List of characters in the Batman film series
The following is a fairly detailed overview of the characters depicted in the live-action Batman films.
Tim Burton/Joel Schumacher series (1989-1997)
Allies
James Gordon
In the 1989 film Batman, and its three sequels, Gordon is portrayed by Pat Hingle. In the first film, he regards the Batman as a rumor at best and vigilante at worst, though by the end of the film, after Batman saves the city from The Joker, Gordon and the citizens of Gotham publicly acknowledge his usefulness, and receive from him the gift of the Bat-Signal. In the sequels, Gordon plays only a minimal role compared to his role in other media, but is shown to completely trust Batman and publicly defend him. Even in Batman Returns (1992), when The Penguin has Batman framed for [...], it is implied Gordon is not entirely convinced, as he was not willing to use lethal force in order to apprehend him (seen during a scene in which two Gotham officers open fire on Batman, knocking him off a building, before Gordon arrives and orders them to stop). In Batman Forever (1995), Gordon is shown to be fairly acquainted with Bruce Wayne, though whether or not he knows Bruce's secret identity as Batman is never revealed. Although Barbara Gordon is his daughter in the comics, in Batman & Robin (1997), her name is changed to Barbara Wilson and she is Alfred Pennyworth's niece. In Gordon's last appearance in the film, Poison Ivy uses her pheremones to make him fall in love with her in order to get the keys to police headquarters and the Bat-Signal, and almost kills him with her toxic kiss, but changes her mind at the last second, claiming "You're too old for me." Gordon's wife briefly appears in Batman, but isn't seen or mentioned in the sequels.
[...] Grayson/Robin
[...] Grayson/Robin was played by actor Chris O'Donnell in the 1995 movie Batman Forever and its 1997 sequel Batman & Robin. Grayson's parents and brother are murdered by Two-Face at the annual Gotham Circus. Robin's costume in Batman Forever uses the familiar red and green coloring of the traditional Robin costume, after first contemplating using the code name 'Nightwing.' The modifications made to the costume strongly resemble the costume worn in the comics by Tim Drake. In Batman & Robin, he wears a new costume, similar to that of Nightwing except that it is molded rubber, has a cape, a utility belt, and nipples; the emblazoned logo is a deep red instead of blue. Also, for the 'final showdown' in Batman & Robin where he, Batman, and Batgirl unveil new costumes, the logo is changed to an ice-blue color.
Julie Madison
A version of Julie Madison appeared in the 1997 film Batman & Robin, played by Elle Macpherson. Many of her scenes, including one in which she is stabbed to death by Poison Ivy, were edited out of the film's final cut, thus she is the only film love interest of Batman's to not have a prominent role.
Chase Meridian
Dr. Chase Meridian (Nicole Kidman): Appears only in Batman Forever as the female lead. Kidman described the character as a "criminal psychologist who dresses like Jessica Rabbit." Robin Wright turned down the role while Jeanne Tripplehorn and Linda Hamilton were also both considered. Chase is a psychiatrist working with the Gotham City police and falls in love with both Batman and Bruce Wayne. She assists Bruce in analyzing a series of befuddling threats sent to him by the Riddler and also witnesses the death of Robin's parents. Later she learns Bruce is Batman and is kidnapped by the Riddler and Two-Face in a trap designed to make Batman choose between her and Robin. Batman saves them both and Chase promises to keep his identity secret.
Alfred Pennyworth
Michael Gough portrayed Alfred in the movies Batman (1989), Batman Returns (1992), Batman Forever (1995), and Batman & Robin (1997). In Batman & Robin, he was visited by his niece, Barbara Wilson, who becomes Batgirl. He is also a skilled technologist, as he programs his brain algorithms into the Batcomputer. Gough also portrayed Alfred in the BBC radio-drama presentation of the "Knightfall" story arc from the Batman comics, in a Diet Coke commercial in 1989, and in a series of Onstar commercials featuring Batman.
Vicki Vale
Vicki Vale is featured prominently in the 1989 film Batman, played by Kim Basinger. Sean Young was originally cast as Vicki before being forced to bow out due to an injury from a horse-riding scene that was utimately deleted from the film. The film's interpretation of the character is actually a hybrid with 1970s character Silver St. Cloud. When the movie begins, she has come to Gotham City to do a story on Batman, but she soon develops a relationship with Bruce Wayne, unaware that he is the Dark Knight. She later becomes drawn into the conflict with The Joker when the Clown Prince of Crime develops an affection for her. Eventually Vicki does learn Bruce's secret identity and is present during Batman's final confrontation with The Joker on top of Gotham City Cathedral.
Vicki does not appear in the sequel Batman Returns, but is mentioned once during a conversation between Bruce and Selina Kyle, where Bruce mentions that Vicki ended their relationship because ultimately she couldn't accept his dual life. She is also mentioned flippantly when Bruce reminds Alfred of him letting her into the Batcave in the first film.
Barbara Wilson/Batgirl
Batgirl, portrayed by actress Alicia Silverstone, appears in the 1997 movie Batman & Robin. The film's "Barbara Wilson" is clearly based on Barbara Gordon, except that in the movie, Barbara is the niece of Alfred Pennyworth rather than the daughter of Commissioner Gordon. Her costume varies significantly from traditional versions, with no yellow coloring and a domino mask, also like Robin's. However, during the film's climax where she, Batman and Robin wear silver riding costumes to protect them from Mister Freeze's ice. This costume features a full skull cap that more closely resembles Barbara Gordon's traditional mask, though she tosses it away a few seconds later and reverts back to the domino mask.
