My Pick For The Third Batman Film?

With today's news of Tom Hardy being cast in Christopher Nolan's third Batman film came the discussion of a. who he would be playing and b. should a cannon female be added to this already intriguing mix, who would she play?

Patches (@misterpatches) from UGO opened up the Twitter floor with the question,

The responses mostly centered around 4 character suggestions - Catwoman, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn & Talia al-Ghul, but also saw Huntress, Black Canary and Batgirl thrown out into the Twittersphere.

At this point in time, despite Harley being one of my all time favorite characters, I'm gonna throw my support towards Catwoman.

A lot of people complain that we've seen Catwoman many times before or she's never been done well the way we'd like to see it, and to this I say, I AGREE, but if anyone can pull it off, it's Chris Nolan in his grounded universe. In the Nolan series, Batman has never encountered a woman who is anything resembling interesting or challenging and Bruce Wayne has been completely devoid of any & all sexual energy. Yes, Bruce has gone through some shit, but that doesn't mean he should be asexual. I like the idea of a female villain coming on board that stirs something different in Bruce, something he isn't suspecting, something that sometimes gets the better of him. And a Selina Kyle done correctly (and played by the right actress) would accomplish this. Check out this description,

She is a "friendly foe who committed crimes but was also a romantic interest in Batman's rather sterile life." She was meant to be a love interest and to engage Batman in a chess game with him trying to reform her. At the same time, this character was meant to be different from other Batman villains like the Joker in that she was never a killer or completely evil.

Yes, Talia has a similar love/hate relationship to Bruce, but I don't see how her storyline would work without her father. Revenge has been done. What, pretending to fall for him to get revenge for the death of her father? Really? No thanks. As someone TORN between loyalties to her father and her attraction to Batman - now THAT's interesting. And also not possible anymore.

Now Harley, I love. When I think about what could have been if Heath Ledger had still been around - the Mad Love origin story of the smart, attractive shrink assigned to the crazy, manipulative Arkham inmate, who drives her mad as he simultaneously makes her fall in obsession love with him, BUT with someone who actually IS sexy in the role of the Joker...it would have been brilliant. And mark my words - there totally would have been a super fucked up sex scene. And one of my favorite characters (and namesake of Kevin Smith's daughter) would be on the big screen. Amazing.

But - there isn't a Joker. Therefore, there shouldn't be a Harley. To use Harley in any sort of main storyline would only mean a copycat plot, and I think the franchise can do better than that. A throwaway line about the Joker seeing a shrink and thinking it's going well? THAT is just fine with me. But to actually incorporate Harley would feel forced. And while, as @selmaleh pointed out, Harley & Batman do have an interesting relationship (he doesn't WANT to hate her, she's cute & crazy), it's not the sexualized relationship I want to see Nolan's Batman experience.

That same reasoning applies to Poison Ivy - obviously sex is a HUGE part of her character, but it doesn't go beyond that with Bats. Bruce doesn't toss and turn at night thinking about Pamela Isley, he just wants her to stop murdering people with plants and kisses.

As for anyone who would be fighting alongside Batman? I'm not sure that interests me. I'm much more intrigued by an antagonist angle with the female role (though why we all seem to think only one female can be in this Batman movie says something not so great...).

It's weird to me that when I think of any of our recent big screen superheroes & their love interests, there seems to be a huge lack of sexual chemistry, save Wolverine & Jean Grey. Spidey and MJ? Meh. Clark & Lois? Super meh. Bruce & Rachel? Ultimate meh. Tony Stark & Pepper Potts? Sorry, Gwenyth, you only did it for me in Shakespeare in Love, for which I lovingly blame Joseph Finnes. The list goes on and on. I know that overall, superhero movies tend to aim towards being kid friendly, but since we are collectively moving in the direction of darker, more adult hero fare, maybe let's up the chemistry factor a bit? I'm already loving the potential of Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone as Spidey and Gwen Stacey, as well as a Snyder directed Superman. So, don't get left out in the cold, Batman.

So here's what I think. Selina Kyle. Not crazy, no "cat powers", no comical costume. Straight up classic Catwoman, burgler, who is so smart, so stealthy, so unstoppable, that she is actually considered in the ranks of someone like The Joker, while not actually being a murderer.

So which female, or multiple women, do you want opposite Batman in the third film? If Catwoman, which origin - or a new one altogether? And how would you prefer they deal with her introduction and relationship with Batman? Very interested in your thoughts, readers.

Team Selina Kyle!

Update: The natural question after this discussion? Who could actually pull off Catwoman? We need an actress who fits the following - Great actress, can pull of the action/athleticism, not tiny - needs to be on the taller side & actually be fit, lean, believable as functioning in high society, needs chemistry with Christian, plays 27 at the least, 37 at most, and can easily walk the line between good & bad.

