If you’re a superhero, you must have a great rogues gallery. And if you ask me, there are no greater villains in comics than the multiple Batman villains that make up the dark knight’s rogues gallery. I can safely say that I’m not in the minority, because there’s a reason we see more versions of Batman villains in multiple forms of media than any other villains. From Tim Burton’s and Christopher Nolan’s movies, to the amazing animated series, to the awesome Arkham series, the Batman villains are easily the most popular. But what exactly makes them the best of the worst?
DC likes to get dark, but when it comes to Batman, they don’t hold back. The Riddler, Two-Face, Mr. Freeze, Bane, and of course, The Joker, are different from your average supervillain. They aren’t motivated by greed or petty grievances, but almost all of them are criminally insane. Arkham Asylum is where Batman takes them to be “rehabilitated”, but it’s more of a prison for them. They break out, he brings them back, and the cycle repeats itself over and over again. For us, it’s fun to watch, but we don’t realize how complex the Batman villains truly are.
Out of all the comic book villains I know about, the Batman villains have the most tragic backstories. In short, they are all pretty messed up people, but to be fair, their lives weren’t the greatest. Two-Face and The Riddler suffered from mental illness and abuse when they were children, Bane and Killer Croc were outcasts and had to kill to survive, and Mr. Freeze and Prometheus lost someone they deeply loved. They all represent some kind of dark reflection of Batman and they show this when they go up against him. Penguin is a twisted mockery of what Bruce Wayne is in the public eye, Ra’s al Ghul believes in a darker philosophy for his kind of justice, and Hush is Bruce Wayne if he was a child sociopath.
I can go on and on about why the Batman villains are awesome, but let’s talk about something else. In all the Batman movies, how many of his villains have you seen? We’ve seen his most popular villains displayed, but we haven’t seen all of them. The upcoming Matt Reeves Batman movie will show multiple villains, including The Penguin and The Riddler. We’ve seen them before, but the rogues list doesn’t stop there. The Batman will also include Firefly and The Mad Hatter, two Batman villains we haven’t seen on the big-screen yet. That gets me excited, because these villains aren’t utilized as much as the popular ones, but they are extremely diabolical. Including them tells me that other unpopular Batman villains will make their way to the big-screen.
That being said, which other unpopular Batman villains will be used in the next Batman movie? It’s a big list, but there’s no shortage of Batman movies. Assuming The Batman movie will be a hit, I have a few bad guys in mind that Matt Reeves should display in the sequel. The first that comes to mind is a pretty odd choice, but just hear me out. Reeves has claimed that The Batman is taking heavy inspiration from The Long Halloween storyline. That comic contained basically the whole rogues gallery, but one particular villain stood out.
The one and only Calendar Man. On the surface, he sounds like the lamest villain ever, but in The Long Halloween, he acts like a Hannibal Lecter type of villain. He remains in his cell at Arkham the whole time, but he spends his time advising Batman and pointing him in the direction of a the holiday killer. For the first time ever, the very lame Calendar Man got his chance to be a villain worthy of Batman’s rogues gallery. If that’s not good enough for you, check out the Arkham games and you’ll see something similar. Calendar Man remains locked up in Arkham City and tells Batman the stories of his many crimes. He’s a creepy villain with a strange calling card, but that’s what makes him underrated. I can’t imagine a Batman movie based on The Long Halloween without him, but he’s perfect for a sequel.
The villain I’m voting for the most is a very personal villain to Batman. He is Thomas Elliot, otherwise known as Hush. Unlike the other Batman villains, Hush was a childhood friend of Bruce Wayne’s and suffered from a similar tragedy. The difference is Hush directly caused the death of his father, but Thomas Wayne saved his mother, enraging the young Thomas Elliot. In his eyes, Bruce’s wealth was “given” to him and he never had to actually fight for anything. This enmity motivated him to become Hush and destroy Bruce’s life. Like Batman, he has no powers, but he is a gifted surgeon, a skillset he uses in the most diabolical ways. His greatest storyline is Batman: Hush, where he discovers Batman’s identity and nearly breaks him.
Hush was always interesting to me, because his enmity was never towards Batman, but Bruce Wayne himself. If they weren’t the same person, he wouldn’t care at all about Batman and just focus on Bruce. That’s a great dynamic, because many of his other villains only care about Batman and couldn’t care less about his identity. On top of that, he was Bruce’s best friend as a child. Unbeknownst to him, Thomas Elliot was actively being Hush while feigning friendship to Bruce. In Bruce’s eyes, he was a great friend and cared deeply for him, but the reality is that Thomas Elliot fiercely despised him. He’s the best friend gone bad, the jealous kid that wants what’s yours, and is the ultimate betrayer.
This makes him a tangible villain that would suit the style Reeves’ is going for. Personally, I would’ve dug Ben Affleck’s Batman versus Matt Damon’s Hush, but that probably won’t happen. No biggie, however, because Hush can easily take on Robert Pattinson’s Batman. Based on what I’ve read, Pattinson’s Batman will be more vulnerable, fallible, and much more emotional. Hush always loved to toy with Bruce’s emotions and manipulate him in the worst ways imaginable. A younger, more angry Batman would be the perfect target for Hush’s manipulative schemes. That Bruce will be more impulsive and in need of a friend and that’s exactly what Hush can use against him. It would make for a perfect detective story and lead to an intense emotional battle.
There are a lot more Batman villains to choose from, but I believe the time is right for Hush and Calendar Man to make their big-screen debut. What other Batman villains do you think should be in the next Batman movie?
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