Villains
Bane
Bane appears in the live-action movie Batman and Robin (1997). Unlike his comics counterpart, this incarnation has a real name, Antonio Diego (portrayed by Michael Reid MacKay), a diminutive serial killer serving life in prison and sole-surviving test subject and turned into the muscular Bane (portrayed by Robert Swenson) by Dr. Jason Woodrue. Rather than being the devious, intelligent villain of the comics, this version is an inarticulate thug who serves as the lackey of Poison Ivy, one of the main villains of the film. Bane is barely even capable of speech and uses growls, roars, and snarls for most of his communication. Despite this, he is still muscular, wears a slight variation of his classic mask, and is still superhumanly strong. This depiction of the character was one of many aspects of the film which received harsh criticism from fans and critics alike.
Catwoman
Catwoman was portrayed by Michelle Pfeiffer in the 1992 movie Batman Returns. As recreated by Daniel Waters and Tim Burton, Selina Kyle is depicted as a lonely, frustrated woman pushed over the edge (literally) into obsession and crime after her boss, tycoon Max Shreck, tries to kill her to keep her from revealing his plot to build a power plant that would steal Gotham's electricity.
Mr. Freeze
Mr. Freeze appears in Batman & Robin, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. The film features a largely campy interpretation of the character, although it includes the animated series version's tragic origin. Throughout the movie, he spouts endless puns related to cold weather and temperatures (e.g., "You’re not sending me to the cooler!", "Allow me to break the ice", "Let's kick some ice!" and "Everybody! Chill!"). The film's characterization of Mr. Freeze (as well as Schwarzenegger's performance) was largely criticized by critics, like the rest of the film.
Nora Fries
Nora Fries is played by supermodel Vendela Kirsebom Thomessen in the movie Batman & Robin. She is cryogenically frozen throughout the movie, and the only lines she has are in her and Mr. Freeze's wedding video. In this film, her disease is the fictional MacGregor's Syndrome. Batman reveals that she has the most advanced stages of this disease, for which Mr. Freeze (Arnold Schwarzenegger) has yet to find a cure.
At one point in the movie, Poison Ivy, who is infatuated with Mr. Freeze and his powers, pulls the plug on Nora’s machine in an attempt to kill her and gain Freeze’s affections. She fails. Nora lives, and Batman has her sent to Arkham Asylum so that Mr. Freeze can continue his research for a cure during his imprisonment there—Freeze also uses this opportunity to exact his revenge on Ivy for trying to kill his wife.
Joker
The Joker is portrayed by Jack Nicholson in the 1989 film Batman. In the film, the character is a gangster named Jack Napier who is disfigured when he falls into a vat of chemicals during a confrontation with Batman (Michael Keaton). His trademark grin is the result of a botched attempt at plastic surgery. Driven insane by his reflection, he launches a crime wave designed to "outdo" Batman, who he feels is getting too much press. When Bruce Wayne confronts the Joker, he later recognizes him as the mugger who murdered his parents. In the flashback scene showing Napier's [...] of Thomas and Martha Wayne, Napier is played by Hugo E. Blick. Newsweek's review of the film stated that the best scenes in the movie are due to the surreal black comedy portrayed in this character.
Penguin
In Batman Returns, the Penguin was portrayed by Danny DeVito, and is the main antagonist of the film. Director Tim Burton, inspired by the film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, re-imagined the character not as an eloquent gentleman of crime, but a physically deformed sociopath with a homicidal grudge against Gotham City. While this Penguin retained a number of trademarks, such as a variety of trick umbrellas and the use of a monocle, he was given a huge visual makeover. Where the comic version had varied between a full head of hair and varying degrees of thinning, this Penguin was bald at the top, with his remaining length of hair long and stringy. His hands were now flippers, with a thumb and index finger, and the remaining three fingers fused together. An unidentified thick, dark green bile-like liquid sometimes trickled from his nose and mouth.
Instead of a tuxedo, he wore a more gothic, Victorian-style outfit, with a jabot as opposed to a bow tie. Other instances show him in black boots, a dickey, and something akin to a child's blanket sleeper, or the old long john-style underwear of the 1800s. However, Burton's design maintained the top hat seen in the comics, along with a monocle and a cigarette in some scenes.
In the film, the Penguin is born disfigured and his wealthy parents throw their infant son into Gotham's sewers. The child survives, floating down Gotham's sewers and under the city zoo, where he is taken in by a group of penguins and later joins a circus freak show. While researching Penguin, Batman speculates that the Penguin was responsible for the disappearance of children during his time in the circus freak show. At the end of the film he sends his clowns to steal all the first born children to submerge them in a lake at his underground hideout. When Batman foils his plot, The Penguin becomes enraged and orders his legions of penguins (armed with missiles) to completely obliterate Gotham.
After a battle above ground, the fight ensues into the sewers and Penguin's lair, where Batman manages to knock Penguin through a skylight and into the waters below. He later emerges from the pool ready to kill Batman, but has been severely injured by his fall. He draws an umbrella from his collection, but accidentally draws a harmless toy, "the cute one". Complaining of the heat, and bleeding profusely from his mouth and nose, he collapses to the concrete, and dies. An honor guard of penguins emerges, and slowly drag his remains into the water, where he sinks to the bottom in a cloud of his own blood.
Poison Ivy
Uma Thurman played Poison Ivy as the main antagonist in the film Batman & Robin. In the movie, Pamela Isley is shown researching in a South American lab, where she discovers the theft of certain plant toxins from her lab. Investigating, she discovers her boss, Jason Woodrue, offering up Bane, a soldier enhanced by Venom, a toxin-derived chemical, to various bidders. Bane lashes out, and Isley is revealed in the fracas. Woodrue asks her to join him, but when she declines, he attempts to kill her by throwing her into a shelf full of chemicals (including a canister labeled Venom, the same [...] that CREATES Bane). Isley rises moments later, having been infused with the plant chemicals that she was thrown into. She kills Woodrue with a poisonous kiss and escapes the burning camp with Bane. Soon after, she appears in Gotham using both identities, Isley and Ivy, sparking friction between Batman and Robin — Robin proving more susceptible to her pheromones than Batman and thus becoming easily jealous — and breaks the recently imprisoned Mr. Freeze out of Arkham to form an alliance. Believing she is the dominant woman, she unplugs his wife's life-support system and claims that Batman did it, using this to encourage Freeze to begin a plan to freeze the entire Earth and then replace human life with her mutated plants, the two of them serving as the rulers. However, although she captures Batman and Robin with her plants, she is defeated by the new Batgirl, her deception subsequently being revealed to Freeze in Arkham, who has personally sworn to make her life "a living hell."
