Post-TBM: What Do You Want To See Next In The Reeves Batman Trilogy?(Potential Spoilers Ahead)

[Lautox]

I would love to see a scene like this in a sequel where the villains are just playing cards and talking business

 

[Invader Joker]

The Court of Owls definitely need to be the villains for the sequel like Rob wants them to be.

1. Bruce spent this whole movie learning the fact that the real plague Gotham has is of the elites, not the low-life criminals, so it'd be a step backwards if he got back to dealing primarily with people that were wronged by the elites like the Mr. Freeze type of villains. The Court, however, allows you to have a cinematic way to portray said elites.

2. The Court also allows you to showcase more of Bruce Wayne's public persona and see him develop it.

3. They're ridiculously easy to ground. Much like the Riddler was based on Zodiac, the Court can be based on the numerous rich people clubs that have existed throughout centuries like Bohemian Grove. You can also find a lot of cinematic influences for them in movies like Eyes Wide Shut and things of that nature.

4. They're an extremely easy conduit for other secondary villains and side characters, and to keep exploring more of Gotham, while still being very different from Riddler and Falcone.

5. They allow Batman to keep doing investigative detective work while at the same time having big set pieces with the Talons.

Thematically, story-wise and character-wise, they just make too much sense.

And no, I wouldn't save them for a third movie because Joker definitely needs to be saved for that one. It's just the way it is.

 

[Nemeres]

I like the idea of taking Bruce's epiphany at the end and running with it. Seeing Bruce commit to using the Wayne resources in more depth than in other films, maybe sideline his Batman persona somewhat. So that when he finally dives back into it, it's a biggie.

I doubt Reeves would go for something so large-scale immediately, but I wouldn't mind seeing No Man's Land attempted again and going for a high-brow disaster film vibe. Earthquake, Gotham as a true disaster area, Bruce trying to get back in and convincing the government to help. While he's gone, more vigilantes rise up... young people á la "We are Robin", or Batgirl, Huntress, what have you. Villains, too. Mafias and chaotic turf wars in the city. A little repetitive, yes.

And I'd love to see a full-fledged Two-Face. But I feel doing Harvey's downfall again is the wrong way to go, and if you skip the backstory with Bats, you're leaving out a great chunk of character dynamics. So I'm a little torn there. Open to the Freeze idea.

 

[Art Vandelay]

I know that Birds of Prey probably made this unlikely, but I'd like to see this version of Black Mask, complete with Tony Montana wardrobe:



I'd never show his face as he'd always be seen wearing the mask. And this will sound silly, but I'd design the mask so that he can actually move his mouth when he talks, like this.

 

[weezerspider]

I am actually the opposite as most of you guys for Court of Owls. I feel like that would feel too much of a retread from the first film’s plot. I think saving Joker for the third film makes the most sense. I like the idea of Penguin being like Scarecrow in Nolan’s films and popping up throughout the series. Maybe Freeze makes a deal with Penguin to use his powers to destroy Batman in exchange for the money/men/power to get what he needs to save Nora.

 

[WatchProtect]

I also don't want Court Of Owls after seeing the film. The corruption plot was enticing but I don't think it needs to go any deeper than it has.

I really wanna see Poison Ivy but there's an issue where her motivations might lead to close to where Riddler was in this film.

After how personal Riddler was with both Bruce and Batman in this it could be a nice change of pace to get Mr. Freeze, someone who really doesn't want to interact with Batman at all, he just wants to save his wife and move on with his life. No Freeze the city or turn Gotham into a icy prison, just a man on a mission that unfortunately has led to people dying.

 

[Invader Joker]

I think that the corruption theme absolutely has to go deeper than it was on this film. It's just not plausible that corruption would start and end with the mob, it's waaaay more realistic and poignant if businessmen were an active part of it as well beyond any mob interests.

 

[Mindreaper21]

I don’t want a Court of Owls film, but I would be satisfied knowing that they exist with a small reference.

 

[InJustice]

Court of Owls is the wrong way to go about it, because it centralizes corruption into one group, and kind of is contradictory to how corruption is presented in The Batman's Gotham City. The entire reason why the corruption exists in the film is because of the connections between the Waynes, Arkhams, Carmine Falcone/Mob, police force, DA/Legal system, and so on. If anything, it's meant to show how much corruption has spread like a virus, and how one person's agenda can singlehandedly force things to be done that might not have happened in an idealistic world.

