The Dark Knight is a huge smash, so naturally everyone is talking about a third Batman film (in the second cycle). Casting rumors are running from Johnny Depp as The Riddler to Phillip Seymour Hoffman as The Penguin to (the inevitable) Angelina Jolie as Catwoman. I personally like the idea of Johnny entering the Batman universe, but I've got a better role for him: Batman. Yes, I said it. Warners should dump Christian Bale and hire Johnny Depp to play Batman/Bruce Wayne. Bale is fine but he's too clammy and cold and distant...Batman needs some warmth and humor and jaunty charm. Depp would be wasted as The Riddler...fuck, Jim Carrey played The Riddler, so obviously that role requires no particular talent.
Of course people are also talking about bringing The Joker back for Batman 3, which is obviously problematic given the way Heath Ledger took possession of that character (and then, you know, died). I don't think Batman 3 needs The Joker though...Dark Knight laid out pretty much everything The Joker is about; there's really nowhere else to go with him, so just leave him behind. And as for Robin...Christian Bale has said he would quit the series if Robin were written into it, and I agree with him. Robin is possibly the dumbest character in all superherodom. The first Batman cycle was, let's face it, already screwed by the time Chris O'Donnell came on-board as the Boy Wonder...but Robin's absurd presence was certainly the last nail in the coffin (well, that and Arnold Schwarzenegger). I wouldn't be able to take any Batman movie seriously that had Robin in it. Or Batgirl. Maybe Catwoman, but only if the casting were right. Not Angelina - that bitch sucks the joy out of everything she touches. Oh, I know...the perfect Catwoman:
Amy Winehouse.
I'm a genius.
