Villains Of Standalone Batman Film Could Be Massive!

(SPOILER ALERT: Spoilers for Suicide Squad follow. You've Been Warned!)

No matter what you've heard about Suicide Squad, not everything about the film was bad. For one, we got to see Batman in action on his own in Midway City (for some reason, when he resides in Gotham City — more on that later). And two, we received a brief introduction to the Joker (Jared Leto). As well as the ending of Suicide Squad leading into both a potential Suicide Squad sequel and the Batman solo film. No news has been released in regards to Ben Affleck's solo Batman film, but the ending of Suicide Squad is undoubtedly going to connect to the next Batman solo film. See, not everything was bad. There's still hope for the DCEU and that hope may come in Ben Affleck's Batman feature. Within Ben Affleck's Batman film, he will be facing a familiar adversary, but he may also be facing threats on multiple fronts which requires help from the Justice League. The unconfirmed Batman solo feature is expected to go into production after Justice League Part One and is set to premiere after Aquaman in 2018.

Going back to the conclusion of Suicide Squad leading into the Batman solo film. Nothing is known as of yet in terms of who'll be the main villain of the film, but Suicide Squad has just given us a massive hint as to who will be making Bruce Wayne / Batman's life a living nightmare in the film. That being the Joker.

Will The Joker (Jared Leto) Appear Opposite Ben Affleck In The Batman Solo Feature?

Before anything, the fact needs to be stated in acknowledging that several of Jared Leto's scenes as the Joker in Suicide Squad were cut from the theatrical version. Even several of the scenes featuring the Joker used in promotional footage for the film were scrapped in the end. But the cuts of Jared Leto from the film are unimportant right now. What is important is the conclusion of the film and how Jared Leto's Joker plays into it.

During the conclusion of Suicide Squad, Harley Quinn sits in her cell, sipping on espresso and the Joker comes storming in with a group of army-clad mercenaries to break her out. They're immediately successful and kill every guard in the prison — no survivors. In the end, the screen cuts to black and we assume Harley and the Joker get away from Bell Reve Prison. We don't know where they'll be going next, but they won't be going back to Midway City. Their next stop could be in Gotham City, where the Dark Knight resides.

Seeing as how the Joker and Harley Quinn are both wanted fugitives again, the burden will likely fall on the Batman to capture them once again, which gives us the plot of Ben Affleck's Batman film. We've seen a glimpse into a high-speed chase of the Joker and Harley Quinn during Suicide Squad, but that scene was likely a tease for what is to come in Batman's next encounter with the Joker. And taking into account the cliffhanger ending of Suicide Squad, the Joker (Leto) is definitely returning to the DCEU as the main villain in a major feature: the Batman solo film that has yet to be confirmed.

Going along with that explanation, you may be asking yourself why does the conclusion of Suicide Squad affirm the notion of the Joker being the villain in the next Batman solo feature? Simply because there is nowhere else for the Joker to go after Suicide Squad, and the DCEU is nowhere near done with Jared Leto's Joker. Aside from the Batman solo feature, the next possible place for the Joker to show up will be in Justice League Part One, which won't happen. And after that, Flash or Cyborg. But in all reality, it's likely that Jared Leto's next appearance as the Joker will come in the unconfirmed Batman solo film.

No word has been given as to where Jared Leto's Joker will show up next, but I'll put my money on that being the Batman solo feature, starring Ben Affleck. Assuming that the Joker (Leto) is the villain / antagonist of the Batman solo film, he may not be the only villain going up against the caped crusader. Not to say the Joker will receive help from other villains, but he surely won't be the only problem for Batman to deal with.

Several other villains could be joining the Joker as antagonists in the Batman solo film, including the Riddler.

It's possible two other villains from DC Comics could make their way on-screen in the Batman solo feature, two villains who we've yet to see but were teased in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. Those villains being the Riddler and Man-Bat.

For those of you that don't know, there was a subtle nod to the Riddler in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. In the scene before Batman and Superman's fisticuffs confrontation, Batman is walking through an abandoned building and there are some graffiti style markings all across the walls. One of those aged marks on the wall just happens to be the calling card of the Riddler, the Riddler's question mark. The aged look of the mark implies that it's been some time since the person who imprinted it was around. Meaning that the Riddler was likely captured in the past and may reside in a known prison as we speak. Accounting for the Riddler being a villain of Gotham city, it's very likely that he was taken to Arkham Asylum for detainment. Wait, but if the Riddler is detained in Arkham, how could he be added to the list of villains for the Batman solo film? Well there's another simple solution to solve that problem, have the Joker break out all the inmates in Arkham asylum.

The conclusion of Suicide Squad proved that the Joker has massive resources and can easily break into a prison to recover someone. If the Joker returns to Gotham and is looking for some of his old cronies, he's likely to turn his attentions towards Arkham Asylum in order to free his brotheren. In doing so, a rampage of criminals will be let out of Arkham and there will also be an opportunity for the Joker to recruit some other villains to stand alongside him. With the Riddler possibly being an inmate of Arkham Asylum, he may join the Joker as an adjoining villain in the upcoming Batman solo feature. Then it would be two villains, not including Harley Quinn, for Batman to deal with at the same time - and we have no idea what the Riddler is capable of.

