Batman 1989’s 2024 Sequel Shows Just How Perfect 1 Villain Would Be For The Batman 2

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The 1989 Batman"s newest sequel makes one villain who"s been theorized about for The Batman - Part II look even more perfect for the DC movie. 2022"s The Batman provided audiences with a new live-action Batman who exists outside of the main DCEU and DCU timeline - a concept that naturally raised intrigue about the release and its unique take on the character. This reimagining saw The Batman focus more on the hero"s detective work by giving him a series of puzzles put in place by the Riddler to solve, highlighting his full skillset and providing audiences with a mystery to follow.
With this precedent set - and The Batman"s ending setting the sequel up for a drastically different look at Gotham - the focus during the build-up to The Batman - Part II"s release has naturally been on what other figures from Batman"s rogues gallery could surface in the story, and what mysteries they could create for the World"s Greatest Detective to uncover. Plenty of solid theories have surfaced in the years since The Batman"s release, with one particular concept appearing even better following Batman"s 2024 sequel and how it depicts an iconic DC villain.
Batman: Resurrection Makes Clayface Seem Like The Batman 2's Perfect Mystery Karlo Babić's Story Shows How Good Clayface Is For A Batman Mystery Close Batman: Resurrection introduces Clayface to the Burton Batman movie world by having aspiring actor Karlo Babić - stage name Basil Karlo - be transformed into his shapeshifting form via exposure to the Joker"s Smylex in some stage makeup. After coming to terms with his circumstances - and the pros and cons of his new ability to change his appearance - Clayface undergoes a series of subterfuges, replicating key figures like the doctor who was overseeing him, an actor who"s success he scorned due to their history, and most crucially the Joker, leading to fears that the villain had returned.
While Resurrection shows readers Babić"s exploits in a straightforward fashion instead of playing into the mystery and leaving things more unclear at the start, the story emphasizes the way in which Clayface"s powers can be used to great effect for the kind of mystery that The Batman hinged around, and that its sequel hopefully matches. Even at points where it"s clear Batman knows Clayface is involved in proceedings, seeing him employ detective skills to work this out and delve into his intentions is genuinely fascinating, especially when combined with the other mysteries at hand in the story.
The characters of Batman: Resurrection - including the Dark Knight himself at points - are misdirected by Clayface"s disguises, but the key minor differences in Clayface"s replication of these people blended with the gaps in his knowledge about them allow the Caped Crusader to work out his trickery more than once. However, this is balanced by Karlo becoming increasingly talented with his mimicry, ensuring tensions remain high as to whether he"ll be able to pull the wool over the eyes of Gotham"s civilians and hero.
Batman: Resurrection Highlights How Useful Clayface Could Be For The Batman 2's Sequel Story Clayface Matches With The Batman's Story & Themes Close Batman: Resurrection"s version of Clayface is a figure who works in many ways as a symbol of Gotham"s downtrodden. A passionate actor who is remembered by seemingly almost nobody - and who is made into a guinea pig for makeup that warps him forever - Karlo Babić"s transformation is representative of not only the way in which those less fortunate in Gotham are considered disposable, but also of how the evil schemes of those like the Joker disproportionately effect ordinary working people.
Interestingly, this bares striking parallels with The Batman"s own story, as the Riddler"s flooding of Gotham is shown to have affected the rich elite that the villain was aiming to go against the least. Much in the same way Resurrection states that rich Gothamites were able to avoid the brunt of the Joker"s Smylex plots by importing makeup that they knew was safe, The Batman spinoff The Penguin reveals that the more affluent areas of Gotham were less affected by the flood, and were given aid quicker and more comprehensively.
With a key focus of The Batman being on the class divides in Gotham and the corruption of the upper echelons, the Batman: Resurrection book underlines how Clayface works as a great figure to explore these ideas with - especially as he"s able to literally change shape to blend in with every group in the city. However, despite Clayface"s seeming alignment with the aims and story of the world of The Batman, there do seem to be some snags in the way of him appearing in the franchise"s next movie.
Clayface Would Need Major Changes To Become The Batman 2's Villain Adapting Clayface Into The Batman Has One Big Issue - Which Could Still Be Solved

While the specific villain set to surface in The Batman - Part II hasn"t been made clear yet, director Matt Reeves has commented on what to expect regarding the next chapter of the series. Perhaps the most important of these interviews when it comes to the matter of whether Clayface will be the movie"s villain is one with SFX Magazine (via ComicBookMovie), wherein Reeves stated when asked about the sequel that, "We might push to the edge of fantastical, but we would never go into full fantastical. It"s meant to feel quite grounded."
As such, it seems that the almost sci-fi levels of body horror that Clayface"s body-changing powers involve may be something too removed for The Batman - Part II to take on, and indeed, this may prove too much of an issue for the character to be selected for the sequel. However, it is possible the franchise could go for a more grounded version of the antagonist, who is simply talented at replicating the appearance and mannerisms of others without physical shapeshifting factoring in - or someone who uses advanced technology similar to Batman"s own to do so.
With the Joker already majorly teased to be The Batman 2"s villain, theories that the Illuminati-like Court Of Owls are the villain seeming consistently strong, and The Penguin doing a fair job of suggesting Oz Cobb will be at least a background villain in the sequel, it"s unclear how likely it is for Clayface to find a foothold in the franchise. However, Batman: Resurrection mercifully provides a taste of what this could look like, which is valuable whatever the case may end up being for The Batman - Part II and its actual final villain choice.

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