Riddler
Jim Carrey portrays Edward Nigma/The Riddler in Batman Forever, and is one of two primary antagonists (the other being Two-Face). Here, Edward Nigma is an employee of Wayne Enterprises, who invents a mind-manipulation device called The Box, which is rejected by Bruce Wayne, yet continues to work on it, ultimately discovering that the use of his device increases his own intelligence, whilst lowering others'. He perfects his brain-manipulation device into a system which beams signals to and from the human brain in order to simulate an immersive television viewing experience. After being inspired by a televised raid on a circus by Two-Face, Nigma adopts his own alter ego in the form of the Riddler, and approaches Two-Face with a deal: if he helps Nigma fund major production for his device, he will use his ill-gotten knowledge to tell him Batman's secret identity, which Two-Face accepts after a flip of his coin. Nigma is shown to be obsessed with his idol Bruce Wayne, stalking him and leaving riddles for him. hroughout the film, Nigma obsesses over Wayne, copying Wayne's appearance down to a facial mole, and he prevents Two-Face from [...] him (so that Batman can solve a riddle).
While critics stated that the Forever interpretations of the Riddler and Two-Face had more in common with the Joker than their comic book counterparts, Carrey was nominated for the MTV Award for "Best Villain" for his performance, as was Tommy Lee Jones for his portrayal of Two-Face.
When Michael Keaton was still attached to the film, director Joel Schumacher was considering Robin Williams for the role of the Riddler. Williams turned down the role, and when Keaton left the project and was replaced with Val Kilmer, Jim Carrey was cast. Carrey had stated that he was attracted to the "stalker" angle added to the character in the script.
Two-Face
Billy Dee Williams appears as a pre-disfigurement Harvey in Batman (1989). Williams took the role specifically to guarantee his casting in a sequel, reinforced by a pay or play contract. Williams was set to reprise the role in a more villainous light in the sequel, Batman Returns, but his character was deleted and replaced with original villain Max Shreck. However, when Two-Face was to become a secondary villain to Jim Carrey's Riddler in the third movie, director Tim Burton had abdicated to Joel Schumacher, who decided to pay Williams' penalty fee to hire Tommy Lee Jones.
In Batman Forever (1995) Tommy Lee Jones portrays Harvey Dent/Two-Face alongside Jim Carrey's Riddler and opposite Val Kilmer's Batman. He is built up to be the main antagonist of the film until the emergence and rise of the Riddler. "Harvey Two-Face" plays up the "two" gimmick to the point where Two-Face even refers to himself in the plural (using "we," "us," and "our"), and is implied to actually suffer from multiple personality disorder. In the film, Two-Face (instead of Tony Zucco, as in the original comics) is responsible for the origin of Robin when he kills [...] Grayson's (Chris O'Donnell) family. Also, Jones' Two-Face uses his coin flipping more frequently; in one scene, he decides to "cheat" with his moral game by flipping his coin until it comes up as he wants it (although in that particular scene, Two-Face had been ordered by the Riddler to knock Bruce Wayne out cold no matter what). Jones' Two-Face was a comedic, camp version of the character. In the film, Two-Face is a crime boss who allies with the Riddler on the promise he will be told Batman's secret identity. He eventually holds Batman and Robin at gunpoint, when Batman prompts Two-Face to flip his coin to decide if he should shoot them. Two-Face does so and Batman throws a handful of identical coins into the air; Two-Face panics and scrambles to find his coin, plummeting to his apparent death in the process. His costume is later seen in the sequel, Batman & Robin, in Arkham Asylum.
This version of Two-Face, as well as the film itself, was met with a mixed to negative response from audiences and critics alike. Scott Beatty, in particular, noted that he felt that the Batman Forever version of Two-Face was more of a Joker knock-off than the multifaceted character in the original comics. Jones, however, was nominated for "Best Villain" at the MTV Awards for his performance.
Other villains
Max Eckhardt
Alicia Hunt
Carl Grissom
Sal Maroni
In a scene in Batman Forever, Bruce Wayne is watching a news story which features a man in a courtroom witness box throwing acid into the face of District Attorney Harvey Dent, the film's antagonist. The reporter refers to the man as "Boss Moroni" who is portrayed by Dennis Paladino.
Max Schreck
Jason Woodrue
An unmutated Jason Woodrue appears in the 1997 film Batman and Robin, as a corrupt scientist responsible for the origins of Bane and Poison Ivy. Dr. Woodrue is shown in a South American lab, where he uses plant toxins to create Bane, a soldier enhanced by toxin-derived chemicals, who he subsequently tries to sell to various bidders. Pamela Isley, who works for Woodrue, discovers his illegal experiments, and Woodrue kills her by throwing her into a shelf full of plant chemicals. Isley rises from the dead moments later, however, having been transformed into Poison Ivy by the chemicals. She kills Woodrue with a kiss and destroys the lab. Woodrue was portrayed by John Glover, who had previously voiced the Riddler on Batman: The Animated Series and also later played Lionel Luthor on Smallville.
