The rumored villain for The Batman - Part II could cause an issue for the movie that would be difficult to rectify. The sequel to 2022's The Batman was officially confirmed by James Gunn in January 2023 as one of the many upcoming DC movies. While Gunn announced the film, it was made clear that The Batman - Part II will be an Elseworlds property meaning it takes place in its own separate continuity from the mainline DCU.
Since the film's announcement, theories have been concocted based on The Batman - Part II's story and cast. Little has been revealed thus far, though characters like Batman and Catwoman from the first film are expected to return. Concerning what other DC characters The Batman - Part II will include, the more prevalent theories have centered around the film's potential villains. From Barry Keoghan's potential return as The Joker to DC characters like Mr. Freeze and the Court of Owls, The Batman - Part II has several rumored villains, one of whom could cause an issue that is hard to fix.
Clayface As The Batman 2's Villain Risks Ruining The Batman's Realism
The villain who has long been rumored to appear in The Batman - Part II is Clayface, a mainstay of the Caped Crusader's Rogues gallery from DC Comics. Despite Clayface being an iconic villain of Batman, his inclusion in The Batman 2 would risk ruining its predecessor's realism. Perhaps the biggest strength of The Batman was its tone. The film was a grounded thriller that incorporated superhero elements but mostly stayed in the realm of dark detective films like Seven and Zodiac.
One of the elements that allowed The Batman to feel like these movies was its villain: The Riddler. Reeves' take on The Riddler was much more grounded than some iterations from DC Comics, making the character a crazed serial killer rather than an over-the-top, eccentric antagonist. Should Clayface be confirmed as the villain for The Batman - Part II, it would be notably more difficult to tone down the character's more fantastical elements than it was for The Riddler.
How Clayface Could Still Work As The Batman 2's Villain
That said, there are ways Clayface could still work as the villain of The Batman - Part II. Interestingly, Clayface could be toned down in a way that still fits DC Comics also, at least the earliest versions of Batman's printed stories. The character of Clayface first appeared in Detective Comics in 1940, only a year after Batman's debut. Initially, the character was named Basil Karlo and was an actor.
Upon hearing that a film he once starred in would be remade without him, Karlo donned the costume of Clayface, a villain he once played in one of his movies, and began murdering the actors of the characters whom Clayface killed in the film, garnering the attention of Batman and Robin. The duo eventually stopped Clayface before he returned and attempted to kill Bruce Wayne's fiancée. This iteration of the character could certainly be adapted for The Batman - Part II as it would fit the tone of The Riddler's inclusion from the first film.
Even if the more fantastical versions of Clayface from recent DC Comics were adapted, the character could still work as The Batman 2's villain. Recent iterations of the character include powers that allow him to change his body at will thanks to its clay-like structure, with some more recent versions of Clayface allowing him to completely mimic other people through this power. If this was adapted in The Batman 2, Reeves could choose to take the horror route with the character and turn what could have been silly into a terrifying, horror-based antagonist.
Will Clayface Actually Be The Batman 2's Villain?
Until more is revealed about The Batman - Part II, it is difficult to say whether or not Clayface will be the villain in the film. The script is yet to be completed by Matt Revees, though Warner Bros. is reportedly looking to fast-track the film now that the WGA strikes of 2023 are concluded, though its delay announcement means production shouldn't be a rushed affair. The villain for The Batman 2 may become clearer when casting commences, either via a direct announcement or via the overall cast that is announced for the DC sequel movie, but even this may not fully shed light on what to expect for the upcoming instalment.
Despite Reeves returning to work on The Batman 2's script, the film has seen a delay into 2026 amid the ever-growing slate of DCU films.
The new version of the DCU has been very transparent regarding what filmmakers are revealing about certain projects. From James Gunn's openness on various social media platforms to the high level of reports into the DCU's upcoming slate of movies and shows, it is likely that reports about The Batman 2 will become more prevalent going forward. This is especially possible for the period after the movie's script is complete, as no solid confirmation about the characters in the film can be made until the story is finalized, since something like a villain choice could be altered in reworkings of the script.
Other Villains Who Could Better Match The Batman 2's World
It's fair to say there are plenty of figures who could prove more viable than Clayface if the focus is placed on creating a grounded world for The Batman's overarching franchise. Someone like Professor Pyg - who primarily operates by performing harrowing brain surgeries on those he captures to make them his peons - could be a solidly tenable choice for The Batman - Part II, with the city's chaotic state at the original movie's ending allowing him to amass a crew from those thought to be simply lost to the disasters Gotham underwent in the original movie ending.
A villain like Scarecrow is also another viable option, as troubled psychiatrist Jonathan Crane proved grounded enough to see an unsettlingly realistic adaptation in Nolan's Batman trilogy. If adapting another villain from The Dark Knight trilogy is too close for The Batman, similar figures like Hugo Strange - who is conventionally characterized as a warped psychiatrist with a Dark Knight obsession - would work in his stead. Indeed, Strange could well be the ideal candidate in some regards, as he has previously been the first villain to know the real face behind Batman's secret identity.
Perhaps most interestingly, the storyline The Batman - Part II appears primed to potentially adapt - that of No Man's Land, which sees Batman operate in a half-destroyed Gotham, fending off villains trying to take control of it during this turbulent time - could mean the Caped Crusader faces off against a range of villains in the sequel storyline. This could be the optimal setup for the film, allowing for a proverbial taster menu of antagonists and ensuring the action, drama and mysteries stay as engaging as the original movie itself.
Other Villains Rumored For The Batman 2
As it stands, there are still plenty of other villains who are also rumored for The Batman - Part II, and who could be viable options for the DC sequel movie. As previously mentioned, Johnathan Crane's villainous persona of the Scarecrow is one that naturally fits in to the world of The Batman. The warped psychiatrist would provide another opportunity for the series to explore the corruption rife in Gotham, as Crane traditionally experiments on his own patients in his origin story, using his position and the trust given to those in his profession to destroy the minds and lives of innocent patients.
Given Robert Pattinson's Batman is one who has struggled with his own internal battles immensely, seeing him face a villain who could use that to their own advantage would also be fascinating, and open up the opportunity for the Dark Knight's psyche to be directly explored further. However, there are plenty of other rumored villains who would be a good fit too.
Another major rumored antagonist for the film is that of Hush. The DC villain starts out life as Bruce Wayne's childhood friend Tommy Elliot, before experiencing a downwards spiral that leads him to use his immense surgical skills to alter his face to look like Bruce, using the alias as a front in order to carry out crimes in this guise.
This combined with Hush's comic introduction presenting the mystery of who he is provides an engaging and unique story opportunity that could replicate the kind of detective mystery seen in The Batman without being too close to the plot of the original film. Interestingly, Hush's origin in the comics is in part brought about by Scarecrow and the Riddler, which would align well with any potential plot that sees Scarecrow introduced into the franchise, since Paul Dano was established as the Riddler and a key player in the universe in the first film already.
Finally, Mr. Freeze is also a popular rumored candidate for The Batman - Part II. Given Freeze is motivated by his own personal tragedies, he would work effectively as a more direct parallel to Bruce Wayne and his Dark Knight alter ego. With a key part of The Batman being the hero learning to channel his grief to meaningfully help the people of Gotham, and not just for brutal mindless vengeance, seeing how grief can distort a person through Mr. Freeze would help further Batman's character arc, potentially even helping set up for a third movie down the line.
