The nefarious Max Schreck from Batman Returns is unquestionably a bad guy, but he would never have worked as a villain in a 2021 Batman movie. Because, fundamentally, Christopher Walken's secondary antagonist dreamed up an evil scheme that included an invention that could solve modern-day energy grid problems. The sequel to 1989's Batman prominently featured both the Penguin and Catwoman, but the additional player, Schreck, played by the incomparable Walken, had a distinctly non-supervillain plan. He worked to build an enormous capacitor to siphon and store Gotham's excess energy, under the guise of building a power plant. While intended to grant Schreck a monopoly on power generation by making it unprofitable for other energy firms to operate in Gotham, this technology could help to address the power needs of the 21st century.
Although Schreck's motives are questionable, his means—the technology involved in constructing the capacitor building, with the capacity to store the required energy—are never mentioned as being unsafe or unreliable in the course of the film. Further, Schreck aided Penguin's plan and plotted against Batman, but he had no particular grudge against Gotham; instead, he wished to acquire wealth and acclaim, and used the Penguin to further that aim. If the need had been clear at the time, Schreck would likely have built his capacitor as a capacitor, and reaped the wealth and acclaim that he so desired through the use of this impressive technology.
Modern demands on the energy grid could be aided with capacitors like the one that Schreck proposed to build, siphoning excess energy in times of plenty, and distributing it in times of need. One of the biggest problems with solar and wind energy is that the sun does not always shine, and the wind does not always blow, and Schreck's capacitor could help to address this. Rather than being another one of Gotham's villains, Schreck would have no problem rising to prominence on exactly what he promises in the movie; the capacity for growth in Gotham, and avoiding brownouts or blackouts on the energy grid.
While Schreck's plan was ultimately self-serving, his engineering marvel and his willingness to innovate could have been heroic features instead of villainous ones. The only reason that Schreck attempted to murder Selina Kyle, leading to the formation of Catwoman, was to prevent her exposing his villainous scheme. With no secrecy, there would have been a lack of defining origin for Catwoman. Penguin might have still held a grudge against Gotham, but it was not shared by Schreck; with no need to undermine the mayor, Penguin's attempted rise to prominence would not have been funded and supported. Batman's Christmas would have been much less eventful, and while less than noble, Max Schreck would have gotten almost everything that he said he wanted.
Max Schreck is hardly a hero; a history of violent crime, and his willingness to kill Selina Kyle in cold blood speak to a person who fits a villainous mould quite comfortably. However, Schreck's ambitions could have been resolved by using the technology that he had already had designed, entirely out in the open. Indeed, the world as a whole would have benefited from him having done so—a case of good ends from bad intentions. Energy innovator Max Schreck might not have made Batman Returns the movie that it was, but he would have literally provided tools for a brighter future.
