The Surprising Villain Batman Fans Want To See In The Next Movie

"The Batman," the latest live-action adaptation of the famous comic book character, is set to release on March 4. It'll be Robert Pattinson's first dark adventure as the Caped Crusader, and the first solo "Batman" movie since Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight Rises." A new iteration of Batman also means a new take on the Dark Knight's classic and vast stable of villains. Nolan's films went for a more grounded action movie approach than the often magical and science-fiction-inspired approach that the comics could take with its villains while "The Batman" looks set to go for a mystery noir approach with Paul Dano's serial killer Riddler.

However, given how many villains there are in the "Batman" universe, fans are always wondering and speculating over which one will make an appearance in the next movie. And given that there are talks of giving Pattinson's Batman a trilogy (per Empire), it's really easy for viewers to heavily speculate over who could be included in those potential films. As it turns out, there's already a very popular villain choice amongst the fanbase for the next "Batman" film, and it may be surprising to some.

Over on the r/batman subreddit, u/TheMonsterXzero54 asked fans who they'd want to see as the villain in a potential sequel for "The Batman," and most of the top comments on the thread overwhelmingly wanted to see Mr. Freeze take on the role. Arnold Schwarzenegger previously portrayed the character in "Batman & Robin" in 1997, but it wasn't exactly the most acclaimed performance of all time.

"Freeze finally has an opportunity to be done justice," wrote u/honeyboi413, most likely in reference to the not-so-well-received Schwarzenegger performance. u/WhiteHawk1022 agreed, adding, "I would absolutely love to see how they approach Mr. Freeze in The Batman's more gritty, realistic world."

They're not alone in wanting to see Mr. Freeze again, either. "The Batman" director Matt Reeves expressed a lot of interest in potentially including a more "grounded" take on Mr. Freeze in any sequels that do get made. "I think there's actually a grounded version of that story, which could be really powerful and could be really great," Reeves told Collider. So while it's not set in stone that the villain could appear in future films, it's probably encouraging to know that the fans and Reeves are on the same page when it comes to their love for the character.