I have no idea how reliable this is. ComicBookMovie says "Geeks WorldWide" (never heard of them) has been "spot on" lately - I certainly have my doubts - but just in case this is legit, here's who they're saying are the four primary villains...

The Riddler - Likely the main villain, who will be "a criminal mastermind in Gotham City who takes delight in incorporating riddles and puzzles into his schemes, leaving them as clues for the authorities to solve." Reeves is apparently seeking a male actor of any ethnicity between the ages of 30 and 40.

The Penguin - A "Gotham City mobster." He is a "short, obese man with a long nose, and he uses high-tech umbrellas as weapons." Reeves is apparently searching for a male actor of any ethnicity between the ages of 20 and 40.

Catwoman - A "Gotham City burglar" who "wears a tight one piece outfit and uses a bullwhip for a weapon." Reeves apparently wants an actress of any ethnicity between the ages of 20 and 30.

Firefly - A "professional arsonist known as the 'Firefly,' who attempts to burn all the places that he lacked the privilege to go as an orphan child." Reeves is apparently searching for a male actor of any ethnicity between the ages of 20 and 30.

These descriptions are so obvious and generic (the last one being particularly terrible, though the villain sounds cool) that I can't tell if it's done on purpose on the part of WB so as to not reveal anything else, or Geeks WorldWide is just that bad at reporting/click-baiting. That said, considering Reeves is officially in the casting stage, this *is* when character info/breakdowns like this would start leaking. So who knows...

https://www.comicbookmovie.com/batman/the_batman/the-batmans-four-lead-villains-have-reportedly-been-revealed-and-there-are-some-surprises-a168914
https://thegww.com/exclusive-matt-reeves-the-batman-to-feature-the-riddler-penguin-catwoman-confirmed/

Firefly could be badass. Honestly, nobody has better villains than Batman, I wish they would replace Penguin with another lesser known one.

Riddler, Penguin, Catwoman, Firefly. Gotta say, I'm only excited about one of those and he's probably just muscle.

Four villains is a bit much for almost any film, but we'll see!

How many comic book movies have worked with more than one named, primary villain?
Batman Returns?
EDIT to add Thor: Ragnarok
All the other good movies I can think of the other villains barely had names, if at all, and were either bit parts or a twist ending such as The Dark Knight

Lots of example of too many villains not working.

I really want this movie to be good, but I have a bad feeling.

It's possible only one is a main villain, and the others are only tangentially involved.

I don't know how comic book purists would react, but I'd like for the Penguin to not be over the top in any way.

A few things...

- Matt Reeves hasn't made a bad movie yet: Cloverfield, Let Me In, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, War for the Planet of the Apes. IMO, the last two, in particular, were astounding. In other words, I'll be giving Reeves the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise.

- Again, this is all just a rumor for now. And who knows, if true, a couple of these villains could be meant for smaller roles here only to have bigger roles in the sequels.

- Echoing SP, my one "concern" - if you could call it that - is tone. Four seemingly campy villains doesn't quite equate to Batman-by-way-of-Chinatown, which is what we keep hearing (and I would love more than anything). That said, I *can* see the darker, grittier, Seven/Zodiac versions of these characters being pulled off, which, if done properly, could be incredibly cool.

Beat me to it.

All very good points.

And yes, it's meant to be a franchise. Pattison signed a three-picture deal.

TC out of curiosity, have you ever read any comics? I'm pretty sure I heard you once say that wasn't your thing at all, but was curious if you've tried any to pick up why they're so popular for film adaptations. Plus I know you're always trying to learn and adapt when it comes to writing, and thought they might be somewhat educational for you in a way. Or is it something you just can't get into?

Yeah, I think I've read like three full comics in my entire life... Watchmen (yes, technically, a "graphic novel")... the 2009 Star Trek movie prequel tie-in comics a friend of mine wrote... and then maybe like one generic Superman comic at some point in the '90s.

I'm not necessarily against them or anything, I just have NO IDEA where to even start. It all seems so incredibly dense and daunting and diverse. So many different iterations and storylines over the years. That, and I guess what excerpts I have seen from time to time I thought were kind of cheesy. Some of the dialogue felt a little too on-the-nose; like everyone's always monologuing. But then some excerpts I've seen have been pretty cool too.

