Just Who will be the Villian in Batman 3

That is the big question circulating around the net today. According to The Week, Christopher Nolan in an interview has stated that The Riddler, The Penguin and Mr. Freeze will not be making an appears in the next Batman film. This ends months of campaigning and speculation online to see the Riddler in Batman's third installment, The Dark Knight Rises.

This has all led naturally to the question, just who will be the villain in the next Batman film? The Week speculates that it could be Catwomen or Killer Croc based on some rumours that Christopher may have been auditioning for a female lead and because there are some plans to film at least a portion of the next Batman film in Louisiana. I have to believe that perhaps neither will appear in the next film. The fact that Christopher Nolan is being secretive about the next villain leads me to believe that he may be going for someone out in left field. And let's remember Christopher could cast another superhero in the antagonist role.

Not to spoil it for those few that haven't seen the Dark Knight, the film ends were Batman, at least in the public, has been painted as a bad guy. So he is the bad guy going into the next film. The antagonist could simply be a hero that comes in to try and stop the Batman. Well or an ambitious villain that wants to take the opportunity to take Batman out while he is still a bad guy.

My money is still on Bane or David Kane, which by the way could lead to a Batgirl cameo, but I doubt that will happen since Christopher Nolan doesn't like the idea of a sidekick for Batman.

This speculation thing is a bit of a shot in the dark, but I guess that is the fun of it. What do you think? Who do you want to see in The Dark Knight Rises?