Christopher Nolan series (2005-present)
Allies
Rachel Dawes
Rachel Dawes is a fictional character who first appeared in Christopher Nolan's 2005 feature film, Batman Begins. She was portrayed in that film by Katie Holmes and as a child in flashback scenes by Emma Lockhart. Maggie Gyllenhaal replaced Holmes in the 2008 sequel The Dark Knight. The character appears exclusively in the films, but is mostly based on Rachel Caspian from Batman: Year Two. Gyllenhaal also appeared as Dawes on the viral marketing website I Believe in Harvey Dent, giving the aspiring District Attorney her endorsement.
Rachel is a childhood friend to Bruce Wayne. Rachel's mother worked as a domestic servant at Wayne Manor, and the two would often play together on the grounds. After Bruce's parents are murdered by Joe Chill, Rachel's mother seeks other employment and leaves Wayne Manor with Rachel.
Rachel enrolls in law school and gets an internship at the Gotham City District Attorney's office during her first year. After Chill is murdered for testifying against Mafia boss Carmine Falcone, Bruce reveals to Rachel that he intended to [...] Chill himself, and is actually somewhat grateful that Falcone killed him. Rachel is horrified, and tells Bruce that his late parents would be ashamed of him. She then takes Bruce down to the slums and shows him that the crime Falcone spread throughout Gotham has worsened an already existing economic depression, and states that everyday more people just like Joe Chill are created because of it. Soon afterward, Bruce leaves the United States and Rachel continues her studies in law school. Years later, she becomes an Assistant District Attorney. She had a brief romantic relationship with her boss, District Attorney Carl Finch. Finch is later murdered by Ra's al Ghul's henchmen.
Lucius Fox
Lucius is played by Morgan Freeman in the 2005 film Batman Begins and its 2008 sequel, The Dark Knight.
Batman Begins
In the first film, Fox is a research head and friend of Bruce Wayne's late father Thomas Wayne who is demoted by Wayne Enterprises CEO William Earle to overseeing the supplies of Wayne Enterprises' aborted research projects and prototypes. Upon returning to the business, Bruce Wayne strikes up a fast friendship which allows him to all but recruit Fox as his armorer for his Batman activities. Fox proves invaluable in this role, even when he is fired by Earle. Among other things, he supplies Wayne with the materials that will eventually become the Batsuit and the Bat-Tumbler. In addition, Fox synthesizes the antidote for The Scarecrow's fear toxin.
Regarding Wayne's identity as Batman, he tells Wayne, "[If] you don't want to tell me exactly what you're doing— when I'm asked, I don't have to lie. But don't think of me as an idiot." At the end of the film, Wayne, having gained majority control of Wayne Enterprises' shares, fires Earle and makes Fox the company's CEO.
The Dark Knight
In The Dark Knight, Fox, who is aware that Bruce Wayne is Batman and actively participates in a support capacity as Wayne's armorer, providing him with additional equipment such as the Batpod and a new Batsuit designed for more efficient mobility. In addition, Fox participates in his employer's vigilante activities both in the field and at Wayne Enterprises as his technical assistant and reconnaissance expert using his professional duties as cover. However, he disapproves of Batman manipulating his cellphone sonar technology into a device using every cellphone in Gotham to effectively spy on the entire city in a desperate attempt to locate the Joker. Fox says he will use the machine to help find the Joker, but Wayne should consider it his resignation as he cannot work for him while such technology exists, stating that such technology affords too much power to one individual. After the Joker is arrested, Fox types in his name as instructed and the computer self-destructs. Fox walks away with a smile on his face.
In a minor subplot in the film, a disgruntled Wayne Enterprises employee stumbles across the Bruce Wayne-Batman connection, and approaches Fox in a botched attempt to blackmail Bruce. Fox points out that if this employee's suspicions are correct, attempting to threaten Bruce with exposure would achieve nothing other than antagonising a fabulously wealthy man with connections to the highest authorities in the city who is also a skilled vigilante who does not shrink from using violence when necessary. The employee appears to back down, only to later attempt to expose Bruce's identity in a television broadcast which is, fortunately, interrupted by the Joker.
James Gordon
Batman Begins
In the 2005 reboot Batman Begins Gordon is portrayed by Gary Oldman. The film partly concerns Gordon's rise from beat cop to Sergeant and, by the end of the film, Lieutenant. He did his best to comfort the eight-year-old Bruce Wayne after the [...] of his parents, when he was a young man, and Bruce later recognizes him as one of the few honest police officers in the city and would always remember his kindness after his parents' death.
In the novelization, Gordon is transferred to Chicago during the time frame between the Waynes' [...] and the reappearance of Bruce after his seven-year disappearance. It is hinted that something bad went down during his time as a Chicago PD officer, something Gordon "took the heat for", and had to return to Gotham because the GCPD was the only force that would hire him after what happened in Chicago. In a bit of expanded dialogue, when Detective Flass sneaks cash away from a street vendor, and tells Gordon he's nervous about Gordon reporting it, Gordon says, "I'm no rat. In a town this bent, who's there to rat to anyway?"
While Bruce Wayne develops his Batman identity, Gordon is the first person in law enforcement that he contacts. They form a secret alliance against Carmine Falcone's criminal operation. Gordon proves important when Batman fights Ra's al Ghul. Batman gives Gordon the task of destroying the monorail tracks around Gotham City with the Batmobile, halting Ra's plan to destroy the city. He is promoted to lieutenant and devises the first Bat-Signal. The movie ends with Gordon talking about another criminal who robbed a bank and leaves a calling card in the form of a Joker playing card. In this film, he is shown with a young son rather than a daughter; it was only at the sequel that Gordon and his wife were shown to have a daughter as well.
Many critics have noted that Oldman's portrayal of Gordon bears a strong resemblance to the way the character was drawn by David Mazzucchelli in Batman: Year One.