 

[Invader Joker]

Court of Owls is the wrong way to go about it, because it centralizes corruption into one group, and kind of is contradictory to how corruption is presented in The Batman's Gotham City. The entire reason why the corruption exists in the film is because of the connections between the Waynes, Arkhams, Carmine Falcone/Mob, police force, DA/Legal system, and so on. If anything, it's meant to show how much corruption has spread like a virus, and how one person's agenda can singlehandedly force things to be done that might not have happened in an idealistic world.

But the worst that corruption can offer IS centralized in real life, and that's the fact that it's centralized on rich people, white-collar businessmen. The Court is a very easy cinematic way to exemplify that. I don't want to see Batman fighting another victim of circumstance like Mr. Freeze, we already saw that with Riddler.

 

[InJustice]

But the worst that corruption can offer IS centralized in real life, and that's the fact that it's centralized on rich people, white-collar businessmen. The Court is a very easy cinematic way to exemplify that. I don't want to see Batman fighting another victim of circumstance like Mr. Freeze, we already saw that with Riddler.

I wasn't talking about real life though, I was talking about how corruption was portrayed in The Batman, and given the amount of people involved with Falcone (and essentially Penguin), Court of Owls really doesn't make a whole lot of sense for what we see in The Batman.

 

[Invader Joker]

I wasn't talking about real life though, I was talking about how corruption was portrayed in The Batman, and given the amount of people involved with Falcone (and essentially Penguin), Court of Owls really doesn't make a whole lot of sense for what we see in The Batman.

Yeah, and that's why I'm saying the sequel should expand beyond just the mob. Matt Reeves has talked again and again about he wants corruption in Gotham to mirror the real world in the sense that it'll never end, so white-collar businessmen should be included in that too instead of showing them as saints while the mob are the only bad ones.

 

[weezerspider]

I think if you commit to Court of Owls for the sequel, then you have to have a corrupt Gotham storyline for the third film, too. If the first two films deal with that and the third film is just Joker or whatever, that will feel very weird thematically.

So I guess if Reeves is committed to making that the primary theme of the trilogy, then I guess I’m OK with Court of Owls. Otherwise, as I said earlier, it will feel like a rehash of the first film.

 

[InJustice]

Yeah, and that's why I'm saying the sequel should expand beyond just the mob. Matt Reeves has talked again and again about he wants corruption in Gotham to mirror the real world in the sense that it'll never end, so white-collar businessmen should be included in that too instead of showing them as saints while the mob are the only bad ones.

The problem with that is expanding the mob to show another layer like the Court of Owl comes off as incredibly asspully and contradictory to what was shown in the first film (where corruption is such a large and pervasive issue that even Bruce struggled to make sense of whether he could actually do it). You're ironically end up reducing corruption to basically the most powerful group, when that's not necessarily emblematic of how corruption works (even if we do talk about real life corruption). It's seldom rare that you see a small group be able to control the web of the city's mechanisms.

 

[DeadlyWest]

I think that the corruption theme absolutely has to go deeper than it was on this film. It's just not plausible that corruption would start and end with the mob, it's waaaay more realistic and poignant if businessmen were an active part of it as well beyond any mob interests.

In reality, sure. But that doesn't necessarily mean it'd be the best fit for the story's direction. If Matt wants to go for it, I've got full trust in him. But I think he'd have to be very specific in what he focuses on. The Batman already showed us the whole

Spoiler

"secret group of rich white people who run the city behind the scenes" plot with Falcone, the Mayor, DA and Commissioner.

To just do that again would be retreading old ground. The most interesting part about the Court are how they utterly shatter Bruce's understanding of Gotham. Which is something that needs to be built up, he needs to first have that foundation of getting Gotham only for it to come crashing down. At this point, the character just isn't there yet. I honestly think Court of Owls might need to be a third movie if not in a movie even further beyond than that.

 

[Deck Rickard]

I am actually the opposite as most of you guys for Court of Owls. I feel like that would feel too much of a retread from the first film’s plot. I think saving Joker for the third film makes the most sense. I like the idea of Penguin being like Scarecrow in Nolan’s films and popping up throughout the series. Maybe Freeze makes a deal with Penguin to use his powers to destroy Batman in exchange for the money/men/power to get what he needs to save Nora.

This is my fear too. I think the Court are awesome but it would feel way too similar to what played out in this film.

 

[Kirk Langstrom]

Dick Grayson
Court of Owls
Bullock & Montoya

 

[BMW 224]

I wanna see Mad Hatter.

 

[BatLobster]

Ya know what. I've been following movies long enough to know not to get to in my own fan fiction about where I think the series should go. It rarely ever truly lines up. I'm happy to just go on the ride and see where Reeves wants to take it. I have a few theories and ideas, but my main hope is to just be surprised about where it goes.

 

[VonRomberg]

Freeze makes the most sense. A more personal story makes a nice change from a massive, city-threatening episode like we just had.

