Race to The Riddler!

If you haven't heard already, it's been rumored (I repeat, rumored) that Joseph Gordon-Levitt is in the lead to play The Riddler in the sequel to the Dark Knight.

I wouldn't ever have considered him for the role, but now that I think about it, I really like the idea.

Prior to this, I read numerous things about different people being rumored to play the Riddler. I read that Jim Carrey was approached again more than ten years later to see if he would consider portraying him again. Which, in my opinion, I was a little iffy about. Jim Carrey did a really, really good job with the Riddler, but I think bringing him back would be a step in the wrong direction.

When Tim Burton released Batman and Batman Returns, they were taken seriously. The first one was a classic and the second one was just okay. It didn't live up to the original. Then they tried to bring Batman back with Batman Forever and cast Val Kilmer (huge mistake) as Batman, introduced Robin (Chris O'Donnell), and had Two-Face (Tommy Lee Jones) and The Riddler as the bad guys. The movie was a joke. I enjoyed it as entertainment, but it wasn't a real Batman movie like the first two. The first two were dark (although it was Tim Burton so darkness was kind of expected). Then they released Batman & Robin, made George Clooney the Dark Knight (for some reason), introduced BatGirl (Alicia Silverstone), and had Mr. Freeze (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman) as the baddies. The movies were just to make money and were using huge stars to do so.... They weren't taken seriously. But I'll say again that I really do like the movies. They are fun to watch.

Then they reboot Batman like five years later (which they should do with Spider-Man). Christian Bale is the Caped Crusader. While they do use big name stars in the movies (Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Katie Holmes, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Heath Ledger, Cillian Murphy, Gary Oldman, and Aaron Eckhart) these movies are taken seriously... like Oscar-nomination seriously.

So, I think casting Jim Carrey again is wrong. As much as I love him, it's just not right though. Jack Nicholson created the Joker and did it brilliantly; Heath Ledger perfected it in a different way. The same will happen with the Riddler.

Another rumor I heard was that Johnny Depp was being considered. This idea I like. Think about it, we all thought how insane it was that be was going to be the Mad Hatter and he was perfect for it. I think he could be a great Riddler. He's been Willy Wonka, Mad Hatter, Jack Sparrow and so on. He could easily master the Riddler.

But Joseph Gordon-Levitt... I am enjoying this idea. It's so random that it's brilliant! I think he could do a great job.

I think it's safe to assume that the Riddler would the the bad guy in the next one. Christopher Nolan (director) hasn't confirmed it, though. He's only confirmed that Mr. Freeze will NOT be the bad guy. I also heard rumor that it may be Catwoman and that Angelina Jolie is rumored to be in mind for the role. Typical.

So we will see what happens, but Joseph Gordon-Levitt has my vote.