The day after Batman Day and two days after the launch of The Penguin on HBO, we wanted to focus our attention on the most iconic villains in the Batman universe.
#10 Carmine Falcone and Salvatore Maroni
We tend to forget it, but Gotham is not only populated by freaks. While Batman regularly faces dangerous criminals who have escaped from Arkham Asylum, a good part of his job also involves facing dangerous gang leaders, starting with Carmine Falcone and Salvatore Maroni.In addition to ruling Gotham's underworld, the two rivals use their money to corrupt the city's entire state apparatus: the mayor, the police, the judges. Batman also faces several adversaries from their ranks, starting with Alberto Falcone, also known as Holiday (in A Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale), and Sofia Falcone, the Hangman Killer (in Bitter Victoryby Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale). Let's also note that Sofia Falcone is the main antagonist of the series The Penguin, the first episode of which has just been released on Max.
#9 Mr. Freeze
If for many fans the name Mr. Freeze evokes the infamous Batman & Robinby Joel Schumacher (1997), in which he is played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, this villain created in 1959 is nevertheless a truly tragic character. Unlike many of Batman's adversaries, Mr. Freeze does not act for his own benefit, but for that of his wife Nora, who is seriously ill and whom he has cryogenically frozen in order to keep her alive while a cure is found. The treatment of the character in Batman, the animated series is also excellent. The recent statements of director Matt Reeves, who explained that the film The Batman, Part II would take place in winter, give hope that Mr. Freeze will be the next adversary of the Dark Knight played by Robert Pattinson. The idea is brilliant!
#8 Ra's Al Ghul
Created in 1971 by Neal Adams and Dennis O'Neil, Ra's al Ghul is one of Batman's most exciting enemies. Both very charismatic and Machiavellian, this man several centuries old has discovered the secret of Immortality. He is also very gifted in martial arts. Linked to Bruce Wayne by the love affair that the latter had with his daughter Talia al Ghul, his great intelligence allowed him to understand that the young billionaire and Batman are one and the same person. Several times brought to the screen, notably in Batman Beginsby Christopher Nolan (2005) where he is played by Irish actor Liam Neeson, Ra's al Ghul is a fascinating character, who fully deserves his place in this ranking.
#7 Poison Ivy
First appearing in a comic book in 1966, Poison Ivy is now one of Gotham City's most famous inhabitants. Her ability to control plants and her immense powers of seduction have made her a real star of cosplay contests. The character, who gained popularity during the 1990s, to the point of being played by Uma Thurman in Batman & Robinby Joel Schumacher (1997), will maintain a real relationship of friendship with Harley Quinn from 1993 in Batman, the animated series. Their friendship will evolve a lot over the course of the works, and gradually turn into a romantic relationship, notably in the series Harley Quinn, whose season 5 is scheduled for the end of 2024.
#6 Two-Face
Created in 1942 by Bob Kane and Bill Finger, Two-Face is the villain name of the prosecutor Harvey Dent. Like Mr. Freeze, Harvey Dent is an immensely tragic character.One of the early allies of Batman and Jim Gordon, with whom he forms a pact, he pays the price for his moral rectitude; his war against drugs and corruption will earn him acid spray by a henchman of Salvatore Maroni in several comics, or being one of the collateral victims of the Joker in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight (2008). Frank Miller will make him the symbol of the impulses of creation and destruction inherent in all humans. The story of Harvey Dent also served as a common thread for the very successful first season of the recent animated series Batman: Caped Crusader, created by Tom King and Bruce Timm, and produced by Matt Reeves and J.J. Abrams.
#5 The Riddler
First appearing in the late 1940s, Edward Nigma is one of the most famous enemies of the Dark Knight of Gotham. One of the only enemies of the hero to have discovered his true identity, he is the embodiment of the cerebral hero who is always several steps ahead. His intelligence is such that Batman has already requested his help to assist him in investigations. In cinema, he was played by Jim Carrey in Joel Schumacher's Batman Forever (1995) and by Paul Dano in Matt Reeves' excellent The Batman (2022). In this last version, he is strongly inspired by the cinema of David Fincher, notably Se7en (1995) and Zodiac (2007).Note that Paul Dano enjoyed playing the character so much that he dedicated a comic book to her, The Riddler (2023), which integrates the timeline of Matt Reeves' Batverse.
