With Robert Pattinson getting cast as a younger version of Bruce Wayne than we’ve seen in the DC Extended Universe, it seems as though the character is getting a total reboot – no more Batfleck – which will make Batman v Superman, Suicide Squad, and Justice League pretty much void from the DCEU canon, which we can praise the heavens for.
With a new Batman will come new Batman villains, so we could be seeing more of the Caped Crusader’s impressive rogues gallery on the big screen soon. So, here are 10 Actors We’d Like To See Play Batman Villains In The DCEU.
Jodie Comer as Poison Ivy
As the Villanelle character in the show Killing Eve, Jodie Comer has really nailed playing a “Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under it” kind of person. That’s the underlying theme with Poison Ivy. She’s essentially a siren. She uses her pheromonic allure to control people’s minds.
Uma Thurman played Poison Ivy in the infamously terrible Batman & Robin, but in that movie, the Bat defeated her with a pair of prosthetic lips, so it’s fair to say that it didn’t do the character justice. She needs a second chance on the big screen, and Jodie Comer would get it right.
Andy Serkis as the Mad Hatter
Andy Serkis’ Ulysses Klaue seemed like he was in the wrong movie during his scenes in Black Panther. His brash, unstable, jokey lunatic persona was at odds with the movie’s somber, serious tone.
What’s great about Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther in comparison to most other MCU movies is that it actually takes its plot and its characters and its stakes seriously. But Ulysses Klaue singing “What is Love” by Haddaway didn’t fit into that. However, that creepy unpredictability (and truly unsettling smile) would work wonders with the DC universe’s twisted, gothic, surreal, acid-tripping take on Lewis Carroll’s Mad Hatter character.
Hugh Laurie as Mr. Freeze
We’ve already seen Mr. Freeze on the big screen, but he was written as a one-dimensional, mustache-twirling villain who had a cringeworthy one-liner for every situation, and going beyond that, he was hammed up by Arnold Schwarzenegger. But there’s the potential for a bold cinematic incarnation of this character.
The charm of Hugh Laurie could bring a sly, self-aware wink to a character who is often rendered one-note. He could even bring a Molloy quality to the character. (Molloy was the slick, charismatic cat burglar played by Sam Neill in The Simpsons episode “Homer the Vigilante.”) This would be a great characterization for Mr. Freeze as a pontificating jewel thief.
James McAvoy as the Riddler
James McAvoy has even said that he’d be interested in playing the Riddler. In the past, McAvoy has exceled at playing both downtrodden losers (Wanted, It: Chapter Two, Victor Frankenstein) and disturbingly dark villains (Split, Glass, Filth), so he’d probably thrive in a role that combines the two. And he certainly has the range to pull it off.
If he doesn’t play the Riddler in the DCEU, then his entire comic book movie legacy will be the X-Men prequel series, and while fans agree that there was a fantastic on-screen portrayal of Charles Xavier in McAvoy somewhere, those movies’ scripts and direction never found it.
Jackie Earle Haley as the Scarecrow
When he played Rorschach in Watchmen, Jackie Earle Haley showed us that he could play a grizzled, conflicted antihero who wears a distinctive mask and whose ethos is based on fear. He also played a classic horror movie villain, Freddy Krueger, in 2010’s A Nightmare on Elm Street remake.
Cillian Murphy played a great version of the Scarecrow in Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy – he was really intimidating and scary, and the way that Nolan framed him really sold the fear that he strikes into his victims – but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be fun to see another actor and director’s take on the character.
Oscar Isaac as Two-Face
Oscar Isaac is one of the best actors working in Hollywood today. He has that lucrative mix of effortless charisma and genuine acting talent that produces the world’s greatest movie stars.
His turn as Poe Dameron in the Star Wars sequel trilogy has shown that he has the easy charm to play Gotham’s squeaky-clean beacon of hope Harvey Dent, while his more ominous turn as a dark inversion of Steve Jobs in Ex Machina has shown that he has the menace to play the articulate villain Two-Face. And he played both of those characters in the same year, so he’s proven he can juggle the two simultaneously.
Dave Bautista as Bane
A popular fan casting for Bane is Dave Bautista, and it’s easy to see why. Before he was reduced to comic relief, Drax the Destroyer was basically a more obscured, gray-skinned version of Bane: dark, brooding, intimidating, violent. With Zachary Levi making the leap from the MCU to the DCEU and Laurence Fishburne making the leap from the DCEU to the MCU without much fuss, it’s not inconceivable to picture Dave Bautista taking on a role as a DC villain with a three- or four-movie commitment.
Tom Hardy’s Bane was unforgettable, but it wasn’t without its faults. The attempts to make a realistic Bane led to a lot of confusion, and the mask made him virtually incomprehensible. Bautista has the brawn to convincingly play the behemoth that is Bane, especially alongside Robert Pattinson’s younger, slenderer Dark Knight.
Eiza González as Catwoman
Many fans have proposed Blade Runner 2049’s Ana de Armas for the role of Selina Kyle, and she’d probably be pretty great in the role. But arguably, Hobbs & Shaw’s Eiza González would be even better. She’s proven that she can tackle action-oriented roles, and she’s also proven that she can play “a Catwoman type.”
In Baby Driver, the relationship between her character and Jon Hamm’s character is very similar to what the relationship between Catwoman and Batman is supposed to be – a femme fatale’s not-so-veiled flirtations with a handsome criminal on the common ground of living dangerously with violent lifestyles.
Toby Jones as the Penguin
Toby Jones doesn’t just have the right look to play Oswald Cobblepot (which isn’t meant as an insult – he’s a popular fan casting for the Penguin). He also has fantastic range as an actor – anyone who can play Truman Capote and Captain Mainwaring has some serious talent – and he’s yet to get the mainstream credit he deserves.
As shown by his performances in The Mist and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Jones is able to take even a straightforwardly written antagonistic role and turn it into something that’s at least memorable. With the right script, Jones could give us a well-rounded take on the Penguin.
Caleb Landry Jones as the Joker
If Battinson replacing Batfleck makes Jared Leto’s Joker a goner and Joaquin Phoenix’s new movie really isn’t a part of DCEU canon, then bizarrely enough, that means that these movies are in need of yet another Joker. We can’t have a long-term big-screen version of Batman who doesn’t face his greatest foe: the Clown Prince of Crime.
Leto’s Joker was supposed to be a millennial version, Phoenix’s version is a little older, and Heath Ledger’s was simply the perfect incarnation of the character. Get Out’s Caleb Landry Jones could give us a Joker that’s different – going for the younger angle that Leto was, but also remaining very creepy and unpredictable.
