Michael Caine: Warner Bros. Wants Depp and Hoffman for 'Dark Knight' Sequel

Oh boy. In an interview with MTV, the venerable Michael Caine says that Johnny Depp and Philip Seymour Hoffman are on the radar for the sequel to The Dark Knight.

"I was with [a Warner Bros.] executive and I said, ‘Are we going to make another one?’ They said yeah. I said, ‘How the hell are we going to top Heath? And he says ‘I’ll tell you how you top Heath - Johnny Depp as The Riddler and Philip Seymour Hoffman as The Penguin.’ I said, ‘Shit, they’ve done it again!’"

Of course, this is not in any way a confirmation that either man is in the cast or that either character is in the story. It is a confirmation - and with no offense to the reports that Cher and Angelina Jolie are/were up for Catwoman - that the studio really wants to go this direction. Christopher Nolan may have other ideas. Looking at it from Warner Bros.' point of view, Batman Begins did not have villains the general public could recognize, and it did $200 million. They upped the ante for The Dark Knight, got The Joker, captured lightning in a bottle with Heath Ledger's performance, and due in part to some very unfortunate circumstances, they've made one of the biggest movies of all time. If you're the studio, why would you go back and grab, as we suggest, Guy Pearce to play Black Mask? That might be a great movie - hell, it might be a better movie than the one they'll eventually make - but will it be a box office titan? That's the draw that Johnny Depp can bring you, and having him play arguably the third most visible Batvillain won't hurt. All things being equal, these are probably the right actors for these roles. Probably. And it's clear by the tone of Caine's conversation ("How the hell are we going to top Heath?") that lots of interested parties won't be content with just a great Batman movie. It has to be a great big Batman movie.

Comments

[drbenway]

Of course, Nolan has been on the record saying he has little or no interest in the Penguin as a character...

[Get The Big Picture]

I think David Goyer is on record with that, speaking on behalf of the creative team. I agree with that stance, by the way. But the studios usually win.

[Josie]

Oh boy, here we go again. If Nolan comes back, he should have final say on story, villians, and who should play them without studio interference. (Maybe WB should watch Spider-Man 3 as a reminder on what happens when the studio pulls too many strings)

[Get The Big Picture]

Exactly, Josie. There's no need for the studio to overcomplicate things.

[Ecem]

Penguin and Philip Seymour Hoffman... Come on WB! Forget about penguin! Catwoman will be great with Angie. But give us someone like Joker too. Something hard to understand, something different character. Batman has many enemies please don't do the same things. We saw them already.

Harley Quinn or Hush or Maxie Zeus :) But without Joker there can't be any Harley Quinn so forget about Harley :(

We missed you already, Heath!

[Kevin]

Just what we need. Another gay Riddler. Carrey in tights was horrible, and Depp plays everything gay now, so that's that. Not that it's wrong to do, but I want someone surprising, not just someone you'd expect. Ledger was an odd choice to me at first, but it was brilliant in the end. How about a Steve Buscemi Penguin? Why does he have to be fat? Short would do fine. Or he'd be a great Riddler. Here's an odd idea for Riddler: Denis Leary. He's definitely dark, and if you've seen Rescue Me, he does have chops. I'm just spitballing, folks, but let's get a little more creative on casting. It worked for Joker.

[starlowski]

PLEASE! Forget about the Penguin, everybody!!!!!

I'd be OK if Ra's/Neeson was taken to a Lazarus Pit and returns

Catwoman would be OK... Jolie would be fine

I'd like to see Bane done well (the grunter who followed Uma Thurman around doesn't count)... Gerard Butler

Riddler? Nah. I think they made a huge mistake in killing off Two Face. Ekhart would have been good as a future villain... although I think they were banking on Ledger for the future, so they didn't feel they had to keep Two Face alive...

Talia Al Ghul - Monica Bellucci

Harley Quinn as a Joker copycat... Kate Winslet... maybe that could work, but they'd have to change the character quite a lot

Or how about this... a story that brings in both David and Cassandra Cain? David would be Jet Li, Cassandra Ziyi Zhang

[Julie]

Hmmmm...what about Robin Williams as one of the villians? Maybe I'm reaching.