Batman Villains
 

is it just me or has anyone else noticed Batman's on screen villains always out shadow Batman, for example Jack Nicholson and Michelle Pfeiffer are more captivating in their roles compared to Michael Keating, Jim Carrey and Arnold Schwarzenegger capture the comedic value of the next two films which is good going on the laughable performances of Val Kilmer and George Clooney (nipples on the bat suit REALLY). fast forward to the era of Chris Nolan, Liam Nesson oozes charm and villainy and basically makes Bruce Wayne into batman and the performance of a life time by Heath Ledger, to do what all actors aspire to do and have a character that will never be forgotten. If my theory is right and going on past performance, Tom Hardy's going to take the Batman franchise to new levels........I say bring it on

Hah, that's true, actually! Never noticed that. Although I suppose it's something to do with the characters themeselves - Nicholson's Joker (and to some extent, Ledger's) was a flamboyant man (the float scene, anyone?) whilst Batman, no matter the incarnation, is a shadowy, drawn-in figure, thus it can make it quite limiting re matching/ outshining the villains.

Exactly. It's the same reason that Christian Bale was always going to overshadow Mark Wahlberg in The Fighter. His character is just so much bigger.

Villains are always more interesting than the heroes in any genre. Good usually equates to boring.

How else is Robin supposed to know where to attach the Bat clamps?

The villians will always be larger than life and we have a tendency to gravitate toward them if they are played right (see: The Hitcher, Hans Gruber, Justin Bieber)

Saying that Batman Begins put Batman front-and-centre, and Bale didn't disappoint. He really carried that film - did you really care about
!!SPOILER!! Ducard?

We need more "grey" villans. 'Puter games have plenty of them, badly written true, but some ideas could be plundered.

"Grey villains"? :confused:

*not a computer/ videogame player*

Whoops, I meant "Grey hero's"

Anyhoo, a grey hero is someone who may be doing a good thing fighting/being against the "bad" guy, but his/hers/its motives arent for the greater good but for their own ends. Example, Kratos from God Of War, he is out to kill Zues. Its for the greater good, but his reasons are his own and wether you are good, bad or just in the way, Kratos will tear you a new one and try not to get blood on his tunic.

Cesar Romero's Joker is far and away the best Batman villain of all time, followed closely by Julie Newmar's Catwoman.