Dawn of Justice sets up Man-Bat as villain of Bruce Wayne's past, could that be hinting at a return by Kirk Langstrom's Man-Bat?

Aside from the Riddler and the Joker, there was another subtle tease in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice which hinted at a beast like villain showing up in the near future, possibly the Batman solo film. That tease being of Man-Bat

During Bruce Wayne's dream sequence, he visited the grave of his parents. As he was getting ready to leave, he noticed something dripping out of his mother's tomb and it appeared to be blood. Wayne (Affleck) looked closer at the blood and suddenly the Man-Bat popped out of the tomb. There was no dialogue to implicate the creature seen in Bruce Wayne's nightmares as Man-Bat but we can safely assume the memory of the Man-Bat in Bruce's mind probably had to do with a previous encounter with Kirk Langstrom / Man-Bat. And the likeliest place for Langstrom / Man-Bat to be kept under detainment would be Arkham Asylum where the Joker probably going to make a visit to when he returns to Gotham city. Man-Bat would be the perfect addition to the Joker's team of villains. An uncontrollable flying beast that would terrify even the Batman is probably something the Joker will be looking for when recruiting for his criminal organization. Arkham Asylum is going to be a smorgasbord of potential villains for the Joker to recruit for his criminal element, and one of the logical choices would likely be Man-Bat. For an image of Man-Bat from Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, see here, and for the entire interview with Ben Affleck on Collider, check it out here.

Will The Dead Robin Easter Egg Finally Have A Purpose In The DCEU?

Apart from the Joker, Riddler, and Man-Bat filling the potential antagonist role in the upcoming Batman solo film, there may also be another villain who's yet to make an appearance but was also teased in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. Technically he's not a villain but let's just say he's going to make Batman's life that much harder when he appears. The DC' character i'm referring to is that of the Red Hood, otherwise known as Jason Todd. As to how Jason Todd fits in the picture is explained further here.

Before Suicide Squad, we could only assume that the Joker did kill Jason Todd / Robin; accounting for the Robin memorial in the batcave as well. The crucial piece of information we needed to confirm that the Joker did in fact kill Robin a.k.a. Jason Todd was provided to us in Suicide Squad through a very subtle Easter Egg.

During the opening credits of the film when the squad is being introduced, Harley Quinn's file has a list of criminal deeds listed on it and one of those deeds happens to be "helping kill Robin". That tidbit is all we need to confirm that the Joker did in fact kill Jason Todd a.k.a. Robin. But is Robin still dead? Is it possible that Ra's Al Ghul will play a part in resurrecting Jason Todd, and the resulting embodiment of Jason Todd becomes the Red Hood? In the plausible scenario of Jason Todd being resurrected into the Red Hood, he may bring up another challenge for Ben Affleck's Batman when the solo film rolls around.

How will Bruce Wayne/ Batman handle an army of villains taking over Gotham?

Going back to the three possible villains Batman / Bruce Wayne may already be facing in the film, the Red Hood wouldn't make his life any easier but the advantage of including the Red Hood could even the playing field for Batman. The Red Hood is a vigilante similar to Batman but he shows no mercy. There's potential for the Red Hood to want to clean up the criminal element from the streets of Gotham but doing so with a reckless abandon for life will draw the Batman's attention to it, therein lies the beginning of their conflict. However, the two may be forced to team up once again in order to defeat the multiple adversaries they could be facing.

In the scenario of both Joker and the Riddler being pivotal villains in Batman's solo film, their unified efforts could be more than Batman can handle on his own. And if by some far off chance that the events of Justice League-Part One leave the rest of the league occupied when Batman returns to Gotham, Bruce Wayne / Batman will have to rely on his old protege Jason Todd, even as he's become the murderous Red Hood, to help him stop the Joker and Riddler. But that may be hoping for too much. It's still possible for Jason Todd to be resurrected into the Red Hood but maybe not.

Before we can begin to make any more assumptions on who'll be featured in the next solo Batman film, the most rational villains to appear are that of the Joker and Harley Quinn. The two escaped Belle Reve Prison at the end of Suicide Squad and they can't return to Midway City which means they're probably going to go home, to Gotham City. Just in that, we can plausibly place the Joker and Harley as the possible villains in the Batman solo film. Nothing else can be insinuated on for the time being. We'll have to wait and find out more information when production of the film draws near. For now, we still have to watch the events of Justice League-Part One unfold and see where the conclusion leaves Batman / Bruce Wayne.

Justice League- Part One will lead into the Batman solo film

All the potential directions for Justice League-Part One to go into leave us with unknown variables that could factor in to where Bruce Wayne is left after Justice League concludes. Is he still a member? Has the league been disbanded? Is the league off-planet for some reason? Has the league been detained by an extraterrestrial force? Or maybe by a government agency capable of restraining the Justice League? There are many possibilities. The conclusion of Justice League-Part One will lead into Flash, Aquaman, then finally, the unconfirmed Batman solo film but before Batman experiences his solo adventure, the events of Flash and Aquaman will undoubtedly leave an impact on the DC'EU. Adding to the developing universe of the DC'EU that'll be established before Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) returns to Gotham in his own solo film.

How will Justice League, Flash, and Aquaman affect the Batman solo film? Will Bruce Wayne (Affleck) return to Gotham City to find that a criminal element run by the Joker is in control of the city? Or will Batman leave the Justice League to save his city of Gotham?