A Desperate Plea to Nolan, David Tennant, and Those Working on Batman 3

Bats. The Third. 

With master-of-everything, Chris Nolan, finished up with his latest film, Inception (maybe you’ve heard of it?), another film slowly emerges from the awesomeness of the Nolansphere. Riddle me this, riddle me that... Batman Three!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

So many choices!

One of the first major posts on this site was about the ridiculously insane amounts of rumors that were swirling around the web and various movie blogs. Reports of Cher, Eddie Murphy, Johnny Depp, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Sienna Miller, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rachel Weisz, Dane Cook, Kate Beckinsale, Robin Williams and the latest news Edward Norton, along with so many other so-called “reports” had celebs lined up to partake in various villainous capers and go toe-to-toe with The Dark Knight, still played by the talented Christian Bale. 

Actually... it's 2012...

As the last post touched on, the alleged report was that Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s name was on a proposed cast list to play The Riddler. I had guessed that Bats 3 would have some sort of booth or underground thingy at Comic-Con 2010; however, all we got was Green Lantern, Thor, and some other stuff (Avengers...). Okay, not a bad consolation prize, but C’MON! WHERE’S MY BATS 3, BRO? Now, understandably, Nolan probably spent most of his time and energy on promoting Inception, so I could only assume that next year’s Comic-Con would bring some sort of Batman 3 news. Who wants to go with me? :)

Let it still be known that the only “confirmed” people (and I use that term rather loosely) are Nolan as director (thank goodness!), Bale back as Batman, Morgan Freeman reprising Lucius Fox, Gary Oldman returning to play Gordon, and Sir Michael Caine still playing the loyal butler, Alfred. Virtually the same writing staff as prior Batman film, The Dark Knight, are also working hard penning a script. 

So why a new post? ‘Nuthin’ much has changed (besides the ever increasing ridiculous rumors, such as having Eminem/ Slim Shady/ Marshall Mathers play The Riddler...), so yeah, why? I’ll tell you why:

Because I want (DESPERATELY) to have David Tennant play The Riddler. 

There. I said it. Finally.

So much Fan Art. 

Quickly looking at Tennant’s next projects (Fright Night, where he will play Peter Vincent priorly played by Roddy McDowell, and a British rom-com, The Decoy Bride), the brilliant Doctor actor would be free to play the cunning and dashing Edward Nigma in Batman Tres.

I have wanted Tennant to be The Riddler ever since talks of Batman 3 came about, which so happened to be long before The Dark Knight was even released. Seriously, this is how long this, for lack of better words, obsession has been sitting. Now, this obsession can become a reality! Please Nolan! PLEASE! 

Hmmm... maybe this makes me come off as a whiny little snot-nosed kid...

Whiny-ness besides, Tennant would be able to do it. He could pull off the character, and not make The Riddler seem like Heath-Ledger’s-Joker-lite (which, in my very humble opinion, would be exactly what Depp’s Riddler would become, if he had the role- for all the “Johnny Depp for The Riddler” campaigners out there). Tennant’s portrayal as the 10th reincarnation of the Doctor (from the wonderfully awesome British TV Show, Doctor Who) was not only poignant, but at times, seriously and maniacally awesome. Tennant’s most well known role to the American public would probably be the deranged, twisted Barty Crouch, Jr. from the fourth installment of the uber-franchise, Harry Potter. However, he really didn’t receive the screen time he deserved, and let’s be honest, he really didn’t have much to work with besides snarling at the camera and stuff like that. Tennant also regularly receives praise for his stage work, most notably the Shakespearian play Hamlet. In short, the guy can act, and act well. He can play a charming hero with quirks (The Doctor), or he can play restless, ill-fated characters (Hamlet, and maybe Barty Crouch, Jr.) with relative ease. I have no doubts in my mind Tennant would excel with the crafty, quirky character, The Riddler.

The Doctor. Riddler-fied. 

Not only does Tennant have an incredible acting style, he also has something else going for him that Nolan would love: relative obscurity. Sure, the dude’s huge (HUMONGOUS!) in international television, but on American soil, and on the Hollywood big screen, Tennant is a relative outsider. You don’t think this makes sense? Let’s see... when Bale was chosen as Batman, he was a relatively unknown actor at the time. Now he’s huge. It makes you forget he was not in the mainstream/ household name category. The same goes with Cillian Murphy. Even Heath Ledger was a Hollywood outsider at the time. Ledger playing The Clown Prince of Crime led to most people whining about it, too. He definitely silenced those critics. So, even though Tennant is a relatively obscure name in Hollywood, Nolan likes to pick the obscure and certainly the talented. Two attributes Tennant definitely does possess. 

If David Tennant happens to stumble upon this, PLEASE SIR! Take the role of Edward Nigma/ The Riddler. You are the only person I want to play this role. 

If Chris Nolan or any other Batman 3 personnel see this post, LET TENNANT BE THE RIDDLER! please... 

And, let’s be honest, he would be SO much better than Jim Carrey’s Riddler in that one Batman film that never existed. 

This would make me 

so happy, too.

Now, what do our readers think? Would you want to see Tennant play The Riddler? Or perhaps someone else... Neil Patrick Harris...? (*screams like a little girl*) Sam Rockwell...? Michael C Hall (aka Dexter)? Or perhaps you don’t want to see The Riddler in the film at all. Perhaps another villain to irritate the Batman’s psyche? Hush? Catwoman? The Penguin? Deadshot? Black Mask? Red Hood? A Colored Object (just joking...)? Talia al Ghul (this would create a nice bookends with the first of the Nolan Batman franchise. Jus’ sayin’.)? 

Sound off on in the comment section below!

Geronimo,

~Peter S

Due to the relative low amount of activity on the Open Threads, we will no longer post them weekly. It seemed a little excessive in the first place, since we have a limited audience. However, we are expanding, thanks to viewers like you!

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