The Dark Knight
Oldman reprises his role of Gordon in the 2008 sequel The Dark Knight. In the film, Gordon is leading Gotham PD's Major Crimes Unit and forms a tenuous alliance with Batman and district attorney Harvey Dent to round up the remaining members of Carmine Falcone's mob. When the Joker reveals that Commissioner Loeb is his upcoming target, Gordon arrives at his office with other officers to offer protection, but he fails when Loeb dies upon drinking a glass of scotch mixed with acidic poison.
At the funeral of Commissioner Loeb, Gordon foils the Joker's attempt on Mayor Garcia's life. He appears to have taken a bullet for the mayor and died, but it is revealed that he faked his death to protect his family. After Harvey Dent claims to be Batman, Gordon disguises himself in order to join the police convoy taking Dent to Central Holding. Following a vehicular battle with the Joker on the streets of Gotham, Gordon rescues both Batman and Dent, captures the Joker, and is promoted to Police Commissioner by the mayor. That same night, two corrupt cops and the Joker's men abduct Dent and his fiancee, Rachel Dawes, placing them in separate buildings with oil drums rigged to explode. While Batman is able to rescue Dent, Gordon does not arrive in time to save Rachel. Disfigured in the explosion and mentally unstable after the death of his fiancee, Dent becomes the vigilante Two-Face and seeks to claim vengeance against Gordon, whom he blames for Rachel's death. While the Joker holds two ferry boats hostage, Two-Face kidnaps Gordon's wife and children and forces Gordon to plead for their lives at the site of Rachel's death. Determined to make Gordon suffer as he had suffered, Two-Face flips his coin to determine whether his son should live or die. Batman tackles Two-Face off the building to save Gordon's son and Two-Face appears to have died in the fall.
In order to to preserve Dent's image as the city's "White Knight" and prevent the Joker from fully attaining his goal of a chaotic Gotham, Batman tells Gordon that he will take the blame for all of Two-Face's murders, so that the public will never need to know of Dent's insanity and his charges against the mob are not dismissed. Gordon is initially against it, due to him owing his family's safety to the Caped Crusader, but after much convincing from Batman, he reluctantly agrees. After eulogizing Dent as a hero to the city, Gordon destroys the Bat-Signal in front of his men and calls for a manhunt against the Dark Knight, though he secretly tells his son that Batman is not just a hero; he's something even more.
Gillan B. Loeb
Loeb appears in the 2005 film Batman Begins and its 2008 sequel, The Dark Knight. He is played by British actor Colin McFarlane in both films. Though shown to be at odds with Batman (launching a police task force to arrest him) Loeb is portrayed more sympathetically in the films, with no indications that he is corrupt or under the influence of Carmine Falcone. He is the one who also notifies the young Bruce Wayne that they have caught Joe Chill, his parents' killer. Loeb is killed in The Dark Knight when he drinks from a liquor bottle that contained acid planted by corrupt police officers working for the Joker. After Loeb's death, Mayor Garcia promotes James Gordon to the vacant post of Police Commissioner. Unlike in the comics, the Loeb in Nolan's universe is an African-American.
Alfred Pennyworth
Michael Caine portrays Alfred in the movie Batman Begins and its sequel The Dark Knight.
Villains
Ra's al Ghul
In the film Batman Begins, Ra's al Ghul is played by Liam Neeson, and is the main antagonist of the film. He is the head of the centuries-old League of Shadows, an organization that is dedicated to keeping order and justice in a world which it views as decadent and corrupt. For the first half of the film, he goes by the name Henri Ducard and acts as a mentor to a young Bruce Wayne, teaching him the martial arts that he will one day use as Batman. During this time, Ducard hides behind a decoy Ra's al Ghul. The decoy, played by Ken Watanabe, is killed while battling Bruce in the first half of the movie. After learning of the League's intention to destroy Gotham City, Bruce sets fire to the League's temple, rescues Ducard from the burning ruins and returns to Gotham.
Months later, Ducard unexpectedly reappears, and reveals that he is actually the real Ra's al Ghul: "Henri Ducard" was merely an alias, and the Ra's al Ghul Bruce defeated at the beginning was actually a decoy, which Bruce himself deciphers when another man attempts to pass as Ra's before Ducard reveals the truth. In the ensuing confrontation, Ra's boasts of the League's supposed exploits throughout history (the Sack of Rome, the Black Death, and the Great Fire of London). He explains that the League plans to use a hallucinogenic fear toxin invented by the Scarecrow to infect the city with mindless panic and watch it destroy itself. He claims that the League of Shadows once attempted to use economics to destroy Gotham, but had underestimated men like Bruce's father, who used their wealth to restore the city. Furthermore, he explains that the destruction of Gotham City is merely another mission by the League to correct humanity's recurring fits of "decadence." Ra's then orders his henchmen to burn down Wayne Manor, saying, "Justice is balance. You burned my house and left me for dead. Consider us even."
With the aid of Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce survives the fire, and confronts Ra's al Ghul as Batman. Ra's scornfully comments that Batman has taken his advice of "using theatricality" too literally. He escapes and goes on with his plans. Batman follows him, however, and teacher and student have a final battle aboard a runaway train. Ra's gains the upper hand defeating Bruce and pinning him to the floor, however Ra's al Ghul's arrogance ultimately leads to his downfall when he fails to notice that Sergeant Gordon has used the Batmobile to derail the train. Batman then uses this distraction to his advantage and pins Ra's to the ground ready to finish him. Ra's then asks, " Have you finally learned to do what is necessary?" (Referencing to the start of the movie when Bruce stated he would not kill). Batman then replies, " I won't kill you...but I don't have to save you." Batman then escapes, leaving Ra's alone on the doomed train, which falls into a garage and explodes.
There is no direct mention of Ra's' supernatural nature or the Lazarus Pits in the film. However, when Ducard reveals himself to be the real Ra's al Ghul, he mentions a supernatural invincibility: "But is Ra's al Ghul immortal? Are his methods supernatural?" but Batman rebuffs it as a "cheap parlor trick" of using decoys to conceal his true nature. His daughter, Talia al Ghul, is mentioned in the film's novelization, but not in the film. Ra's (still under his Ducard alias) briefly mentions his late wife as his inspiration for his crusade against crime.
