top 10 best opponents of the Dark Knight

The day after Batman Day and two days after the release of the 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 Falconealso known as Holiday (in Un Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale), and Sofia Falconethe Hangman Killer (in Bitter Victory by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale). Note that Sofia Falcone is the main antagonist of the series The Penguinthe first episode of which has just been released on Max.

#9 Mr. Freeze

While for many fans the name Mr. Freeze evokes the infamous Batman & Robin by Joel Schumacher (1997), in which he is played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, This villain created in 1959 is nevertheless a real tragic character. Unlike many of Batman’s adversaries, Mr. Freeze is not acting in his own interests, but in the interests of his wife Nora, who is seriously ill and whom he has cryogenically frozen in order to keep her alive until a cure can be found.. The treatment of the character in Batman the animated series is also excellent. Recent statements by director Matt Reeves, who explained that the film The Batman, Part II would take place in winter, leading us to 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 centuries-old man has discovered the secret of Immortality. He is also very gifted in martial arts. Related to Bruce Wayne through the latter’s romantic relationship with his daughter Talia al Ghulhis great intelligence allowed him to understand that the young billionaire and Batman are one and the same person. Brought to the screen several times, notably in Batman Begins by Christopher Nolan (2005) where he is played by the Irish actor Liam Neeson, Ra’s al Ghul is a fascinating characterwhich fully deserves its 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 residents.Her ability to control plants and her immense power 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 & Robin by Joel Schumacher (1997), will maintain a real 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, particularly in the series Harley Quinnwhose season 5 is scheduled for the end of 2024.

#6 Double-Face

Created in 1942 by Bob Kane and Bill Finger, Two-Face is the villainous name of prosecutor Harvey Dent. Like Mr. Freeze, Harvey Dent is an immensely tragic character. One of Batman and Jim Gordon’s early allies, with whom he forms a pact, he pays the price for his moral rectitude; His war against drugs and corruption will earn him to be doused with acid by a henchman of Salvatore Maroni in several comics, or to be one of the collateral victims of the Joker in The Dark Knight de Christopher Nolan (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 Crusadercreated by Tom King and Bruce Timm, and produced by Matt Reeves and JJ Abrams.

#5 Le Sphinx

First appearing in the late 1940s, Edward Nigma is one of the Dark Knight of Gotham’s most notorious foes. One of the only foes of the hero to have discovered his true identity, he is the epitome of the cerebral hero who is always several steps ahead. His intelligence is such that Batman has already requested his help to aid him in investigations. In cinema, he was played by Jim Carrey in Batman Forever by Joel Schumacher (1995) and by Paul Dano in the excellent The Batman de Matt Reeves (2022). In this latest version, he is strongly inspired by the cinema of David Fincher, in particular Se7en (1995) et Zodiac (2007). Note that Paul Dano enjoyed playing the character so much that he dedicated a comic book to him, The Riddler (2023), which incorporates Matt Reeves’ Batverse timeline.

#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. Portrayed several times in film and on television, she has become a feminist icon, notably thanks to Michelle Pfeiffer’s imperial performance in the exceptional Batman Returns of Tim Burton (1992). With its costume at the crossroads of BDSM outfit and the seams of The Bride of Frankensteinshe throws feminist slogans at every man she meets. A great cinema 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 arouses the passions of comic book fans. Both funny and tragic, the Joker’s assistant will increasingly detach herself from her toxic lover to become an independent woman. Embodied 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 integrating The Suicide Squad by 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 was also completely reinvented in the animated series. Batman: Caped Crusaderco-created by Bruce Timm and airing this summer on Amazon Prime Video. Be careful though, if Harley Quinn was born on television, It is also recommended to discover his adventures in comics, in particular Mad Love by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm, Harleen by Stjepan Sejic or even Batman: White Knight – Harley Quinn by Sean Murphy. What to look forward to his new appearance in the cinema in Joker: Madness for Two by 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

One of the first iconic foes Batman faced in 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 suffered throughout his life. Although he is often presented in the 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 interpreted by Danny DeVito) abandoned by his parents because of his deformity. ; the series Gotham (2014-2019), broadcast on FX, he begins as an umbrella carrier and double agent for the Falcone and Maroni mafia families, before rising within the Gotham underworld; in The Batman by Matt Reeves (2022), in which he is played by Colin Farrell, he is the henchman of Carmine Falcone. The series The Penguinwhich follows the feature film and sets the stage 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 comic. Batman in 1940. Over the decades, it has grown in intensity, madness and malignity. If some of its 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 are obviously thinking of A bereavement 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 chapter, as in The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller (1986) and Un long Halloween by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale (1996), the Joker steals the show. This is why we are eager to see him in the film. Joker: Madness for Two by Todd Phillips, October 2nd.

Did this article interest you? 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.