Much of Batman’s rogues gallery has been in at least one Batman movie. Catwoman even got her own, albeit disastrous, solo outing. But with the news that Ben Affleck is officially writing and directing a new Batman movie, that raises the question of which villain he’ll fight. Here are a few of the best Batman villains not in movies who deserve their shot.
Clayface
One of DC’s legacy villains, there have been a lot of Clayfaces, from the golden age bad guy Basil Karlo, the actor who can flawlessly impersonate anyone, to Matt Hagen, the explorer who discovered the ability to shapeshift thanks to a chemical in a hidden grotto. So that gives the movies a lot to work with, and a foe who’s not only hard to find but can strike at Batman by doing more than just punching him. After all, who wouldn’t want to hijack Bruce Wayne’s sweet lake house?
Professor Pyg
One of the creepier recent Batman villains from Grant Morrison’s long late-’00s/early-teens Batman run, Professor Pyg is a perfection-obsessed surgeon who turns people into “Dollotrons,” using surgery and drugs to wipe away their identity and make them his puppets. He was used to disturbing effect in the video game Batman: Arkham Knight, and he’d be perfect to give a Batman movie a dark edge without having to fall back on using the Joker.
Black Mask
Introduced in the mid-’80s, Roman Sionis is in some ways the anti-Bruce Wayne: He murders his parents and dedicates himself to a life of crime, using the cosmetics company he inherited as a cover for his activities. He also has a morbid streak: The black mask that gives him the name is carved from the wood of his parents’ coffin. Sionis’ real strength, though, is that he’s smart at planning ahead and running an empire. That makes him a lot more dangerous than some guy with a gun, and if he’s the last mobster standing, he might cause real trouble for Batfleck.
The Court of Owls
Created by Scott Snyder early in his New 52-era run on Batman, the Court of Owls are a secret conspiracy that have run Gotham City since its founding. They use Talons, genetically engineering and brainwashed supersoldiers created from Gotham’s elite, to enforce their will, and have their fingers in everything that happens in Gotham. Including, it turns out, the murder of Batman’s parents, which would be especially interesting in light of Batman operating in Gotham for decades, according to Batman V. Superman.
Deacon Blackfire
One of the few villains to ever break Batman’s psyche, Deacon Blackfire is a religious leader who takes control of Gotham’s homeless and uses a mix of hypnotic powers, hallucinogens, and starvation to start a war on crime before taking over Gotham completely. In fact, Batman: The Cult, the 1988 Jim Starlin and Bernie Wrightson miniseries that introduced him, would make a great movie, and a showcase for a memorable bad guy.
Hush
First seen in a popular arc written by Jeph Loeb and drawn by Jim Lee, Hush is a mysterious villain we won’t ruin here. But suffice it to say, he can hit Batman where it hurts, as he knows almost everything about the Bat and his Bruce Wayne identity.
The Ventriloquist
We’re not talking about the classic Batman villain, the nebbish with the murderous dummy that may or may not be haunted. We’re talking about the creepy new Ventriloquist, a telekinetic with alternate personalities and a narcissism problem so severe she bumped off her brother for getting too much attention. Her dummy does the talking. And he’s got hands with drills hidden in them. Granted a film with this character might be closer to The Conjuring than a Batman movie, but it would be a far different menace for the Caped Crusader.
Blockbuster
Generally, Blockbuster is a big, dumb brute. But in the ’90s, a Batbook following Dick Grayson as he set off on his own as Nightwing gave him a fascinating reinvention. Mark Desmond, instead of being a grunting brute, is a genius trapped inside a body that the supersteroids he was injected with is slowly destroying. His heart can’t sustain his bulk, so if he uses his strength, it might kill him. It’s a different kind of Batvillain, and it’d be a fun take on the classic mob boss.
Solomon Grundy
Cyrus Gold is a murder victim dumped in a swamp back in the 1800s who, thanks to dimly understood science, becomes Solomon Grundy, a white-skinned, extremely powerful creature who comes back as something different every time he dies. He could be a gentle giant one incarnation, and a mastermind out to bring down the whole Justice League the next go-round. That would be a fun aspect for an actor to explore: How does a creature that lives so many lives cope?
Mr. Polka-Dot
Hey, Batman sometimes just needs an easy night like anybody else.
Did we miss anybody? Let us know in the comments!
