Batman Begins, the first film in Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy, featured multiple villains for Gotham City's protector to fight. Every new incarnation of Batman, whether live-action or animated, tends to at least flashback to the night Thomas and Martha Wayne were murdered, setting in motion the events that led their son Bruce to use his family fortune to fight crime. While The Batman was more subtle about who killed the Waynes, Batman Begins identifies Joe Chill, and many other antagonists come out to play. Some of these Batman villains even managed to keep their roots all the way to the third film, The Dark Knight Rises, in the form of Talia al Ghul, Ra's al Ghul's daughter.

While 2005's Batman Begins depicted the death of Bruce Wayne's parents, it also did something that hadn't yet been done on the big screen: showcase the early years of Batman. With Batman Begins, people finally got to see Bruce's time toughening himself up by willfully entering into dangerous locations and situations, then subsequently learning the brutal techniques of the League of Shadows. The Dark Knight Trilogy then followed Batman through two more movies as he took on Two-Face, The Joker, Catwoman, and Bane. The most recent Batman villains showcased on screen were in Matt Reeves' The Batman, and the movie stretched out to include famous supervillains like the Penguin and the Riddler.

Related: Batman Begins: How Long Bruce Wayne Trained To Become The Dark Knight

Batman Begins' use of villains that had never before been depicted in a live-action movie gave the film a feeling of freshness. Ra's al Ghul and The Scarecrow had yet to be featured on the big screen, and the Batman villains were given a proper introduction in the Christopher Nolan movie. This choice made sense, given the plot, as this still-developing version of Batman wasn't quite ready for a signature foe like The Joker. Here's the full roster of Batman Begins villains that Christian Bale's Batman battled in his first Nolan outing.

Ra's al Ghul (Liam Neeson)

Ra's reveals his plan to attack Gotham in Batman Begins

Ra's al Ghul was first introduced to the world of DC Comics back in 1971, and has been a consistent thorn in Batman's side ever since, along with several other DC heroes. In Batman Begins, the villain Ra's is played by Liam Neeson. Although, that's revealed in a third-act twist. Up until then, Bruce had thought a decoy, played by Ken Watanabe, was Ra's and had been killed when the League of Shadows' temple had burned down.

Near the end of Batman Begins, Batman confronts the villain on Gotham's monorail train, preventing him from releasing Scarecrow's fear toxin into the city's water supply. As is usual for the Caped Crusader, he refuses to kill Ra's personally, but allows him to die when the train crashes. Many felt that action was out of character for Batman, as his established code probably should've compelled him to save Ra's life instead of allowing him to be killed.

The Scarecrow, aka Dr. Jonathan Crane (Cillian Murphy)

Cillian Murphy as Scarecrow wearing his mask in Batman Begins

The Scarecrow is one of Batman's oldest foes, first appearing on the pages of DC Comics all the way back in 1941, and famously uses fear to torment and get the upper hand on his opponents. The Batman Begins villain, Crane (played by 28 Days Later's Cillian Murphy), is a psychopharmacologist working as the head of Arkham Asylum. The problem is, Crane is even more insane than most of the patients in his care, and is utterly devoid of ethics.

Related: Batman Begins: How Scarecrow's Fear Gas Works (Is It Really Possible?)

Crane conspires with the other Batman Begins villain Ra's al Ghul, and the League of Shadows to try and destroy Gotham City by releasing his fear toxin straight into the water supply. Batman can prevent that mission from succeeding, but not without getting a taste of the toxin himself, and losing The Narrows to chaos. Unlike Ra's, The Scarecrow survives the film, making amusing cameos in 2008's The Dark Knight and 2012's The Dark Knight Rises.

Carmine Falcone (Tom Wilkinson)

Carmine Falcone points a gun at Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins

Batman Begins villain Carmine "The Roman" Falcone is the top Mafia boss in Gotham City, controlling the city's non-supervillain criminal underworld. The character first appeared in DC Comics back in 1986. Played by Michael Clayton's Tom Wilkinson in Batman Begins (and John Turturro in The Batman), Falcone played a vital role in Bruce Wayne's eventual evolution into Batman, sparing his life after Bruce confronted him solely to illustrate the level of power he truly wields in the city.

The Batman villain happily teamed up with Scarecrow and Ra's al Ghul to smuggle in needed ingredients for their plan to unleash fear toxin on Gotham's residents, in exchange for Crane using his influence as head of Arkham to get Falcone's henchmen ruled insane and not sent to prison. After Batman orchestrates Falcone's capture by police, though, the don tries to blackmail Crane, and quickly realizes why that was a terrible decision.

