The Dark Knight to have a female villain?

[Admiral_Young]

Remember during the time of the Joker's arrest there was still tons of stuff going on. There was probably no time for a complete procedural booking and lock up of Joker. I don't see why they'd wash his face, remember the guy with the cell phone? Granted that was underneath his clothing but surely you'd feel that lump while frisking him?

 

[Reverend]

I think Darwin Cooke's resign of Selena's costume would work nicely in Nolan's films, there's nothing outlandish or strikingly silly about it. It's a form fitting body suit essentially with goggles. Make it armored if you want to for maximum protection.

I rather think a cat-burglar would want to keep their kit as light and unencumbering as possible. Armour would only slow her down and actually increase her chances of getting hit. She's be better off relying on stealth and speed to present no target at all. So an all black, or charcoal grey catsuit (jet black actually stands out in shadows, believe it or not) with a dull (NOT shiny) finish would probably be the best choice. It'd still need to be tough of course, just not *that* tough. Good enough to guard against cuts and scrapes but certainly nothing that could stop a bullet.

As for as design for Harley's outfit, I think something along these lines would work quite well.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Oh yeah I like her design from Arkham Asylum.

 

[Too Much Fun]

... how the Joker wore white paint verses permanent make-up.

Did he? I know we got that line about him wearing 'war paint', but surely after his arrest they'd have washed his face?

There shouldn't be any doubt that his white face was not permanent, since there's that brief shot of him without any make-up at all when he's in disguise as a police man. Also, you can clearly see that some of the paint has come off during his interrogation scene.

Back on topic, I've always liked the traditional Catwoman and Talia costumes, but I wonder if it's even possible to make them stand out and not just look derivative these days with all the similarly costumed women we've seen in recent movies. There's Kate Beckinsale in the Underworld movies, Scarlett and Baroness in "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra", and Black Widow in "Iron Man 2". I may be forgetting a few too.

 

[Obiwanshinobi]

Speaking of Kate Beckinsale. She should be on that list too.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I think Beckinsale is unavailable at the moment, but yeah she'd be an ideal Selena or Talia as well. Talia especially.

 

[Satyrquaze]

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

Seconded.

 

[lennier1]

More like a cooling system that gets rid of excessive body heat and maybe can be used to deal with thermal imaging sensors.

Cooling systems radiate more heat than the object they cool would have in the first place: the heat they remove plus the waste heat of their operation.

It's a comic universe. As long as the writers use a halfway decent pretense anything is possible.

 

[Myasishchev]

Back on topic, I've always liked the traditional Catwoman and Talia costumes, but I wonder if it's even possible to make them stand out and not just look derivative these days with all the similarly costumed women we've seen in recent movies. There's Kate Beckinsale in the Underworld movies, Scarlett and Baroness in "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra", and Black Widow in "Iron Man 2". I may be forgetting a few too.

Yeah, they've been voguish ever since, at least, The Matrix, and probably long before that. And they're a little played out.

 

[the G-man]

I like her as an actress, but I don't think Natalie Portman looks imposing enough to be a Batman villain or 'adult' enough to be a convincing love interest for Christian Bale.

If you go back to something akin to the original version of Talia, Portman would be about right. In the original O'Neill-Adams series, Talia was supposed to be a very young, somewhat sheltered, woman who was intended to be bait but then fell in love with her father's enemy.

 

[Admiral_Young]

^ Yeah and I'm sure that is how she will be introduced in "The Dark Knight Rises" if she's used. We've not seen her in the world yet and do not know what the current status is of the League of Shadows since Ra's demise at the end of Begins so it's reasonable to assume that Talia took control of the League after she was informed of his death, perhaps it was too late to bring his remains to the Lazarus Pit. It is mentioned in the novelization to Begins that Talia is off studying in Paris or something and that Ra's has been corresponding with her about his training and interest in Bruce. The novel was written by Denny O'Neil

 

[Obiwanshinobi]

You know who would could also fit in Nolans world and they could make as Ducards successor, Red Claw. She never made it outside of BTAS. But she was a powerful terrorist and they could write her in as the new head cheese to The League of Shadows. Fun little tidbit she was voiced by Kate mulgrew.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Yeah Red Claw could work as maybe taking over the Russian mob rather than as Ra's successor. An actress missing on that list is Eva Green. I think she should be fantastic as Talia.

 

[Too Much Fun]

You know who would could also fit in Nolans world and they could make as Ducards successor, Red Claw. She never made it outside of BTAS. But she was a powerful terrorist and they could write her in as the new head cheese to The League of Shadows. Fun little tidbit she was voiced by Kate mulgrew.

Oh yeah, I forgot about her. I don't think she'd work in live action (like Harley Quinn), but I loved her on the show. Did anyone else recognize her as Kate Mulgrew right away in Red Claw's animated debut? I was amused that when I showed the series to a friend (it was his first time watching it), and he recognized her voice right away. I sure didn't with that endearingly cornball accent she used.

 

[Obiwanshinobi]

Or Olga whatsherface from Quantum of Solace and Hitman.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I recognized Kate's voice because I used to watch "Colombo" with my mom and remember her as his wife. That was my first exposure to Kate before Star Trek: Voyager.

 

[Too Much Fun]

Eva Green is an excellent suggestion that I hadn't thought of. I think most people remember her from "Casino Royale" where she was basically a nice character, but I always think of her as the girl from "The Dreamers" where she showed she could convincingly play someone with a rather sinister/fucked up side. It's hard for me to accept her as an sweet innocent girl after how memorably she played a darker character in "The Dreamers".

 

[Admiral_Young]

Yeah she's awesome in "The Dreamers" which is a fantastic movie. I think she has the qualities necessary to play Talia, unfortunately I don't think it will happen.

 

[The Nightmare Doctor]

Stax of IGN had this to say about what he's hearing for the female leads and main villain of The Dark Knight Rises on his Twitter:

Talia al Ghul (Keira Knightley), Sarah Essen (Naomi Watts), and Hugo Strange (Tom Hardy)

I would have no problem if this turned out to be true. I'm really pulling for Strange, and The Duchess and Atonement convinced me that Knightley is a very strong actress when given the right material.

Any further credence on this report? I would love to have Keira Knightley even though it would mean no Rachel Weisz.

 

[Zombie Cheerleader]

I recognized Kate's voice because I used to watch "Colombo" with my mom and remember her as his wife. That was my first exposure to Kate before Star Trek: Voyager.

I dont think she was ever on Columbo. Columbo talked about his wife, but she was never seen. She did star in a spinoff called "Mrs Columbo" that was disavowed by the creators of "Columbo" and Peter Falk.