Consider this: A Batman detective trilogy

Consider this is a column that will dive into hypothetical scenarios in film and television. Some will be realistic, while others might be more of a stretch. Today, we explore a Batman detective trilogy.

It’s time for Batman to get back to being a detective again. In Batman v Superman, Batman spent a lot of time going up against Superman and then Doomsday. His brief appearance in Suicide Squad wasn’t anything to get too excited about and in Justice League, Steppenwolf wasn’t someone Batman could really be too effective against.

Since the end of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, the character hasn’t had the best run. Ben Affleck has grown on me as Batman, but he may be a tad too old to play the character through a new trilogy unless they start to go in a Batman Beyond direction.

However, today isn’t about the casting of Batman, but instead about what kinds of detective stories they could tell with a new trilogy. Plenty of rumors have surrounded The Batman and what Matt Reeves has planned for the film. We’re going to set all of those aside for the moment, too.

Which villains should be used?

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Batman has quite the rogues gallery in Gotham and there are plenty of comics to pull source material from. A few villains who could use a good reboot are Catwoman, Mad Hatter and Riddler. Mad Hatter had more of a presence in Batman: The Animated Series and appears here and there in Gotham, but has yet to hit the big screen for a live-action film. Another villain who could be used in the trilogy is Clayface. He’s playing an interesting role in the comics right now as a hero, but is still largely known as a villain.

These villains lend themselves well to a detective storyline because they have the potential to be either smart villains or just difficult to catch (Clayface, mainly, with his ability to shape-shift). Most of these villains also aren’t huge fighters. Catwoman is the one criminal who can be seen as a weakness for Batman. In Tom King’s current run on Batman, the two are even engaged. While the movie shouldn’t start there, it certainly could lead up to it. Mad Hatter is known for taking over people’s minds. Since he’s never really the one getting his hands dirty, he’s a little harder to catch in the act of a crime.

Finally, there’s Edward Nygma as the Riddler. He’s one who can toe the line between villain and reformed villain. In the first movie, Riddler could be causing some chaos until Batman throws him in Arkham. Then, depending on how much time passes between films, he could be released and take up a job as a private investigator. There’s a history of this development of the character and he wouldn’t need to be quite as over-the-top as Jim Carrey’s Riddler was in Batman Forever. Let’s be honest, that movie was just something else as far as Batman films go.

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So there you have it, the new Batman trilogy could have some fun with the villains and making Batman show off his detective chops more than just showing off all of the various toys he has since he’s rich. But we’re not done just yet.

What about Robin?

Robin is a character who has been absent for quite some time. Chris O’Donnell was the last actor to actually portray the character in Batman & Robin in 1997. Joseph Gordon Levitt portrayed a cop in Nolan’s trilogy and it was hinted that he could be a potential Robin, but it never came to fruition in the films. In Batman v Superman, a Robin costume is present and represents the death of Jason Todd.

So, what should they do about Robin? Dick Grayson is confirmed to be in the DCEU as Nightwing for the character’s solo film, but Jason Todd is also already dead in the current continuity. That leaves a few options (thankfully there are multiple Robins throughout the history of Batman). Damian Wayne could be used as a way to have a secondary storyline of Bruce dealing with having a son of his own. Tim Drake is another option and he’s quite the wiz kid who has less of an attitude than Damian.

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One last option would be to have Stephanie Brown portray Robin. However, her ties to Tim Drake might make that move a little more difficult to pull off. He’d likely have to be present just to be able to give an explanation as to why a lesser known character is being used as Robin, especially since more comic book fans might know her as Spoiler instead. Plus, her stint as Robin is much more brief than Tim or Damian’s stints.

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So much of The Batman depends on whether or not the movie will be in current DCEU continuity. DC hasn’t been super clear on what their plans are and have recently made some changes by bringing in a new president for the movie division. This is just one direction of many that a new trilogy could go in. Hopefully fans get a Batman story that they love and I think one of the main ways to do that is to set aside villains like Joker and Two-Face to let some others shine.