It also allows a definitive Freeze to be brought to live action. One of the only redeeming features of B&R is the arc of saving Nora. Some combination of Heart of Ice and the Arkham City portion with Freeze would fit very well into this universe. Brownie points for introducing another rogue whose actions made Freeze how he is/caused Nora’s condition.

It’s the lowest hanging fruit and also the highest up side at the same time.

 

[BobJM]

NEW CHARACTERS:

- Dick Grayson
- Andrea Beaumont / Phantasm
- Dr. Leslie Thompkins
- Mr. Freeze
- Solomon Grundy*
- Tony ‘Fats’ Zucco

*Not a zombie. Former mob muscle whose time was up. He dwells in the sewer (explaining his pale complexion) to avoid a death sentence on the streets. After Gotham City’s flooding, more and more Gothamites are entering Grundy’s domain.

STORY POINTS:

- No Man’s Land. Many parts of downtown are still flooded (maybe a Christmas/winter film?) and the National Guard is in place with pop-up clinics everyone, one of which is headed up by Dr. Leslie Thompkins.

- A return to the public philanthropy for Bruce Wayne in an effort to rebuild the city with Mayor Real and Andrea Beaumont.

- Batman is trying to stop all out gang war brewing between Oz Cobblepot and [Insert Gotham Mobster here]. Cobblepot leans on Tony Zucco and his transportation network to connect his newly-acquired territories.

- Mobsters are dying on both sides, causing escalation with citizens in the crossfire. But neither side claims responsibility. Batman follows the trail of bodies to the mysterious Phantasm, a new vigilant not afraid to kill. The victims cause Batman to re-examine his own past and a case from his Year One involving Andrea Beaumont and the man who would become the Joker.

- Batman is reacquainted with Dick Grayson, a youth he scared straight on Halloween night in The Batman. With Grayson’s help, Batman creates a network of ‘robins’ as his eyes and ears throughout the city. We are Robin.

- In his desperation to defeat The Phantasm, Oz seeks the help of Joker & springs him out of Arkham. This plan backfires on him, like it does for Black Mask in Under the Red Hood. A film ends with a charged ideological confrontation between the Joker, Phantasm and Batman.

 

[AndrewGilkison]

I think the way to go with the sequel is a mystery villain, ala Long Halloween/Dark Victory/Hush,etc, where the entire premise is "a mystery killer is killing mobsters/cops/whatever and Batman has to figure out their identity".

I know we got detective work in The Batman, but the identity of The Riddler wasn't a secret in the marketing campaign. Paul Dano was announced as The Riddler, and all the trailers marketed Riddler as the villain. The only mystery was why he was doing what he was doing and the stuff with Bruce's dad and how various crime elements in Gotham were connected and why Riddler was trying to kill corrupt officials.

What I am talking about is just a pure Scream movie style "who is the killer" storyline, with the mystery maintained all the way until the release of the film. This is something we have never gotten in a live action Batman movie before.

 

[Lautox]

I think the way to go with the sequel is a mystery villain, ala Long Halloween/Dark Victory/Hush,etc, where the entire premise is "a mystery killer is killing mobsters/cops/whatever and Batman has to figure out their identity".

I know we got detective work in The Batman, but the identity of The Riddler wasn't a secret in the marketing campaign. Paul Dano was announced as The Riddler, and all the trailers marketed Riddler as the villain. The only mystery was why he was doing what he was doing and the stuff with Bruce's dad and how various crime elements in Gotham were connected and why Riddler was trying to kill corrupt officials.

What I am talking about is just a pure Scream movie style "who is the killer" storyline, with the mystery maintained all the way until the release of the film. This is something we have never gotten in a live action Batman movie before.

I would get on board with an old fashioned whodunit mystery

 

[WatchProtect]

I'd love it personally but in this day and age I'm not sure if studios and further extension the scoopers/leakers would allow the actual mystery to Make it up to the films release.

 

[godisawesome]

Here’s a kind of horror-thriller idea I had-

Combine a bunch of stories again here for extra creep factor: maybe Professor Strange ostensibly runs Arkham Asylum for the Court of Owls (like in Gotham), with a labyrinth built under the Asylum by the Arkhams (combining Court of Owls with Earth One), and since Strange has his own agenda and obsessions, he’s trying to drive Batman crazy and take his place (his Bronze Age stories with some Arkham Asylum), and Batman has to struggle with his identity and Joker’s “help” through an earpiece while trying to gather an alliance of more anti-heroic villains to help him overthrow Strange (like a combination of Ego, Arkham Knight and Justice League of Arkham.)