Zack Snyder Reveals the Batman Villains He Wanted in the DCEU

Zack Snyder reveals the rogues he wanted Batman (Ben Affleck) to battle in the DC Extended Universe, where his Dark Knight waged a 20-year crusade on crime by the time of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The Justice League director, who had a five-film plan that would have culminated in a Justice League 2 and 3 uniting a universe of heroes against Darkseid (Ray Porter), previously revealed a pitch with the Riddler as part of Lex Luthor’s (Jesse Eisenberg) league of villains. Speaking to BroBible, Snyder says the upcoming Matt Reeves directed reboot The Batman utilizes villains he hoped to use in the DCEU:

“Very much so,” Snyder said when asked if the Penguin was among the characters considered for the DCEU. “Obviously Catwoman is someone we talked about, and we had a Riddler concept that we talked about. Remember, the Riddler was kind of like the one who figured out the Anti-Life Equation on Earth in the spec scripts.”

Colin Farrell will play the Penguin opposite Zoe Kravitz’s Catwoman and Paul Dano’s Riddler in The Batman, about a younger Bruce Wayne (Robert Pattinson) in year two of his costumed crime-fighting career. The new movie, out in March 2022, is the Penguin’s first live-action cinematic appearance since Danny DeVito portrayed the odd Oswald Cobblepot in 1992’s Batman Returns. 

“Frankly, I’d love to see Penguin — I think will be cool. I think that’s a great character, and I’d love to see a version of Penguin that has an inherent camp to it,” Snyder said. “It’d be awesome to see how you could deconstruct it and make him into something crazy.”

Last year, Snyder said his Watchmen and Sucker Punch star Carla Gugino would be purr-fect for the role of Selina Kyle — a.k.a. the feline femme fatale Catwoman — opposite Affleck’s Batman. In 2016, the filmmaker revealed Riddler and the Joker “came close” to appearing in Batman v Superman, which references both villains with a question mark Easter egg and a vandalized Robin suit. 

The Batman interprets the Riddler as a masked serial killer puzzling the caped crusader investigating terror attacks on Gotham City. Snyder’s plans for the Riddler had him helping Luthor figure out the Anti-Life Equation that Superman (Henry Cavill) succumbs to in the Knightmare future where Batman recruits a ragtag team of heroes — and his arch-enemy Joker (Jared Leto) — to end their apocalyptic nightmare. 

The Army of the Dead director said earlier this year that studio Warner Bros. has “no interest in appetite” in a Snyder-directed Justice League 2 and that the Snyder Cut of Justice League is “all you’re gonna get” from the “SnyderVerse” corner of the DCEU. Snyder has expressed hopes Affleck will one day face-off with Deathstroke (Joe Manganiello), the villain planned for Affleck’s never-made Batman movie.

The Batman opens in theaters on March 4, 2022.