As The Batman's cinematic release draws ever closer, director Matt Reeves has been speaking about ideas for a potential sequel – including what villain could next be in line to take on Robert Pattinson's interpretation of the Caped Crusader.
As reported by Collider, Reeves revealed that he would be interested in finding a "grounded version" of Victor Fries aka Mr. Freeze. The villain previously appeared in Batman & Robin back in 1997 as played by Arnold Schwarzenegger and more recently by Nathan Darrow in the Gotham TV series.
"I think there's actually a grounded version of that story, which could be really powerful and could be really great," he said. "So, I love the fantastical side of Batman, but this iteration, obviously, while being, to me, I think it is very comics faithful, but I don't think that this one is necessarily, it doesn't lean as hard into the fantastical, I guess. But I think to me what would be interesting would be to try and unwind the fantastical and see, well, how could that make sense here?
Arguably the best interpretation of Mr. Freeze has stemmed from the Batman: Arkham games, as voiced by Maurice LaMarche. A big-screen adaption of the character that takes a more grounded approach as opposed to the more comical one we received in the 90s could help change the mainstream consensus surrounding the character. A good comparison would be Aquaman, who was considered a joke by most accounts until Jason Momoa's 2018 film.
Interestingly, in an interview with Den of Geek, Pattinson recently spoke of his love for The Court of Owls and Calander Man and how he would love to see square off against both villains. Meanwhile, rumours that Joker will show up in the film have continued to make the rounds, spurred on by the Japanese trailer for The Batman. We'll have to first wait and see if his Bruce Wayne can successfully take on the Riddler, Catwomen and the Penguin.
The Batman will star Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Paul Dano, Jeffrey Wright, John Turturro, Peter Sarsgaard, Jayme Lawson, Andy Serkis and Colin Farrell. It will debut in theatres globally from March 4th, 2022.
It's also been reported recently that Joaquin Phoenix's Joker is receiving a sequel with filming set to start in 2023. How many Jokers are too many? Warner Bros. clearly thinks there isn't a limit.