Joe Chill
Joe Chill was played by British actor Richard Brake in the 2005 film Batman Begins. This version of Chill claims to have been driven to mug the Waynes because of the desperation of the times (Gotham was undergoing an economic depression because an undisclosed action by the League of Shadows). He is arrested soon after [...] Bruce's parents. After serving 14 years in prison, he undergoes a hearing to be released as part of a deal to testify against Gotham mob boss Carmine Falcone (with whom he had shared a prison cell) in exchange for parole. During the hearing, he claims to regret his crime. After the hearing, despite police presence, he is killed by one of Falcone's assassins, who was posing as a reporter as he leaves the courtroom. It is later discovered that Falcone had bribed the judge of Chill's case to make the hearing public and bring Chill out into the open, further evidenced by the assassin going free with no subsequent arrest. The young Bruce Wayne, who is waiting outside the courtroom with a gun of his own, is thus deprived of his own chance for revenge; as with Year Two, it is left ambiguous whether or not he would have actually killed Chill. Bruce's lost chance of [...] Chill himself helps him realize what justice really is, and his memories of a gun taking his parents' lives brings him to his rule that he will not kill. Bruce later confronts Falcone, who taunts him by saying that Chill bragged that Thomas Wayne "begged like a dog" before his death. Whether or not Chill really said this and faked remorse is left unknown.
Overall, Joe Chill is depicted as a tragic character in the movie, since during his mugging of Bruce's parents he's shown to constantly be shaking from what he was doing. Also, later when Ra's al Ghul informs Bruce that the League of Shadows caused Gotham's economic depression, he comments that Bruce's parents were "gunned down by one of the very people they were trying to help."
Carmine Falcone
In Batman Begins (2005), Falcone, played by Tom Wilkinson, appears as a secondary antagonist. He all but controls Gotham City, flooding it with drugs, crime, and poverty. He is effectively above the law as most government officials are on his payroll or are afraid of him to the point where he can actually [...] somebody in front of several law officials and still escape punishment (examples being two coucilmen, a union official, Judge Faden, Detective Flass, and an unnamed policeman). It is mentioned that, at one point, he shared a prison cell with Joe Chill (Richard Brake), the man who murdered Thomas and Martha Wayne. He has Chill murdered for threatening to testify against him, depriving Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) of the chance to take his own revenge.
Bruce is initially grateful that Chill was murdered, but Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes) shows Bruce the amount of damage Falcone has done to Gotham, stating the poverty Falcone's empire causes creates even more people just like Chill. Bruce confronts him at an underground establishment and tells Falcone that not everyone in Gotham is afraid of him. Falcone dismisses the young billionaire as a harmless nuisance, telling him that real power comes from being feared, and has him beaten up to teach him a lesson. However, he unknowingly inspired Wayne to travel the world in a journey which will ultimately culminate in his transformation into Batman.
Seven years later, Falcone goes into business with Dr. Jonathan Crane (Cillian Murphy) and Ra's al Ghul (Liam Neeson), smuggling a fear toxin into Gotham. As a form of payment, Crane, who runs Arkham Asylum, diagnoses Falcone's henchmen as insane when they are arrested so they can avoid prison. Wayne, who by now has become Batman, discovers and foils the plan and knocks Falcone unconscious, leaving him tied to a searchlight for the police to find. The trussed-up mobster, surrounded by a tattered overcoat, projects a bat-like shape into the sky; this impromptu calling card would later evolve into the Bat-Signal. While in prison, Falcone tries to extort Crane by way of blackmail into allowing him a part in the upcoming fear toxin project. Crane instead puts on a freakish scarecrow mask he uses in his experiments on the asylum's inmates and gasses him with the fear toxin. Crane literally terrifies Falcone out of his mind and leaves him in a wild state of psychosis. Falcone is incarcerated in Arkham, continuously muttering the phrase "Scarecrow". He is not seen among the countless prisoners freed from Arkham by the League of Shadows, led by Ra's al Ghul, and his fate is left unknown. He is not seen or mentioned either in the direct-to-video sequel, Batman: Gotham Knight.
Carmine Falcone is referenced in The Dark Knight. During a trial scene that introduces Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), he is mentioned as still being held in Arkham. In his absence, Sal Maroni (Eric Roberts) has taken over the "crime family" in Gotham.
Arnold John Flass
The 2005 film Batman Begins also featured a version of Detective Flass, portrayed by Mark Boone Junior. Although similar in character to Year One (in as much as being Jim Gordon's partner and being characterised as highly corrupt), Flass in Begins was depicted as overweight, black-haired and unkempt. His appearance is somewhat similar to that of Harvey Bullock and even Det. Lt. Max Eckhardt. His uncouth behavior knows no bounds, even stealing from a food vendor's tip box and laughing in the man's face.
The antagonistic Flass is in the pocket of crime boss Carmine Falcone and served as protection during one of Falcone's [...] shipments (the first appearance of Bruce Wayne as Batman in the film). He was last seen when he inhaled Dr. Jonathan Crane's fear toxin released by Ra's al Ghul in Gotham and before he could shoot down two boys who he thought were monsters thanks to the toxin, Sgt. Gordon knocked him unconscious and hand-cuffed him to a pipe. His conclusion is unknown, as he was not seen from that point onwards. According to The Gotham Times, a marketing site for The Dark Knight, Flass spent some time in a mental hospital, but he was charged with corruption by Harvey Dent. After getting dismissed from the GCPD, he loses his disability pension.
