r/DCU_

Which villains would you choose if there was a possible Nightwing movie trilogy in the DCU?

One of the most interesting aspects of the first film, in my opinion, concerns the issue of Martha’s mental illness, in addition of course to the story of the city’s corruption.

Now, if we start from the theme of legacy (which could involve Harvey, considering that his father is supposed to appear in the film) and take the leaks about some kind of connection between Gotham’s corruption and Arkham Asylum as true (something we have already glimpsed in The Penguin), we might also hypothesize a storyline in which Bruce investigates the death of his maternal grandparents - classified as a suicide-omicide caused by his grandmother, Martha’s mother - and discovers that his mother was committed to Arkham despite not suffering from any mental illness, with the latter possibly having been deliberately induced within the facility (the reasons would need to be understood, although the most plausible one, in this context, would be that Martha knew or had seen something she was not supposed to know or see). Could the Court of Owls be involved in all of this, given that Reeves confirmed some time ago that Bruce would uncover a level of corruption even deeper and more disturbing than he could have imagined in the first film?

Moreover, we cannot rule out that Christopher Dent may have played a role, perhaps precisely on behalf of the Court, in the destruction of the Arkhams, something that would put Harvey in a difficult position in front of Bruce (does he know from the beginning and try to hide it while still attempting to do good? Does he discover it together with Bruce?); Harvey, who might also suffer from a multiple personality disorder, a condition that, importantly, can cause amnesia due to continuous personality shifts and could therefore lead him to commit actions that he himself does not remember.

In all of this, it remains to be understood what Johansson’s role will be: Vicky Vale? Lady Arkham, drawing inspiration from the Telltale games? Leader of the Court? Gilda Dent? For now, none of the major Hollywood outlets (including THR and Variety) has clarified her role, while Stan has been confirmed as Dent by The Hollywood Reporter in their newsletter.

We know for certain, because this too was confirmed by Reeves himself, that there will be another series of murders connected to this story of corruption, so we can assume the presence of one or more serial killers. At this point, also considering that the plot appears to be particularly dark and unsettling, I think we really need to reason around the Arkham - Dent - Court of Owls or Mafia triangle, looking for unpredictable plot ideas that could, as was done with the first film, take the character’s lore and reshape it to create new connections between the characters and the history of the city.

Let me know what you think, I am very curious!

Which villains would you choose if there was a possible Nightwing movie trilogy in the DCU?