Ben Affleck Is Going To Face A Lot Of Old-School Villains In Solo Batman Movie
Fans became extremely happy when they found out that Zack Snyder would not be directing a solo Batman film. They rejoiced again when they realized that Ben Affleck and DC’s own Geoff Johns would have creative control over it. Now, there is a little bit of information coming out regarding the movie, and it appears there will not be just one main villain but a lot of old-school bad guys for Batman to battle.
Throughout the cinematic history of the Batman movies, there have been a lot of different villains battling it out with the Caped Crusader. Putting only one in a film is not something that is commonplace, but putting too many into a film could be overkill.
It appears as if Affleck and Johns are going to incorporate as many villains as humanly possible into the solo Batman film and hope it doesn’t come back to bite them, according to Birth Movies Death.
It appears as if “many, if not most” of the members of the Batman gallery of villains are going to appear in the solo film. Affleck and Johns are reportedly looking to make this the “definitive Batman film.” In addition to making it iconic, they also want to make it good.
All of the villains may not have main roles in the film, but they could appear as cameos here and there. Perhaps there could be a few scenes in Arkham Asylum that have Batman visiting or walking past the Riddler, Two-Face, Catwoman, the Penguin, Poison Ivy, and others.
Jared Leto has already been cast as the Joker, and he’ll make his debut as the character in Suicide Squad later this year. Others such as Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), Deadshot (Will Smith), and Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) are also in place.
Throughout the history of Batman movies, numerous villains have faced off against Batman and even Robin at times. Here is a list of the primary and key villains in each of the movies.
- Batman (1966) – The Joker, The Penguin, The Riddler, Catwoman
- Batman (1989) – The Joker
- Batman Returns – The Penguin, Catwoman
- Batman Forever – The Riddler, Two-Face
- Batman & Robin – Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze, Bane
- Batman Begins – Ra’s al Ghul, Scarecrow
- The Dark Knight – The Joker, Scarecrow, Two-Face
- The Dark Knight Returns – Bane, Catwoman
The majority of the films have at least two villains in them, and some even go as far as to have three or four. If there is truth to Ben Affleck and Geoff Johns wanting to have a lot of villains in their solo Batman film, it could end up in the teens or even as many as 20 or 30.
A release date for the solo Batman movie is not yet known, but this is one that Warner Bros. could seriously put on the fast track. The DCEU is under fire right now with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice not living up to expectations, The Flash losing its director, and some turmoil coming to the set of Aquaman.
While some rumors have James Wan possibly leaving Aquaman, there are others indicating he may stick with it. Recently, Wan said that his Aquaman movie was going to be darker than Batman v Superman and feature a more serious tone.
Concrete and solid information on the solo Batman movie has really not been revealed as of yet, but little pieces are coming here and there. Ben Affleck and Geoff Johns are looking to make it a great film that the fans (comic book and casual) will love. Adding in too many villains could end up being their downfall, but having Batman battling the Joker, the Riddler, Two-Face, the Penguin, and others could also be very fun.
[Image via Warner Bros.]
