The Penguin on HBO has shown audiences, much like its parent film The Batman did, that certain classic villains thrive in a more realistic, crime drama scenario. Obviously, some great Batman villains and other elements would never work in this context (but would be welcome additions to James Gunn’s DCU). But there are several Bat-baddies from the pages of DC Comics that deserve a spotlight in Matt Reeves’ grounded and gritty version of Gotham City. Here are our top seven choices:
Mr. Zsasz
Victor Zsasz, unlike most Batman villains, doesn’t have a theatrical disguise or catchy nickname. He’s just a brutal serial killer, and the closest thing he has to a gimmick is that he carves a mark on his skin for each murder he commits, leaving his body covered in scars. He does have a twisted origin story though, as all good Bat villains do. Zsasz lost all his money gambling at the Penguin’s Iceberg Lounge, and decided to take his own life. When a vagrant attacked Victor, he snapped and killed him, realizing he’d rather kill others to “free them” from existence. The character has appeared in Batman Begins, the Arkham games, Gotham, and Birds of Prey. However, it’s always in minor roles. The Batman universe is the perfect place for Mr. Zsasz to thrive.
Hush
One of the biggest additions to the Batman mythos in DC Comics in the 2000s was the villain Hush. Introduced in the storyline of the same name by Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee, Hush was a villain whose true identity and motivations were a secret for much of his introductory story. He covered his face in bandages, appearing a bit like the Invisible Man. For a year, Hush manipulated all of Batman’s rogues’ gallery to attack him, before his true identity was finally revealed.
It turned out (spoilers) Hush was really Thomas “Tommy” Elliot, a childhood friend of Bruce Wayne’s. Unlike Bruce, he hated his wealthy parents. He planned to murder them to inherit their fortune, but Dr. Thomas Wayne saved his mother’s life. This led to a lifelong hatred of the Waynes, even after he grew up to become a neurosurgeon himself. In the pre-release excitement for The Batman, many thought Hush would feature in the movie. He didn’t, but we could still see Tommy Elliot pop up somewhere in The Batman world. He certainly fits right in.
Professor Hugo Strange
One of the earliest Batman villains, predating the Joker and Penguin, is Professor Hugo Strange. Portrayed originally as just a typical mad scientist villain who created zombie-like henchmen, he returned in the ‘70s as a psychiatrist who discovered Batman’s secret identity. Eventually, Hugo Strange weaponized that secret against him. He even tried to sell Batman’s identity to the highest bidder once. Hugo Strange was actually on staff at Arkham for years, until they committed him to being a patient there after he became a criminal. With no costume or gimmicks to speak of, Strange feels like the perfect villain for Matt Reeves’ Batman universe. Especially as Arkham Asylum is a featured location in this version of Gotham, as seen in both The Batman and now, The Penguin.
The Court of Owls
One of the most popular additions to Batman’s illustrious cadre of villains came from writer Scott Snyder and artist Greg Capullo in 2011, the Court of Owls. Snyder established the Court as a sinister secret society that dates back over a century, who control almost everything in Gotham City. The Court contains the richest and most powerful people in Gotham, who hide behind creepy, expressionless snow owl masks. The Court of Owls’ introductory storyline is considered one of the greatest Batman sagas ever, and Matt Reeves has hinted that he’s bringing them into his universe. Some aspects of the mythology, like the Court’s undead agents called Talons, wouldn’t work in Reeves’ world. But the core concept of the Court of Owls certainly seems like a no-brainer for his universe.
Black Mask
Black Mask is another crime lord-type character that would fit in perfectly into Matt Reeves’ Gotham City. Roman Sionis, very similar to Hush and Bruce Wayne, came from a wealthy Gotham family. The Sionis family ran a successful cosmetics company, Janus Cosmetics. Roman’s parents disapproved of his new girlfriend, however, and accused him of slumming it with someone beneath his station. As a result, he murdered them. Roman Sionis inherited the company, but he ran it into the ground thanks to his poor business skills.
Roman Sionis eventually sold his company to Wayne Enterprises, leading to a lifelong animosity towards Bruce Wayne. Having lost it all, he lost his mind, and forged a black mask out of the ebony casket of his father, becoming the crime lord Black Mask. He’s appeared in a few live-action projects like Gotham, and Ewan McGregor gave us a scenery-chewing version of the character for Birds of Prey. We imagine a more serious, less over-the-top take for Black Mask wouldn’t be hard to pull off at all.
Professor Pyg
Created by writer Grant Morrison, Professor Pyg is a villain in the true classic Batman mode. Criminally insane, and with a memorable visual and gimmick. In the comics, Lazlo Valentin wears a disturbing-looking pig mask that looks like it belongs in a Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie. Because of his strange fixation with the myth of Pygmalion, and its ideas about physical perfection, he kidnaps people to perform horrible and unnecessary surgery on them, transforming them into living drones. While we think the “living drones” part is a little too fantastical for Matt Reeves’ world, an insane doctor in a weird mask is no more creepy than the Riddler in The Batman. Professor Pyg straddles the line, but he could work in a more realistic context.
The Scarecrow
Scarecrow is maybe the most iconic Batman rogue on this list, and also one of the most theatrical. So how does he work in a more realistic universe? Well, frankly, we’ve seen it already. Cillian Murphy’s version of Doctor Jonathan Crane, a sociopathic doctor who performs experiments on unwitting subjects involving fear, was introduced in Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins. The Nolan films even found a way to make his mask plausible in a less fantastical world. He appeared again in cameo form in Nolan’s two follow-up films. But his less theatrical take on the Scarecrow was never the main villain, and he deserved to be. Especially as Scarecrow is such an over-the-top baddie in the comics and cartoons. We could see Matt Reeves doing something similar. But we bet Reeves’ version would be even more terrifying than Nolan’s was.