Joker
In 2008's The Dark Knight, the character is portrayed by Heath Ledger, who told Sarah Lyall of New York Times that he viewed that film's version of the Joker as a "psychopathic, mass murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy." He is a bankrobber targeting mob banks, but when hired to kill Batman, reveals his desire to upset social order, and comes to define himself by his struggle with Batman. Costume designer Lindy Hemming described the Joker's look as being based around his personality, in which "he doesn't care about himself at all." She avoided his design being vagrant, but nonetheless it is "scruffier, grungier and therefore when you see him move, he's slightly twitchier or edgy." Unlike most incarnations, where his appearance is a result of chemical bleaching, this Joker sports a Glasgow smile, and accentuates it through unevenly applied white, black, and red make-up, he also has faded green hair. Accordingly, he still leaves his victims with post-mortem smiles throughout the film, but with the use of a knife and make-up rather than chemical manipulation. During the course of the film, he tells conflicting stories about how he acquired the scars, which involve child abuse and self-mutilation. He mostly eschews gag-based weapons common to the character, in favor of knives, firearms, and an array of explosive devices. Ledger's portrayal of The Joker was greatly praised by both fans and critics. Jeff Labrecque writes that Ledger's "seething anarchist Joker makes Jack Nicholson's once-iconic dandy now seem as clownish as Cesar Romero's." On February 22, 2009, Ledger posthumously won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance. He was the fourth actor to be nominated for the portrayal of a comic book character, and the first to win.
Sal Maroni
Eric Roberts portrays Maroni in the Batman Begins sequel, The Dark Knight. In the film, Maroni has taken over as boss of Carmine Falcone's crime family following Falcone's fall from power during Ra's Al Ghul's attack on Gotham. Prior to the events of The Dark Knight, he has been embroiled in a violent turf war with rival gangsters Gambol and the Chechen, with whom he has now formed an apparent truce.
At the beginning of the film, Maroni is put on trial by district attorney Harvey Dent. However, the informant testifying against him recants his statements and pulls a gun on Dent, but Dent cannot trace the attack to Maroni, and he is acquitted. Later, Maroni meets with fellow crime bosses to discuss the matter of their funds being jeopardized by Batman, the Joker (who had robbed one of their banks) and the Gotham police. The mobsters receive help from a Chinese mob accountant named Lau, who hides away his and other mob faction's money in an undisclosed place. The Joker himself offers to kill Batman for half of all their money, but the mob refuses; they change their decision after Batman captures Lau in Hong Kong and delivers him to the Gotham police. Lau's testimony allows Dent to put all the mobsters in Gotham on trial, but as one of the bosses Maroni is able to make bail. Maroni is next seen when he is being interrogated by Batman above a club hours after the apparent [...] of Lieutenant James Gordon. Despite Batman breaking one of his legs by throwing him off a building, Maroni doesn't disclose the Joker's whereabouts, instead lecturing Batman about letting people die by not turning himself in to the Joker.
Later in the film after countless people and several city officials have been killed and Dent badly scarred because of the Joker, Maroni realizes that joining forces with the Joker has created more chaos than he can handle and he tells Gordon the Joker's location. In the late scenes of the film, Maroni is seen getting into his car, and is confronted by Dent himself, now calling himself "Two-Face". Two-Face interrogates Maroni as to the identity of the police officer that led to his fiancee's death. Hoping that Dent will spare him, Maroni reveals the officer's identity, but Two-Face still flips his coin to decide on his next course of action. The coin lands on the un-scarred side of his coin, sparing Maroni, but Two-Face, still unsatisfied, flips the coin again for the driver's life, and it lands on the scarred side. Two-Face secures himself in his seat belt and shoots the driver, which causes a serious accident in which the car flips over. Maroni is not seen again after this, and his fate is left unknown. Gordon later mentions that Two-Face killed five people, but it is not made clear whether or not Maroni was one of these five.
Scarecrow
Batman Begins
The Scarecrow appears in the 2005 movie Batman Begins, where he is portrayed by Cillian Murphy. Similar to his comic counterpart, this version of the Scarecrow is Dr. Jonathan Crane, a corrupt, sadistic psychiatrist. The novelization of The Dark Knight says that he was fired from Gotham University before being accepted to Arkham Asylum. The film incarnation specializes in psychopharmacology at Arkham, and is secretly allied with Ra's al Ghul (Liam Neeson), as well as paying crime lord Carmine Falcone (Tom Wilkinson) for his services in smuggling the hallucinogenic drugs into Gotham. Crane also agrees to lend Falcone his services by declaring Falcone's thugs insane in court, thus saving them from serving time in prison. During his Arkham investigations, Batman overpowers Crane's henchmen and sprays Crane with his own toxin. Crane is subsequently incarcerated in Arkham as an inmate, later escaping in a mass break-out of Arkham inmates as part of Ra's al Ghul's plan to ultimately bring chaos and mass panic to the city of Gotham. Crane — now calling himself "Scarecrow" — pursues Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes) and a young boy through an alleyway while on horseback. Rachel eludes Scarecrow by shocking him in the face with a taser, but Crane is revealed to remain at large by James Gordon (Gary Oldman) in the film's final scene.
As the Scarecrow, Crane wears a mask seemingly created from a poorly-stitched burlap sack with a hangman's noose dangling around the neck. The mask has a built-in rebreather, doubling as a gas mask to protect Crane from the effects of his own toxin, while also allowing him to appear terrifying to the victims of his toxin. Murphy explained that the relatively simple mask was done because "[He] wanted to avoid the Worzel Gummidge look, because he's not a very physically imposing man - he's more interested in the manipulation of the mind and what that can do."
