The Batman is drawing close to its long-awaited release in theaters, and fans are excited to see the latest big-screen portrayal of the Dark Knight’s rogues’ gallery in action. Paul Dano as the Riddler, Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman, Colin Farrell as the Penguin, and even John Turturro as Carmine Falcone — the film is offering quite an impressive assortment of big-name bad guys.
However, all these villains are ones who have already been depicted on film before. Batman has faced more costumed antagonists throughout his comic career than just about any other superhero, and he has plenty of beloved baddies who have yet to make the leap to live-action film. Here are just a few of the Caped Crusader’s deadliest foes who would be perfect for future films.
Many of Batman’s enemies are centered around a central theme or gimmick, whether it’s riddles, birds, cats, plants, or the number two. Jervis Tetch, aka the Mad Hatter, is no exception, basing his criminal persona around his obsession with Alice in Wonderland. Mad Hatter, true to his name, typically commits crimes using special hats outfitted with mind control technology, which he uses to brainwash others into doing his bidding. He may seem silly at first, but Mad Hatter is one twisted villain whose mental manipulations shouldn’t be underestimated.
There have been several Clayfaces in the comics, but the first and most famous is Basil Karlo, a former horror actor whose hunger for fame caused him to turn to crime, eventually transforming him into the shapeshifting monstrosity known as Clayface. One of Batman’s few superpowered enemies, Clayface isn’t just a powerful physical force — his shapeshifting powers and acting skills allow him to impersonate virtually anyone.
Speaking of superhuman monsters, Dr. Kirk Langstrom was a scientist who was transformed into a rampaging Man-Bat after an experiment went wrong. Similar to the Hulk or the Lizard, Man-Bat is a classic Jekyll-and-Hyde type character — an innocent scientist who struggles to control the murderous beast within. Many of Batman’s greatest villains serve as dark reflections of Bruce himself, and as the name implies Man-Bat is no exception. As an aside, fans of the classic Batman: The Animated Series will recall that Man-Bat was the antagonist of the show’s first episode, “On Leather Wings”.
Yet another monstrous bad guy, the super-strong zombie called Solomon Grundy hasn’t always been a Batman villain. He was first introduced all the way back in 1944 as a foe of Alan Scott, the original Green Lantern, but since then he’s faced Superman, the Flash, Swamp-Thing, and more. However, in recent decades, Grundy seems to have taken a comfortable seat in Batman’s rogues’ gallery, taking on the Dark Knight in cartoons like The Batman and Batman: The Brave and the Bold, as well as the Batman: Arkham City video game. And of course, he’s also one of the many villains featured in the iconic comic storyline Batman: The Long Halloween.
Despite his relative obscurity, Professor Hugo Strange is one of Batman’s first recurring villains, debuting in February 1940’s Detective Comics #36 — predating Robin, the Joker, and Catwoman by two months. The Strange of the 40s was a rather generic mad scientist who committed crimes with weather machines and mutated henchmen. However, Strange would reappear in the 1970s with the “Strange Apparitions” storyline, in which he was reimagined as a cunning, manipulative psychologist who discovered that Bruce Wayne was Batman. Strange also appeared as one of the main antagonists of the Arkham City game, though he was ultimately upstaged by the Joker. Strange was also featured in the Gotham TV series, in which he was played by BD Wong of Jurassic Park fame.
One of Batman’s most disturbing villains, Professor Pyg is a relatively new addition to the Dark Knight’s rogues’ gallery. Created by Grant Morrison and Andy Kubert in 2007, Professor Pyg’s name has a double meaning — obviously he wears a pig mask, but the spelling invokes the sculptor Pygmalion of Greek mythology, who sought to create the perfect woman by sculpting her from ivory. Like his namesake, Professor Pyg is an obsessed artist who seeks to create perfect beings. Pyg kidnaps innocent people, experimenting on them to transform them into brainwashed monsters called Dollotrons. Thanks to his demented personality and grisly experiments, this homicidal artist is as unforgettable as he is unsettling.
Though Batman is best known for fighting colorful villains with signature gimmicks, his greatest obstacle is arguably Gotham itself — the city that seems to stay crime-ridden and corrupt, no matter how hard Bruce tries to save it. And there’s no better embodiment of Gotham’s corruption than the Court of Owls. Created by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo in 2011, the Court of Owls is a secret society composed of Gotham’s wealthy elite, who manipulate the city’s politics from the shadows. Seeing Bruce Wayne’s philanthropy as a threat to their power, the Court of Owls order his death at the hands of the Talons, their order of nigh-immortal assassins. And while the Court of Owls may seem outlandish with their ancient conspiracies and eerie masks, they serve as a larger-than-life representation of the very real injustice that occurs when those with power exploit others for personal gain.
