The Batman 2’s Best Villain Theory Copies This 10/10 Story From 34 Years Ago

The Batman: Part II is officially in production, and we know that because director Matt Reeves set the entire DC fandom on fire over the weekend, when he posted the first camera test for The Batman 2. The scene on the camera monitors, which Reeves captioned “Snow tires,” showed the Batmobile rolling down a street in Gotham City during a snowstorm. Naturally, that’s led to rampant speculation that a villain like Mr. Freeze must be involved in The Batman 2‘s story.

A lot of DC fans already think they know exactly which Batman story Matt Reeves and his co-writer Mattson Tomlin (Project Power, Terminator Zero) are using as inspiration for their sequel film. And, fans really want it to be true, because it’s one of the best Batman stories that’s ever been told.

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Theory: The Batman 2 is Based On Mr. Freeze’s “Heart of Ice” Story Arc

On September 7, 1992, Batman: The Animated Series aired Season 1, Episode 14, “Heart of Ice”, and changed Batman lore forever. The episode saw Batman (Kevin Conroy) investigating a series of brazen heists, in which each of the scenes (and some unlucky victims) is left frozen in ice. Batman follows the pattern of robberies and deduces that the crook, Mr. Freeze, is trying to build a giant ice cannon that can freeze all of Gotham City. When Batman tries to stop the final component from being stolen from GothCorp, he nearly loses life and limb to Freeze’s gun.

The episode took a much deeper turn when Bruce Wayne investigates Freeze’s origin and discovers how GothCorp’s CEO, Ferris Boyle, ruthlessly cut funding to one of his scientists, Victor Fries, who was doing cutting-edge research on cryogenic freezing, in an effort to save his wife, Nora, from a terminal illness. Boyle tried to forcibly shut down Fries’ lab, which would kill Nora; Fries was contaminated with some of his own chemicals in a struggle, dropping his body temperature to icy levels, killing the emotional functions of his brain, and forcing him to live inside a cooling suit. As “Mr. Freeze,” he seeks revenge against a world that stole his love and passion.

How The Batman: Part II Could Do A Proper Version of Mr. Freeze

“Heart of Ice” was another episode of Batman: The Animated Series that fundamentally transformed fans’ impression of an established DC character – another being Clayface, who is also getting spotlighted in his own upcoming DC movie. Mr. Freeze went from being one of Batman’s most hokey characters to being both a frightening and deeply tragic villain at the same time. The complexity of the animated version of Victor Fries flew directly in the face of the goofy version Arnold Schwarzenegger played in Batman & Robin (1997). It even affected the source material, with DC comic books bending more toward the animated series depiction.

There are some fans who think that Matt Reeves’ version of The Batman isn’t suitable for a character like Mr. Freeze, but there’s certainly a counterpoint to that view. Reeves has clearly based The Batman universe on a classic Film Noir framework, wherein Bruce Wayne/Batman is the mentally/emotionally damaged and eccentric detective, navigating a world of freaky-looking gangsters, killers, corrupted officials, and femme fatales, with only a few “pure” souls to be found in the murky urban streets.

That creative framework in no way eliminates Mr. Freeze from being a potential villain in The Batman 2; if anything, he’d fit right in. In The Batman, Matt Reeves transformed The Riddler (another one of Batman’s goofiest villains) into a serial killer so deranged and frightening that it was questionable whether a PG-13 rating was enough.

There’s no reason that The Batman: Part II can’t continue in the vein of the first film, with Mr. Freeze being the name of a serial killer who either uses extreme cold (liquid nitrogen) to kill his victims, uses freezing techniques to preserve the corpses of his victims, or both. Reeves could jettison the lore about the containment suit and ray gun, while still keeping the tragic story of Victor Fries being a dedicated scientist and devoted husband, who gets screwed over by his corporate employer and seeks revenge. Reeves could even tie the villain’s new story to the climax of the first film by having Nora Fries’ cryogenic preservation ruined by Riddler’s terrorist attack, and the flooding of Gotham. It’s an approach that would blend Batman: The Animated Series with the world of The Batman, which would be a big win in the eyes of many fans.

So far, The Batman 2 has a stacked cast that includes Sebastian Stan as Harvey Dent, with Scarlett Johansson playing his wife, Gilda Dent, and Charles Dance (Game of Thrones) playing Harvey’s father, Christopher Dent. Colin Farrell’s Penguin, Andy Serkis’s Alfred, and Jeffrey Wright’s James Gordon are all returning. Other rumors for the sequel point to the Court of Owls being the main villains, instead of Mr. Freeze.

The Batman: Part II has a release date of October 1, 2027. Meanwhile, we’re discussing Mister Freeze’s potential appearance in the sequel over on the ComicBook Forum.