Go Home, Deathstroke!

Deathstroke isn't a Batman villain! People only think he is because of "Arkham Origins"! He's not a Green Arrow villain either, he just made an appearance on "Arrow"! Slade Wilson/Deathstroke is a Teen Titans villain, he works best as a Teen Titans villain, and casting him as a villain for the first Batman film of this new, crappy, DC movie universe is a waste! There. Now that I got that out of my system I can tell you which villains would be better suited for a Batman film. Two rules: They can't be villains we've seen on film before and they have to fit within this stupid film universe. Lets go. Here is The Panel Biter's Top 5 Batman Villain Film Picks!

5. The Red Hood

It saddens me to know this DCU will never use sidekicks respectfully, but at least they have the chance to use one. We see in "Batman v. Superman: Civil War Was Better" that Jason Todd/Robin was killed by The Joker, as indicated by his costume being hung up in the Batcave. The story of The Red Hood has been told a few times, but to see it in a film could give some credit to the role sidekicks play to heroes. Essentially it would be a combination of "Death in The Family" and "Under The Red Hood" and it would give us more background into the Batman/Joker relationship and how Robin was portrayed in this film universe. You could have some kind of back-to-back story showing Bruce Wayne before and after Jason's death and now he must test his restraint when choosing to either side with his tormented sidekick or to protect his greatest foe. The Red Hood is at the bottom for a few reasons, he has the Deathstroke problem of being too visually underwhelming to put center stage, plus as much as I want to flesh out Ben Affleck's Batman and to focus on Robin's presence I really don't want to see Leto's Joker again and I fear WB would mess up what originally was a solid story.

4. Hush

Thomas Elliot was the son of two rich Gotham citizens and was Bruce's childhood friend. When Bruce's parents died, Thomas envied how Bruce got the family fortune and so Thomas tried to kill his own parents, but only killed his father after cutting the breaks to the family car. Thomas would grow up to be the world's greatest plastic surgeon and as an adult he would discover Bruce's secret. By using the alias of Hush and his surgeon skills, Thomas would manipulate Batman's rogues gallery in an attempt to fake his death, kill Batman, and escape Gotham with his family fortune. Elliot is another good personal villain for Bruce, and using the "Hush" storyline we could see other Batman villains being manipulated by Hush. I could see Two-Face, Killer Croc, and another unnamed villain being especially useful in a story like this. Thanks to his ability to change the facial structure of anyone, Hush could also make himself or some hired men look like Bruce Wayne and commit crimes to distract Batman. One whole scene can show Affleck/Bruce doing something completely out of character and then end on Batman busting into the room. Affleck vs Affleck! Again, while Hush is a good psychological and personal villain he lacks an upscale on presentation, but I suppose featuring other villains would fix that.

3. The Mad Hatter

Jarvis Tetch is a short, British inventor who creates mind control devices. Pretty nifty, unfortunately he also believes he is The Mad Hatter and that the world is his Wonderland. As such, he is always trying to find his "Alice". Some versions of The Mad Hatter want to steal Batman's cowl, other versions are pedophiles, but all versions have this perception that "Alice in Wonderland" is the only true reality. This is a classic psychopathic villain for Batman to battle, and what's more is that we could see Batman fight the technology of mind control. What if Tetch had some kind of company rivalry with Bruce Wayne and Bruce had to fight his mind controlled employees without hurting them too badly? What if Tetch tried to control Batman, but all he did was make Batman see Wonderland? Parts of the movie could just rip off those Tim Burton "Wonderland" movies. Batman would have to save a little girl, survive the crazy world of Wonderland, and use his own tragic psychology to control himself. Batman is a character all about self-preservation and Tetch is all about letting go of what is real and just folding into fantasy. You could even set Arkham Asylum as Mad Hatter's base of operations since its already a madhouse. Perfect for his Wonderland. Once more Tetch isn't visually spectacular, but his forced environment and psychological trials would make up for that.

2. Clayface

Basil Karlo was a washed out Hollywood actor who was booted from his own film. After he failed to murder all the actors involved he injected himself with radioactive protoplasm which turned him into the monster Clayface. Obviously the origin would have to be retooled a little bit, maybe Karlo is a former actor who was forced to work with the mob, but he failed a job and was almost killed only to be saved by the flesh regeneration chemicals of Hush. Sorry. Flaunting my own Batman film pitch. Anyway Clayface brings that visual appeal the Batman movies lack. He can be a man, he can be a monster, but just like Hush he can disguise himself as anyone else. Like a cop, or a mayor, or the richest man in Gotham City. And I'm pretty sure Ron Perlman is in good enough shape to play the human version of Clayface and voice the monster form, after all he voiced Clayface in "Batman: The Animated Series". Clayface is-pardon the pun-so malleable for a film. He can really be a tough opponent and make use of WB's budget. Plus we haven't seen Batman fight a real monster in these films yet. Since we know Affleck's Batman has been at this for a while it only makes sense for his next challenge to be more than a guy with a gun.

1. Man-Bat

Okay, okay, okay! This is one I was excited to get to! Man-Bat! Man-Bat was a scientist named Kirk Langstrom who attempted to cure deafness by splicing bat DNA into himself. This resulted in him turning into the monstrous Man-Bat and-sometimes-feeding on blood. Later on he actually became an anti-hero and sucked the blood of villains, but early on he took on all comers. Now, what you see above is a behind-the-scenes shot of Bruce's second dream sequence in BvS. This screenshot is without the stupid nightmare effect so you can actually see the monster that bursts out of Thomas Wayne's casket to attack Bruce. The costume isn't bad without effects, but back when I saw the scene I was really upset. First of all, Zack Snyder you damn child. You couldn't even write a silent, emotional moment without saying "nah that's boring and gay" and turning it into a jump scare. Oh, and it was pointless too! But maybe this scene could be fixed. If Snyder's Batman has precognitive dreams, it would only make sense for Man-Bat to be the villain of his film. You have this foreshadow scene, you have the costume, and you have a bomb villain too! Man-Bat is a monster so you immediately have a step-up from the typical villain. He used to be a good-natured doctor so you have emotional turmoil. And he is the "nightmare" version of Batman, which means Gotham's fear of Batman can extend beyond their assumptions because there is an actual bat person killing people. The film could represent the line Batman doesn't want to cross, he wants to be feared, but not for being a savage killer. It would at least make up for him being a savage killer in BvS. Thanks Snyder. Man-Bat could be the thing that makes Batman a more morally upstanding hero, especially if Langstrom died at the end of the film. To see what Bruce could have been die at his feet would be the character developing shock this Batman needs. It would be one hell of a film, a good use of money, and redeem an otherwise pointless jump scare.
Thanks for reading!
Who do you want to see in the next Batman film? Comment below!