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000#4 Catwoman
In Gotham, women are often ambiguous, in the direct line of the femme fatales of film noir. Catwoman is obviously no exception, and is perhaps the best representation of what we have just written. Alternately adversary, ally and lover of Batman, she is one of the most iconic characters in the DC stable.Having appeared several times in film and on television, she has become a feminist icon, notably thanks to Michelle Pfeiffer's imperious performance in Tim Burton's exceptional Batman Returns (1992). With her costume, a cross between BDSM attire and the seams of The Bride of Frankenstein, she throws feminist slogans at every man she meets.A great movie memory!
#3 Harley Quinn
Created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm for the needs of Batman, the animated series(1992), Harley Quinn is today one of the characters that most unleashes the passions of comic book fans. Both funny and tragic, the Joker's assistant will increasingly distance herself from her toxic lover to become an independent woman. Played in the cinema by Margot Robbie in the infamous Suicide Squad by David Ayer, she will also be the main character of Birds of Prey (2020) before joining The Suicide Squadby James Gunn (2021). Since 2019, she has been the heroine of her own successful animated series, where she has notably formed a romantic relationship with Poison Ivy. The character has also been completely reinvented in the animated series Batman: Caped Crusader, co-created by Bruce Timm and broadcast this summer on Amazon Prime Video.Be careful though, if Harley Quinn was born on television, it is also recommended to discover her adventures in comics, notably Mad Love by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm, Harleen by Stjepan Sejic or Batman: White Knight – Harley Quinn by Sean Murphy. Enough to look forward to her new appearance in the cinema in Joker: Folie à Deuxby Todd Phillips, expected on October 2nd and in which she will be played by Lady Gaga. The first reviews were also revealed at the Venice Film Festival.
#2 The Penguin
Among the first iconic enemies that Batman faced in the comics, The Penguin is an absolutely fascinating character. Particularly complex, he is the heir to many deformed characters in literature, inspiring both the disapproval of readers for the cruelty he can sometimes be the author of and compassion for the bullying he has suffered throughout his life. While he is often presented in comics as the heir to a wealthy Gotham family, the Cobblepots, cinema and television have regularly taken advantage of his human nature to change his story; thus in the masterpiece Batman Returns(1992), Tim Burton makes him a gothic monster (magnificently played by Danny DeVito) abandoned by his parents because of his deformity; the series Gotham (2014-2019), broadcast on FX, he starts out as an umbrella carrier and a double agent for the Falcone and Maroni mafia families, before rising through the Gotham underworld; in The Batman by Matt Reeves (2022), in which he is played by Colin Farrell, he is Carmine Falcone's henchman. The Penguin series, which follows the feature film and prepares the ground for the second film in the trilogy, the mobster fights to take the throne left vacant after Falcone's death. His relationship with his mother also brings him closer to Tony Soprano, whose poses he seems to imitate.
#1 The Joker
Of course, this will come as no surprise: The Joker is the most iconic villain in the Batman stable. The Clown Prince of Crime has been fighting the masked vigilante since the first issue of the Batman comic in 1940. Over the decades, he has grown in intensity, madness, and malice. IfSome of his television and film incarnations, notably by Mark Hamill in Batman, the animated series (1992), Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight by Christopher Nolan (2008) or Joaquin Phoenix in Joker by Todd Phillips (2019), are memorable.to the point of having allowed two of them to win an Oscar, some comics have obviously participated in making him one of the greatest villains in popular culture. We obviously think of A Death in the Family by Jim Starlin and Jim Aparo (1988) or even more The Killing Joke by Alan Moore and Brian Balland (1988). Even when he appears for a single chapter, as in Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns (1986) and Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's A Long Halloween (1996), the Joker steals the show. That's why we can't wait to see him again in Todd Phillips' Joker: Folie à Deux, out October 2.
Did you find this article interesting? Then don't hesitate to tell us your favorite villain from the Batman universe. And to prolong the pleasure, discover our selection of 10 Batman comics to read at least once in your life.