As soon as news of Batman's involvement was announced at SDCC, the internet has been exploding with speculation and rumors (whispers of a nameless fear), in regards to who will inherit the Bat torch after Bale and what villains will be going toe to toe with him and Superman once they team up. Given all the Luthor-centric Easter eggs in Man of Steel, it seems certain the legendary baldie will pop up in the sequel but the bigger question is who might be joining him in his mission to kill the Man of Steel? I've heard that the sequel will have at least two villains and since Luthor is Superman's #1 rogue, some have been speculating that the Joker might be mystery villain #2. I for one seriously hope that's not the case for a number of reasons. First off, I know this is going to be a different Batman from Bale's and from the Nolan Universe in general, but since we just saw Ledger's already legendary turn as the Clown Prince of Crime in 2008's Dark Knight, it's certainly way to soon for another stab at the Joker. No matter who they could find to play him, they could never really stack up because Ledger indelibly defined the character for generations to come and arguably carried the film with his mesmerizingly creepy performance. Even with The Amazing Spiderman reboot, they chose to use The Lizard, a villain yet to be seen in the Sam Raimi Spiderman films rather than reusing Green Goblin or Doc Oc, two of Spidey's most famous villains. If Joker's used again it will be the third Joker we've seen; it's time to show some Batman villain's yet to be seen on the big screen.
Since Nolan's Batman films were grounded in realism and therefore didn't use villains with any superpowers or mutations, any new Batman films can use mutated villains such as Killer Croc, Mr. Freeze (but done right this time) and even other psychopaths and masterminds such as The Riddler (also done right) or Prof. Hugo Strange. Since the new Bats will exist in the same world as a god-like flying man, the field is open for other super powered people to start appearing. Our generation has a flesh and blood Joker in an excellent Batman film so I think it's time to leave the Joker alone. Some people might say the same about Luthor since we saw him in Superman Returns, but I point out that Spacey was still playing the Gene Hackman real estate obsessed Luthor. We've yet to see a younger, more diabolical and cunning Luthor who owns Metropolis on the big screen; closest we've had is Michael Rosenbaum in Smallville. Perhaps he might even be a good choice for Luthor in MOS 2. If the Joker hadn't appeared on screen so recently, it might be cool to have a Luthor/Joker team up like in the "World's Finest" Superman episodes, but that's not the case and it would be impossible to resist comparisons to Ledger, which is unfair for whoever plays a new joker as well as disrespectful to Heath.
Even though Batman's in this film, it's still the sequel to Man of Steel and I'd still like to see Luthor team up with another of Superman's powerful enemies like Metallo, Brainiac or The Cyborg Superman. I'm just spit-balling, but that's a direction I'd love to see them take. At the very least, if the film's second villain is going to be a Batman rogue, then let it be someone with some enhanced powers who can challenge Superman as well or at least give Luthor a battle suit. Since David Goyer is going to write the MOS 2 screenplay and Christopher Nolan will most likely return as producer, I imagine they won't go for a new Joker at any point. Heath Ledger was Nolan's friend and they of all people would think it an insult to the late actor to just write a whole new Joker. If twenty years from now some different filmmaker's want to reimagine Joker for a new string of Batman films, then be my guest, but as for now I say leave The Joker alone as a testament to Ledger's groundbreaking take on the character. It's time to look ahead and probe the depths of Batman's rogue's gallery in search of some hardcore villains we've yet to see in the cinema.
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