LOVE your idea for Catwoman in the third with a "Hunt the Batman" motif. Not sure why that didn't strike me sooner, they could technically make Batman "the bad guy" in the third, and he is saving Gotham in spite of itself. While I would love a Superman/Batman showdown, but not sure about the logistics of pulling that off. Of course, the upcoming Avengers movie is going to change the game for crossover superhero movies.

As for Two-Face, normally I would agree with a "he comes back scenario", but in this new reality version of these Bat films, it would be difficult. Hence no mention of the Lazarus pit in relation o Ra's Ah Ghul.

Yes, if they do Robin in the way you mentioned him, it could work, but Nolan has been emphatic about his lack of desire to even address the character.

Penguin just doesn't work any way you slice him UNLESS they make him into a casino mob boss who just happens to be short and wears tuxedos constantly.

Yeah, I thought of the same Harley idea after I posted that. She could just be a groupie.

Really like the "Hunt the Batman" concept, though…

2. I know I'm probably in the minority here, but I didn't think Dark Knight was the best, well, anything. Don't get me wrong: Heath Ledger was amazing and I really enjoyed the movie. But my second viewing confirmed my first impression that Ledger's amazing performance distracted the audience around me from a film with a pretty slack plot. I think Batman Begins was a tighter and all-around better film, and I think neither is as good as The Incredibles (my nominee for best superhero movie of all time) or La Femme Nikita (my nominee for the best action movie). Just IMO.

3. I don't know why Sean discounts Two-Face for a third movie. It looked like he died at the end of Dark Knight, but that's part of Two Face's gimmick…he comes back.

4. Assuming that Sean is right and Two Face is out, we need to think about how any of these villains can fit into the two-steps-closer-to-reality Bat universe that Nolan has constructed, AND how they can fit into the current situation–Batman is a legend; Batman is hunted (by the mob, the police, etc). It occurs to me that Batman's new status vis a vis the Gotham police and the forces of law actually opens the door for a more ambiguous antagonist, which sounds like Catwoman to a T.

My dream? Selina Kyle is a security/computer specialist and all-around brilliant person hired by a frustrated Gotham PD to figure out who Batman is. Being basically amoral (in it for the hunt), she is also put on retainer by Falcone's gang, so long as she gives the Bat to them, not the cops, when she finds him. Hijinks ensue. I'm thinking Catwoman should be played like Yolanda/Saffron/Bridget on Firefly–a high-functioning genius sociopath who just gets off on playing with people. Casting? I don't know, really. Not Cher.

The "Hunt the Batman" thing can be used other ways, too. Like maybe there's this kid, Tim Drake, who idolizes Batman and actually figures out who he is. If they do Robin they have to get him ABSOLUTELY RIGHT, i.e. he can't be older than 14 and he has to be mostly self-taught, preferably a kid who's a natural detective with maybe some taekwon-do or something, and none of that stuff about circus people. His costume (if any) should be motorcycle leathers or something. But Robin is a risk any way they do it.

Harley Quinn isn't out of the running. I think if they went kinda-sorta in the direction of Batman Beyond and introduced a gang of anarchist nihilist psychopaths inspired by the Joker, Harley could be the club president. They could cast her right.

I don't see Mr. Freeze for the same reasons Sean can't see Man-Bat or Clayface–just too much science fiction there to work. "Amen" on Riddler and Poison Ivy being big "hell no." I think the Penguin is a remote possibility, but he's just not interesting–not even Tim Burton's mutant version.

My favorite idea, though? I think the perfect foil for Batman in a third and final movie would be Superman. Again, works beautifully with the "Hunt the Batman" thing…