long Halloween story-line. Concentrate on Batman and his Wayne alter ego as he arrives in Gotham to clean it up. This way, you could have a dynamic Gordon and even introduce Harvey Dent early on. Have The Roman or some other lesser known, but important Bat-mythos villain on center stage (actually, have him relegated to a role similar to that of Capone in The Untouchables). Have The Penguin as his number two or three lackey, and a nameless thug as his assassin who, towards the end of the movie falls into a vat of chemicals. This way, you set the foundation for future films, you introduce a number of important characters, and you don't make the mistake of making the movie about the villains.

 

[Ranger REG]

Now if we can just get Dominic Purcell as the next Superman, I'll be truly happy.

Hmm. To be honest, I see him as more of a Captain Marvel/Shazam! character, perhaps with Tom Welling playing the role of Billy Batson.

 

[WizarDru]

It all depends. While I think having multiple 'big-name' villians is a major mistake that has screwed up virtually every large-scale superhero movie in which it's been tried, it can work. The problem is that you have to squander one of the villians to do so.

The only way the Scarecrow would work in this scenario is if he is either a) a henchman of Ra's Al Ghul, b) only in the movie for a few minutes c) is a minor character who is used as a catalyst for other events. No matter how you look at it, he'll be marginalized, or should be. Scarecrow could be a movie all on his own, but is best side-lined to a minor part, as Ra's can dominate a movie with no extra help. Add in Talia (and how can they NOT?) and you've already got a pretty full plot. Too much density will sink it like a stone.