Although Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy ended in 2012, it's fun to imagine whom he might have cast as the villain of a potential Dark Knight 4. The Dark Knight Rises saw Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne retiring and Joseph Gordon Levitt's John "Robin" Blake taking over as Batman. To that end, many have theorized what a fourth chapter could have looked like with a new Dark Knight (and new foes to endanger Gotham City).
Nolan's Dark Knight franchise was always meant to conclude as a trilogy, and there were never any official plans for a Dark Knight 4. However, the ending still sets up a dynamic future with a brand-new hero taking on the mantle of The Dark Knight. Keeping that in mind, here are our casting picks for 10 villains who would have been perfect for a potential Dark Knight4.
9 Riddler
Leonardo Dicaprio
It was initially reported that Riddler was considered before Tom Hardy's Bane for The Dark Knight Rises. However, the move to Bane occurred after it was felt that Riddler too closely resembled the Joker. However, it was also reported that Leonardo DiCaprio had been considered for Riddler, having played the lead in Nolan's Inception only a couple of years previously.
A new and more serious version of Riddler eventually came to the big screen with Matt Reeves' The Batman and actor Paul Dano. However, it would have been fascinating to have seen the dark charm DiCaprio could have given the Riddler had he been used in a possible Dark Knight 4. While he's certainly a dynamic leading man, DiCaprio has also proven himself to be an incredibly capable (and often show-stealing) antagonist, traits that would have been perfect for a Nolan-verse Edward Nygma.
8 Black Mask
Guy Pearce
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DC Comics' Roman Sionis aka Black Mask is one of a few crime bosses who consistently operates within Gotham City. Having been portrayed in live-action before, Sionis is best known for his role in 2020's Birds of Prey where Ewan McGregor played him. Depicted as being truly unhinged and volatile in Birds of Prey, it would have been very exciting to see Nolan's version of Black Mask, perhaps one played by Memento's Guy Pearce who takes over organized crime in the wake of the Falcone and Maroni Crime Families coming to an end.
7 Penguin
Alfred Molina
While it's hard to beat Danny Devito and more recently, Colin Farrell, someone like Alfred Molina could have brought an incredibly engaging Penguin to life in the Nolanverse. Having already brought Spider-Man's Doctor Octopus to the big screen (who's largely considered to be one of the best live-action Spider-Man villains of all time), one could imagine that Molina would have had no problem playing Oswald Cobblepot. The true power of Penguin is not that he was just another crime boss. He's also capable of handling eccentric supervillains as well as the inner workings of Gotham's underworld.
6 Deathstroke
Stephen Lang
Many will agree that Stephen Lang was born to play Slade Wilson's Deathstroke. Best known for his role as Col. Miles Quaritch in James Cameron's Avatar films, Lang certainly knows how to play the kind of villain you just love to hate. To that end, it's not hard to see Lang wearing Deathstroke's iconic black and orange tactical suit, ready to take out his next target (even if it's The Dark Knight himself).
Furthermore, Deathstroke is the kind of grounded DC villain that could arguably fit well in the Nolanverse. Perhaps Slade could get hired by one of Gotham's crime bosses to take out Batman, a true challenge that one could easily see Lang's Slade relishing. Beyond the Nolanverse, perhaps Lang could be cast as the DCU's Deathstroke, seeing as how the previous DCEU tried and failed to make Joe Manganiello's Slade happen with a few teases that ultimately didn't go anywhere.
5 Harley Quinn
Christina Ricci
Although she just voiced Catwoman in Amazon's animated series Batman: Caped Crusader, Christina Ricci could also play a compelling Harley Quinn in live-action. It's not hard to imagine Ricci playing a more grounded version of Harley with connections to Heath Ledger's Joker in a potential Dark Knight 4. Perhaps this Harley never met Joker personally but became enamored and inspired to begin a life of crime in Gotham all the same.
4 Hush
Jake Gyllenhaal
Seeing as how he had been in the running to play Batman before Christian Bale ultimately got the role, it would serve as some very satisfying meta-casting if Jake Gyllenhaal was cast as Tommy Elliot's Hush in a Dark Knight 4. A childhood friend of Bruce Wayne's, Gyllenhaal could easily play Thomas Elliot, the classic DC villain who becomes obsessed with Bruce Wayne's life. Eventually, Tommy came to view the loss of Bruce's parents as a blessing rather than a tragedy, a dark perception that motivated him to try killing his own parents.
Eventually, an adult Elliot uses his gifts as a surgeon to give himself Bruce Wayne's face. This could be an on-screen transformation that could perhaps include the return of Christian Bale to the franchise. This would take the proposed meta-casting even further by having an actor replacement mid-movie.
3 Hugo Strange
Jared Harris
Hugo Strang is one of Batman's more cerebral foes. A dark psychiatrist who also employs extreme hypnosis, Hugo Strange turns to a life of crime while also experimenting on his own gang of thugs. However, Strange himself also develops an obsession with Batman, believing that he could one day replace and supplant Bruce Wayne as a better and more effective Dark Knight, which would be very interesting for the Nolanverse considering Blake's status as Wayne's successor.
Strange was also one of the first villains to learn Batman's secret identity, a powerful secret that Strange tried selling to the highest bidder, another interesting angle for the Nolanverse. Likewise, an actor like Jared Harris could make a perfect Hugo Strange, one who can maintain high levels of intellectual intimidation paired with dark gravitas. This would be similar to his role as Professor James Moriarty in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, which also starred Robert Downey Jr. in the titular role.
2 Mr. Freeze
Mark Strong
Coincidentally, another Sherlock Holmes villain who's also no stranger to DC villain roles, Mark Strong could likely play a villain as intimidating and complex as Mister Freeze (in his sleep). It's worth noting that Freeze is arguably the most "comic-booky" character on this list. However, the right depiction of Victor Fries could still fit the more grounded Nolan-verse quite well considering his origins and personal motivations.
Attempting to save his cryogenically frozen wife who's terminally ill, Victor's life of crime is more often than not motivated by his desire to get the resources he needs to develop a cure. He also suffers from his own affliction from a lab accident where he now needs his own cryo-suit to help keep his body at sub-zero temperatures. To that end, the opportunity to see Mark Strong play such a complex and layered DC villain would be absolutely amazing (a role he could perhaps take on for real in the upcoming DCU or Matt Reeves' version of Gotham).
1 Court of Owls
Kenneth Branagh
Having worked with Nolan on Dunkirk, Tenet, and most recently Oppenheimer, it would be very exciting if Kenneth Branagh were to play a leading member of the Court of Owls. Having entered the Batman comics mythos in 2011, the Court of Owls is a secret cabal of Gotham's rich and elite who guide the city's fate from the shadows and beyond their owl-inspired masks. Discovering their existence as something far more dangerous than just a simple nursery rhyme, Batman made himself a key enemy of the Court the moment he confirmed that they were real.
The concept of Batman having to fight the richest and most powerful members of Gotham's elite sounds like a prime concept for a potential Dark Knight 4. To that end, the opportunity to see Branagh playing a leading member of their organization sounds like it would be quite impressive and very dynamic, especially when considering his more antagonistic role as Andrei Sator in Tenet. At any rate, the Court of Owls does feel like a natural fit for the Nolanverse if a fourth Dark Knight movie had ever truly been in the cards.
