One of the four DC Comics films to release this year will be The Batman. Alongside other big hitters like Black Adam, The Flash, or Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, the Caped Crusader himself will be gracing the screen yet again. The Matt Reeves directed film will see Robert Pattinson don the cowl in an entirely new universe, wholly set apart from the wider DCEU.
This time, Batman will be just over a year into his journey as the vigilante before he comes up against Paul Dano’s The Riddler, who ends up terrorizing Gotham City itself. During his journey to find all of the answers to Dano’s villain, the Bat will also see himself get entangled with Catwoman and Penguin.
Not only does the project have an all-star cast, but it’s got a handful of notable characters from the hero’s lore. So what could possibly be next? Could audiences see a new Joker? Maybe Mr. Freeze? An entire Arkham Asylum of bad guys?
Well, now the film’s titular star has opened up about what he hopes to see going forward.
Robert Pattinson’s Sequel Hopes
In an interview with the Den of Geek, The Batman star Robert Pattinson talked about what other villains he would like to go up against in future installments.
One of the villains who crossed his mind was the Calendar man, a serial killer whose obsessive nature of dates plays a theme in all of his crime—a bad guy who could easily live parallel to The Riddler. Pattinson also mentioned how “[he’d] love to do something like [the] Court of Owls,” a secret conspiracy underground organization that claims to run Gotham City itself.
These two are great picks for this new take on the Caped Crusader, given the drastically darker shift for the hero. Pattinson mentioned how “there are elements of The Batman which are kind of horror, and I think it really feels quite new for Batman."
A big aspect of this Bruce Wayne’s character in the upcoming film is how “he thinks it’s his city,” but The Dark Knight has to come to learn how “[he has] absolutely no control or power over anything in the city:”
“[Bruce] thinks it’s his city in a weird sort of way. He thinks he’s kind of built it… [he has] the money and the castle… [but] absolutely no control or power over anything in the city.”
What Might The Batman 2 Hold?
When it comes to the villains who Robert Pattinson listed, Calendar Man could be far too similar to the Riddler to be a key antagonist in the next film. Though, he could also play a part in a bigger ensemble—say, if Batman gets stuck having to escape from multiple rogues.
The Court of Owls, however, is a perfect choice for the next step in this new story. Every trailer so far has teased wide-reaching secrets for both Bruce and Gotham—there’s no better group to pick up those threads than them. They pretty much define conspiracy.
Who knows if either of these will get a callout out by the time the film ends, but there is one villain who has been rumored to make an appearance: The Joker. The Clown Prince of Crime is a difficult antagonist to avoid. It’s almost mandatory for him to come up in some respect when it comes to any telling of The Caped Crusader.
Will he be the main villain, however? Fans will have to wait and find out when The Batman hits theaters on March 4, 2022.