The Dark Knight
Following intense media and fan speculation regarding the possible re-appearance of his character, Murphy reprised his on-screen role in the Batman Begins sequel The Dark Knight (2008), appearing in a brief cameo as the Scarecrow. After the film's opening scenes, the Scarecrow is seen in a parking garage dealing his fear toxin to the Russian mobster The Chechen (Ritchie Coster), who is outraged that Crane is intentionally poisoning recreational drugs with fear toxin. When the situation becomes infiltrated by Batman copycats, the Scarecrow notices right away that they are simply imitators, and is delighted when the real Batman shows up. As Batman fights off the thugs and the wannabes, the Scarecrow flees in his van and tries to run over Batman during his escape. Eventually, he speeds down the spiral parking ramp and almost escapes when Batman jumps down the subsequent levels of the garage and smashes right onto the hood of Scarecrow's car. The scene ends with an unmasked Scarecrow left bound by Batman for the police to incarcerate, mocking the vigilante despite his apparent capture.
Two-Face
Aaron Eckhart portrays Harvey Dent/Two-Face in The Dark Knight (2008), the sequel to the 2005 film Batman Begins. In this film, Dent, Gotham's newly-elected D.A. after the previous one, Carl Finch, was murdered, forms an alliance with Commissioner James Gordon, and secretly Batman, to take on the mafia, only to have his life destroyed by the Joker and the mob. Instead of "Apollo", he is known as Gotham's "White Knight". His trademark coin is his father's double-headed 1922 Peace Dollar, which he flips to trick others (sometimes as a joke, other times not) into thinking he uses it to make important decisions.
Upon being saved by Batman from a building rigged to explode by the Joker, the entire left half of Dent's face and neck, soaked with gasoline, is ignited by the building's explosion. Dent is left horribly disfigured; an identical explosion kills his fiancée Rachel Dawes and burns one side of the Peace Dollar with her. After the accident, Dent refuses medication and skin grafts out of guilt from Rachel's death and takes the snide nickname the cops had given him when he was in the GCPD's Internal Affairs Division: "Two-Face." The Joker then convinces him to become a vigilante, making things "fair" by confronting Sal Maroni and the corrupt police officers who ruined his life, deciding whether or not to kill each one by flipping his newly-scarred coin, leaving three dead and one unconscious in his wake. He eventually turns his thirst for vengeance on Commissioner Gordon and later Batman, who tackles him off a building to his demise. Knowing that Gotham's new-found hope would be destroyed, and the cases he made against the mob would be dismissed should Two-Face's crimes become known, Batman and Gordon decide to withhold from the public his final hours as the vigilante Two-Face, with Batman telling Commissioner Gordon that the only way to do this is for Batman to take the blame for Dent by tricking Gotham into thinking that Batman, in a vengeful fury, has committed all of Two-Face's murders.
Director Christopher Nolan explained that the movie's portrayal of the character was meant to emphasize both the differences and parallels between Two-Face and Batman. For every Two-Face scene, Nolan shot Eckhart twice; once in make-up and once without. The effect created means both shots are present, but one side will dominate at any given moment. The entire performance could then be altered, at will, in the editing room. Eckhart has expressed his enthusiasm to reprise his role for a sequel if asked, although he later confirmed that, in talks with Nolan before Heath Ledger's death, the director considers Two-Face to be dead.
Victor Zsasz
Most likely due to the nature of his crimes, Zsasz does not appear in any of the Batman cartoons. He does, however, appear as a minor character in the 2005 film Batman Begins and is portrayed by Tim Booth, the vocalist of British band James. In the movie, Assistant District Attorney Rachel Dawes states that Zsasz butchers citizens for the mob and is one of Carmine Falcone's thugs, implying that he is a hitman instead of a serial killer. He is sent to Arkham Asylum along with many assassins who work for Falcone due to the testimony of Dr. Jonathan Crane (aka the Scarecrow). Nevertheless, when he is let loose from the asylum during Ra's al Ghul's attack on Gotham, tally marks on his neck are clearly visible. Later, Zsasz, along with other inmates under the influence of the fear toxin, attempts to kill Dawes but fails as Batman saves her. Zsasz is revealed to have remained at large in one of the promotional websites for The Dark Knight.
The tie-in book featuring the development art, and the visual guide to the film, also feature a shot of Booth in costume, referring to Zsasz as a serial killer. In the credits and script for the film, as well as all the books and the graphic novelisation, his name is spelled "Zsaz". Only the novelisation of Batman Begins, refers to him as "Victor Zsasz".
Possible future villains
Catwoman
Catwoman is rumored to be a character in the proposed third Batman movie directed by Christopher Nolan, after Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, owing to the death of the character and previous love interest, Rachel Dawes. Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel, Rachel Weisz, Anne Hathaway, and Evan Rachel Wood are all rumoured to take the part should one be open.
Penguin
Christopher Nolan considers the Penguin difficult to portray on film, explaining, "There are certain characters that are easier to mesh with the more real take on Batman we're doing. The Penguin would be tricky."
Michael Caine commented that a studio executive was interested in casting Philip Seymour Hoffman as the Penguin. Hoffman stated that he had not been approached regarding a role in the film.
Riddler
Director Christopher Nolan took the helm as director of the new Batman franchise with the 2005 film Batman Begins. In The Gotham Times, a viral marketing website promoting the 2008 film The Dark Knight, Edward Nashton, an alias of The Riddler, is credited for a letter to the editor titled "Dent Cannot Be Believed" in Issue 2 page 2. Although Anthony Michael Hall was rumored to be playing the Riddler, he actually played a reporter named Mike Engel. While doing press for The Dark Knight, Gary Oldman alluded that the Riddler, as a cyberterrorist, could be the villain in the proposed third film. Doctor Who actor David Tennant has expressed an interest in playing the role.
In response to the growing rumors that Johnny Depp is going to play the Riddler in the next Batman movie, on a radio interview about his band 'The Kids' Johnny Depp responded to the question saying "Oh yeah... I heard about that. Not that I know of. It seems like it'd be a fun gig for a while, yeah."
See also
- List of Batman films cast members