Here are the suggestions Twitter gave me: Marion Cotillard, Rachel Weisz, Zoe Saldana, Eva Green, Emily Blunt, Angelina Jolie, Ellen Page, Maggie Q, Brandy Burre, Diane Kruger, Olivia Williams, Gemma Arterton, Amanda Seyfried, Sienna Miller and oddly, my favorite of the options - Olivia Wilde.

Who do you think could pull Catwoman off? See full post

Way To Spoil EVERY Movie, MTV [Rant Attempt]

Okay, so maybe it's my fault for going to this page in the first place, but I randomly saw on Jon Favreau's Twitter that I should vote for Paul Rudd and Tom Lennon to be a nominee for Best Kiss at the MTV movie awards, and that let to clicking on the Best Villain link. Well. DON'T DO THAT. That page is one giant page of spoilers. Half of the villains listed were surprise villains that either the marketing doesn't clue you into or that you don't get until the last third of the movie. Either way - SPOILERS. With no spoiler alert. Now, this IS my fault cause I should have realized that Best Villain would reveal villains from films I haven't seen yet. But get this. It DOESN'T spoil My Bloody Valentine. Has a picture of the villain in a costume & doesn't say his real character name or actor name. Interesting. Anyway, I'm just pissed. Although now I really wanna see one of the movies...learn which one after the Jump/Spoiler Alert

So...SPOILER ALERT...
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Now, I've seen Get Smart, Iron Man & Watchmen, but still - blatant spoilers. The one I'm pissed about is The Uninvited. Except not really pissed, cause now I really wanna see it whereas I didn't give a shit before. Okay, so in the end, it's actually fine that they spoiled that movie cause otherwise, I wouldn't have bothered to add it to my netflix queue. Ugh. Guess I'm not actually angry at all. I'm actually kind of excited now to rent that movie. So everything is actually fine. Better, even. Damnit, MTV.
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Hoffman as the Penguin [Fan Art]

This is just too cool.

The favorite rumors for the third of Chris Nolan's Batman movies...if he makes a third...which I really hope he does...have so far been Rachel Weisz as Catwoman and Philip Seymour Hoffman as the Penguin. Today, Io9 posted a mock up of PSH in Penguin makeup. The original source, Cinema Blend, received the image from someone claiming it was an actual make up test from Warner Brothers. Most likely it's just some top notch photoshop work, but regardless, I'm gonna post it cause real or fake (most likely fake), it's still pretty effing badass.

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Effing Damnit, Heroes [Rant]

***SPOILER ALERT***





You know, I've really stuck with Heroes through it all. I defended it when Hiro went to Japan in season 2, screamed & applauded like hell after the season 3 premiere at Comic-Con & started to really love some things that were happening this season. I've defended it because, as I've said before, I never put Heroes on the same level as Lost or Battlestar to begin with, so I didn't mind as much when it stopped making sense. But this week, despite that lovely scene between Hiro & his mother, Heroes actually managed to let me down.

To start off, the time paradoxes are really starting to irk me. Kaito wouldn't remember the chef who looked exactly like his son? Noah wouldn't remember Claire traveling back in time to give him a warning? And I assume there is a 52 year old Hiro wandering around in present day now? Who would have known what happened and tried to stop it, Terminator style? Right? (If I had a nickel for every paradox on Heroes & Terminator, I'd be able to afford my Arrow of Apollo. That's a lot of nickels.) And wouldn't something have changed in the present the MOMENT anything changed in the past? These questions will never be answered. Moving on.

What upset me the most this week was Sylar reverting to the heartless killer he once was. Sure he spared Peter cause he supposedly didn't need him anymore, but, wait a second, didn't he have Elle's powers WAY before he murdered her? Yup, he sure did. So why kill her exactly? Cause she lied to him a long time ago? You know, if there was motive, it got lost in all the me being pissed off that the best actress on the show was about to be killed off. And yes, she's gone. Straight from director/producer, Greg Beeman,

Sadly – as of this episode Kristen Bell departs the show – we loved having her here. She is a pro and an all-around good egg...Tim Kring and Kristen had explored keeping her around longer – and I know Kristen wanted to come back. There were potential storylines about pregnancies and babies…. But the truth is she has a very busy career with a lot of feature films, pilots and much else in the works. We had no official contract with her – and she couldn’t commit to exactly when she could return. And so it was decided that this would be the most exciting way to end her character. She will be missed.

I see. They weren't sure how many eps she could be around for so they killed her in a completely nonsensical manner. Genius! Ugh.

I don't know about you, but I've loved Sylar's transformation all season. ACTUAL character development that is now washed down the drain. I squealed like the 12 year old girl I secretly am during this scene



But, up, in the next episode, he killed her. Oh well. No remorse. What's next!

I really hope when Bryan Fuller steps in, he teaches everyone a thing or two about how to make a great television show. Company Man is by far the best episode to date and if Fuller can recreate that magic, Heroes will be back on top. But if he can't do it? I don't know if anyone can.

And now, I leave you with photos of one of the stupidest choices Heroes has ever made.




[Photo Source] See full post