The Dark Knight to have a female villain?

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by Captaindemotion, Nov 11, 2010.

  1. Captaindemotion

    Captaindemotion Admiral Admiral

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    http://www.deadline.com/2010/11/chris-nolan-lines-up-actresses-for-batfilm/

    Says that:

    So what do you all think? Catwoman? Talia? Poison Ivy? Harley Quinn? And who do you like for the roles?

    Incidentally, is it time for one of those 'News, announcements' etc megathreads?
     
  2. Admiral_Young

    Admiral_Young Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    This is kind of old news and has been linked in one of Jackson Archer's Dark Knight theads...it's speculated that it will be Taila and Selena. The actresses are new though. I've been a big fan of Rachel Weisz as Selena. I think she would be perfect for the role. I can't see Natalie Portman as Selena or Talia.
     
  3. Jetfire

    Jetfire Guest

    I wish it was Poison Ivy...she got wasted in Batman And Robin...I never liked Uma Thurman in that part. :shrug:
     
  4. Mr. Adventure

    Mr. Adventure Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    That is the reason why The Dark Knight Rises. Oooh, matron....
     
  5. Aragorn

    Aragorn Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I still don't like the title, but I guess it beats Warner's suggestion of Batman 3D: Adventures in 3D: The 3D Experience.
     
  6. Admiral_Young

    Admiral_Young Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Christina Hendricks is the ONLY person who should be playing Poison Ivy.
     
  7. Kegg

    Kegg Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    It's welcome news. Christopher Nolan's first two films are good but the only female character was something of a cipher. I honestly assumed adding a female villain, specifically Catwoman, was the most obvious choice for the third film since... well, since I saw the second film.

    Harley Quinn also works fine for me, although I don't know how that jester costume would square with the dark and gritty Nolan-verse.

    Don't really care for the alternatives as I've barely if ever heard of them, but hey, Ra's al-Ghul turned out alright so if they want to do his daughter they'd better hire an Irish actress on the basis of more identifiable accents for me on the big screen hooray (also Liam Neeson's daughter)...

    I mean, sure, whatever, but I'd rather Harley or Catwoman.
     
  8. od0_ital

    od0_ital Admiral Admiral

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    I'm hopin' for Harley Quinn.
     
  9. Admiral_Young

    Admiral_Young Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I'd put money that it'll be Selena and Talia. I would have included Talia from the start.
     
  10. Dream

    Dream Admiral Admiral

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    Why does this movie need female characters anyway? With the exception of Catwomen in Batman Returns, all the women in the Batman movies have been boring. Batman doesn't need a love interest in every movie. It would be refreshing to have all the main characters in a movie be male for once.
     
  11. The Nth Doctor

    The Nth Doctor Infinite Possibilities... Premium Member

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    I don't care who she would play, but Rachel Weisz must be in this film.
     
  12. Aragorn

    Aragorn Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    How about Katie Holmes as Selena and Maggie Gyllenhaal as Talia? :)

    Personally, I'd go with Stana Katic or Sarah Shahi as Talia, but that wouldn't fly when they're looking to put names on the poster.
     
  13. Admiral_Young

    Admiral_Young Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Batman needs a love interest to anchor his human story...that was the purpose of Rachel Dawes in both films.
     
  14. Aragorn

    Aragorn Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Talia and Selena makes sense for the movie's villains. There's an unsubstantiated rumor that Tom Hardy is playing Bullock, not one of the bad guys.
     
  15. Dream

    Dream Admiral Admiral

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    No, he doesn't need a love interest. Rachel was the least interesting character in Nolan's Batman movies.
     
  16. DevilEyes

    DevilEyes Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Or... (shocking suggestion coming up)... How refreshing would it be to have one or, heck, maybe even several female characters, but make them interesting and important to the story and as active as the male characters?

    I really don't get the logic "this or that movie franchise/TV show has had boring female characters, so let's just remove females altogether and only have male heroes since they're only worth it, females suck". Well if they suck, it's because they're written that way, so how about trying to write them better? :vulcan:
     
  17. iguana_tonante

    iguana_tonante Admiral Admiral

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    Talia would fit well into the lore of Nolan's Batman. Catwoman, in her thieving, non-feline incarnation would be ok, too. Quinn's backstory is too liked to the Joker, and they would have to recast him, something they will be wary to do so soon.

    I agree Weisz would be a great Selena. I can live with both Knightley or Portman as Talia.
     
  18. Admiral_Young

    Admiral_Young Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Talia would also bring the story full circle in my opinion, a continuation of "Batman Begins".
     
  19. Allyn Gibson

    Allyn Gibson Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I've been hoping for Rachel Weisz as Talia for a year and a half now.
     
  20. Myasishchev

    Myasishchev Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Well, not to put words in anybody's mouths, but I think the sentiment was "why bother having token females, if all you're going to do is use them as someone the protagonist attempts to fuck/save"?

    I agree with your point, that there ought to be female characters who aren't there just to do that. The problem here is firstly with the source material and secondly with how Nolan's run the franchise.

    Talia al Ghul would be a great antagonist... if she'd been at all set up in the first film. Also if her father hadn't been shorn of all his cool shit in an effort to appeal to the squares who don't get things like "magic immortality pits" and then made even lamer with the world's dumbest terrorist plot. And sadly, Talia is still the best choice for a female antagonist.*

    Catwoman is actually a pretty decent character, but on the other hand, not really a villain to hang a film on, because she's not opposed to Batman, really, they just kind of get in each other's way. Also, there's not much thematic power in "big buy beats up a woman who likes to steal shit." Fetish material, yes, but no thematic power.

    After that, I'm at a loss to think of any female Bat-family characters that are suitable. Poison Ivy was mentioned, but let's not kid ourselves, she's fundamentally a B-list Bat-villain. B+, at best. Her power set also fails to fit into the gritty/realistic/frankly uncool Nolan interpretation of the Batman mythos.

    Harley Quinn? Yeah, the Joker's obnoxious sidekick ought to be able to finish the trilogy on a high note.

    Sasha Bordeaux? You don't even know who that is. And neither do I. Nor do either one of us care. Also she wasn't a villain.

    I literally couldn't think of any more, so I went here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman_villains

    The first female villain I even recognized was Lady Vic. And I'd bet a dollar I'm the only one who knows what she looks like, and that's only on account she was in Secret Six.

    But she did remind me of Lady Shiva, who would come off pretty much identically to Talia, outside the larger context of the comics, in the narrower scope of film portrayal. Except she'd also be a racial stereotype. Keen!

    I still say Azrael or Bane, or both. They're the only foes that would 1)fit in with Nolan's take on Batman in general and 2)have enough conceptual strength to carry a film.

    Or Catman. Catman would be cool.:p

    *On the other hand, maybe Talia in the Nolanverse wouldn't be too bad. It might be better than in some of the comics she's been in, since her portrayal in the upcoming film would, by default, not be a portrayal of Talia that didn't reduce her to "that chick Bruce Wayne banged back in the 1980s, and who finally had his son twenty years later"--that is, essentially a plot device. Seriously, I just read Batman and Son and for its few strengths, Morrison's Talia is just... painfully bad. Painfully sexist and really just unpleasantly pointlike in how many dimensions she exists in there. (Also, note to aspiring terrorists: you can't make the British Army disband its garrison on Gibraltar because you kidnapped the PM's wife. That's just fucking stupid.)
     
    Last edited: Nov 12, 2010