Overall, it's definitely something I think would be fun to get into, I just like knowing the context - what came before, what came after - with each run, which makes it tough to just randomly dive in. But I guess there's really no other way to do it.

If I can give a rec, check out the New 52 Batman series written by Scott Snyder and drawn by Greg Capullo. Snyder is one of the best writers working in comics, and the first 10 or so issues are an amazing story. The Court of Owls focuses on a young Batman investigating a secret Gotham society (without having to go through his origin story...again).

https://www.comixology.com/Batman-The-Court-of-Owls-Saga-DC-Essential-Edition/digital-comic/715337

This, Hush, Year One, and The Long Halloween are the best Batman recs. Court of Owls and Hush are my all time faves.

Also, what he linked, and what I mentioned, require zero knowledge of prior runs. In fact, Court of Owls was the first arc of a total reboot by DC in 2011.

You've got good taste my friend Year One is another of my faves and would be a good entry point as well (and what Batman Begins should have been), Hush is great too but prob not a great first read.

I have way too many Batman books sitting on my shelf..

Would you count Batman Begins with Ra's al Ghul and Scarecrow?

Don't forget Falcone. So that's three villains balanced pretty damn well in Begins. Doesn't seem that hard to do here, as long as, say, at least Penguin and Firefly have roles comparable to Falcone and Scarecrow, if that. Riddler is the main big bad and then, as was mentioned earlier, Catwoman could kind of be playing both sides, and I could totally see all four fitting in just fine.

TCTTS said:

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Don't forget Falcone. So that's three villains balanced pretty damn well in Begins. Doesn't seem that hard to do here, as long as, say, at least Penguin and Firefly have roles comparable to Falcone and Scarecrow, if that. Riddler is the main big bad and then, as was mentioned earlier, Catwoman could kind of be playing both sides, and I could totally see all four fitting in just fine.

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True, I forgot Falcone. It was cool how each villain sort of took the previous one off the table.

There are now rumors of Mad Hatter and Two-Face being in it, and that the reason there's so many is that Batman interrogates his rogues in a high profile case.

Where are you seeing that info?

Good to know. Thanks.

https://discussingfilm.net/2019/06/13/mad-hatter-two-face-set-to-appear-in-the-batman-exclusive/

They're hit or miss

The interrogation part was someone on Reddit, just found it intriguing

AgfromHOU said:

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This, Hush, Year One, and The Long Halloween are the best Batman recs. Court of Owls and Hush are my all time faves.

Also, what he linked, and what I mentioned, require zero knowledge of prior runs. In fact, Court of Owls was the first arc of a total reboot by DC in 2011.

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I'd add No Man's Land to this list

Interesting. Thanks for sharing. Though, I think that's the same source that also said this movie is taking place in the '90s, so who knows...

Honorable mention to Ten Nights of the Beast, though that'd need some significant changes to work in a post Cold War era.

Everyone seems to be latching onto that because in their minds it lines up with Affleck's Batman, even though people have said they're not following that timeline.

Right, but now that it's been confirmed that's it not connected to Affleck, the fact that that site previously hinted that it was tells me they have no idea what they're taking about.

First "legit" site to run the reports from the two previous sources. Posting this mainly because I LOVE the description of what this movie could end up being...

Quote:

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If the dust settles and The Batman really does end up casting all these characters, I'd like to view it as a sign that Reeves and co. are making an all-hands-on-deck murder mystery, in the style of The Long Halloween. That comic brought together many of Batman's most famous foes while he investigated a city-spanning whodunnit (and thwarted a couple of nefarious subplots in the process.) While my interest in yet another Batman film featuring familiar names like Riddler, the Penguin, and Catwoman is negligible, I can never turn down a well-written, sprawling murder mystery.

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https://birthmoviesdeath.com/2019/06/13/the-batman-might-be-taking-on-half-his-rogues-gallery

Imagine it being like Se7en, but instead of trying to find the next victim of a deadly sin, he is chasing around a different villain or something. Could be pretty interesting.

Would be amazing.

Quote:

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If the dust settles and The Batman really does end up casting all these characters, I'd like to view it as a sign that Reeves and co. are making an all-hands-on-deck murder mystery, in the style of The Long Halloween.

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I actually had that thought when I read it. I've mentioned it before, but The Long Halloween is my all time favorite, and could easily be adapted into a movie that's similar to Seven. It's a legit mystery/manhunt and incorporates just about every villain and makes it work.