Victor Zsasz (Tim Booth)

Victor Zsasz From Batman Begins

He may not get much to do in Batman Begins, but the villain Victor Zsasz is actually one of the deadliest in the world of DC, even without superpowers. Introduced in 1992, Zsasz is a serial killer who loves his work and gets off on torturing his victims. In some portrayals, he's also sometimes an assassin for or right-hand man to a bigger bad guy. Zsasz is a true psychopath, with no redeeming qualities and infamously carves a mark onto his body for every kill.

Related: Why Batman Rarely Uses Batarangs In The Dark Knight Trilogy

The Batman Begins villain, who in the film is an assassin for Carmine Falcone, is put on trial, only to be ruled insane thanks to Jonathan Crane. He's sent to Arkham, but later breaks out, and attempts to attack Rachel Dawes during the chaos in The Narrows. Thankfully, Batman can save her. Interestingly, promotional materials for The Dark Knight revealed that Zsasz remained at large, which certainly wasn't good for anyone in Gotham.

Joe Chill (Richard Brake)

Richard Brake as Joe Chill in Batman Begins

Joe Chill is - at least in most depictions of Batman's origin story — a mugger who shoots and kills Bruce Wayne's parents Thomas and Martha, in an alley outside of a movie theater. He first appeared in DC Comics back in 1939. In most versions, Chill is a simple lowlife hood looking to rob a wealthy couple, and there's no ulterior motive for his actions. This works well, giving Batman a reason to hate all criminals, petty or otherwise.

The Batman Begins villain, Chill (played by 3 From Hell's Richard Brake), is convicted of murdering the Waynes, and serves 14 years in prison before flipping on his cellmate, who happens to be Carmine Falcone. This was a dumb move, as Falcone's assassins kill him immediately after Chill gets parole. That act angers Bruce, who had planned to kill Chill himself and get revenge for his parents. Thankfully, that didn't happen, and Batman was ultimately born.

Who Would Play The Batman Begins Villains In Matt Reeves’ The Batman Films?

Robert Pattinson in The Batman

The role of Carmine Falcone is already taken by John Turturro, but here are the rest of the Batman Begins villains who could appear in The Batman — and who could play them. In the case of Ra's al Ghul, some popular choices include Mads Mikkelsen and John Hamm. The former actor has an illustrious career in playing villains, and could definitely take on the role of Batman's mentor turned supervillain. In addition, he already has supervillain experience, as he played the titular villain in Dr. Strange. While John Hamm seems like the stranger choice, he's already shown his acting chops in Baby Driver as a murderous criminal. Hamm's iteration of Ra's could give The Batman villain a grittier and more realistic feel, which is emblematic of the new Batman movies' tone.

Related: The Batman: How Pattinson’s Salary Compares To Bale For Batman Begins

Cillian Murphy could always reprise the role of Scarecrow. However, studios will likely pick another actor, and what better choice than Harry Melling. Melling got his start in the Harry Potter series as bully Dudley Dursley and then proved that he had enough creep factor to portray Dr. Crane in The Devil All the Time. A younger Scarecrow would be necessary for The Batman villain, given the timeline of the universe, and Mellings' young Dr. Crane would be an eerie one. An obvious choice for Joe Chill would be Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul (who played Jesse Pinkman). The actor could bring a more complex characterization of the thug, while still maintaining the integrity of the role. Finally, Victor Zsasz could be played by either Bruce Willis or James McAvoy, depending on the age that they would want the character to be. Willis would bring his long-standing experience to the part, playing Zsasz with cold-blooded precision and fitting right in with the tone of the new films. James McAvoy could bring something new to the character, taking an unsympathetic serial killer and coloring him with a tone that's truer to real life than previous iterations.

The Best Villains In Christopher Nolan’s Batman Trilogy Weren't The Obvious Ones

Bane looks behind his shoulder in The Dark Knight Rises

While Bane and the Joker are the most obvious choices, Aaron Eckhart's Two-Face was a near-perfect Batman villain. His character arc on screen was a sight to behold, going from righteous DA to convincing supervillain in a short span of time, and truly letting his character drive his conflicted but nefarious actions. While a second antagonist for The Dark Knight, Two-Face even managed to outshine the late Heath Ledger's Joker at times. His origins in the movie only added to the villain's arc and motivations, as he eventually lurched over to the dark side. Ra's al Ghul was another great Batman villain. He was charismatic, caring, and convincing as Batman's mentor in Batman Begins, and the flip to villain was a startling one that set the tone for the series beautifully.

Next: The Batman: Every Character Who Also Appeared In The Dark Knight Trilogy