FROM SPLASH PAGE: In last week’s poll, I asked readers to vote on the “Batman 3″ rumors they wished were true. From Cher playing Catwoman and Christopher Nolan exiting the franchise to Philip Seymour Hoffman playing The Penguin and Christian Bale taking his growl elsewhere, there’s been no shortage of rumors surrounding the next installment of the Batman film franchise. And no rumor has been without its share of fans, either.

When all the votes were tallied, however, the margin of votes between the most popular rumor and the next wish-it-was-true option was one of the largest in any of our polls thus far. And while the winner isn’t much of a surprise, the support for some of the other might raise a few eyebrows (and cause some heart palpitations) among the Batman faithful.

Continue reading ‘Johnny Depp Playing The Riddler’ Voted Favorite ‘Batman 3’ Rumor

FROM SPLASH PAGE: It's been a couple of months (translation: "far too long") since we've heard any crazy casting rumors regarding "Batman 3" -- ever since the blogosphere erupted over since-denied reports that Eddie Murphy and Shia LeBeouf were joining the cast back in December. And while most of the recent attention regarding the follow-up to "The Dark Knight" has been focused on whether Christopher Nolan will settle back into the director's chair, the latest online scuttlebutt now questions if Batman himself, Christian Bale, will don the cape and cowl once more.

In a report coming out of Australia's Herald Sun newspaper this morning, unnamed sources claim that Bale's "Terminator Salvation" co-star, Sam Worthington, may indeed be taking on the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne in the next installment of the award-winning Batman franchise. As usual, it's important to remember that when it comes to "Batman 3" casting rumors, nothing is confirmed until Warner Bros. says so, but given Bale's recent Internet infamy, could this speculation have some credibility?

For more on the "Batman 3" casting rumor regarding Christian Bale and Sam Worthington, head over to SplashPage.MTV.com.

FROM SPLASH PAGE: While there's been no shortage of attention given to Heath Ledger's portrayal of The Joker in "The Dark Knight," the record-breaking sequel to "Batman Begins" might've never come to be if it wasn't for the success of director Christopher Nolan's first cape-and-cowl tale -- and the portrayal of its villain, Ra's Al Ghul, by Liam Neeson.

MTV News caught up with Neeson during the Sundance Film Festival, and got his thoughts on both "The Dark Knight" and a potential return for his "immortal" character from the first film.

For more on Liam Neeson and potential "Batman 3" villains, head over to SplashPage.MTV.com.

FROM SPLASH PAGE: Sure, we all had a good laugh at the expense of the U.K.-based tabloid The Sun after they announced that Eddie Murphy and Shia LaBeouf would portray The Riddler and Robin, respectively, in "Gotham" (what The Sun claimed to be the title of the follow-up to this summer's "The Dark Knight"). After all -- as we've made perfectly clear -- Warner Bros., director Christopher Nolan and various high-level execs attached to the franchise have all gone on record saying that there's been absolutely no movement on the film, let alone a script or preliminary casting.

However, the source of the speculation -- Sun reporter Gordon Smart -- has come forward in the face of the fanboy firing squad to defend his reporting, saying that he stands by his story based on "a reliable contact" close to the film. And while it's still safe to shrug and smirk this rumor off, it might be worth noting that Smart claims that the same anonymous source who kick-started the recent "Batman 3” casting rumors was responsible for another rumor back in 2005 that proved true in a big way: the casting of Daniel Craig as the new (at the time) James Bond.

Read more about the response to the "Batman 3” casting rumors at SplashPage.MTV.com.

FROM SPLASH PAGE: Back from a big showing at Spike TV's Scream Awards, "The Dark Knight" director Christopher Nolan recently shared some thoughts about the film with LA Times geek-beat blogger, Geoff Boucher. While Nolan didn't let slip any big news about future Batman films, he did offer up some thoughts on making a third movie -- and the dilemma of the third-film curse.

"Is there a story that’s going to keep me emotionally invested for the couple of years that it will take to make another one? That’s the overriding question," said Nolan. "On a more superficial level, I have to ask the question: How many good third movies in a franchise can people name?"

Read more about Christopher Nolan's comments on "The Dark Knight" and "Batman 3" at MTV Splash Page.

FROM SPLASH PAGE: Two months ago, Australian artist Josh McMahon created fan art for his hypothetical “Batman 3,” casting “Veronica Mars” starlet Kristen Bell in the role of the Joker's accomplice, Harley Quinn. The images soon spread like wildfire across the internet.

(Ah, those carefree days of “Batman 3” rumors. Remember when we thought anything could be real? Before we talked to David Goyer and confirmed it was all “B.S”?)

Bell admitted to MTV’s Kim Stolz that she hasn’t yet seen the image. But man oh man, is she honored to be thought of.

”Jeez. Thank you,” she enthused from a weekend red carpet. “That’s awesome.” As it turns out, McMahon might have hit on something with his hypothetical cast. No, not a real casting announcement – but a real fan.

Read more about Kristen Bell's reaction to the "Batman 3" Harley Quinn fan art (and see the image that created all of the buzz) on SplashPage.MTV.com.

Whether you agree or not, judging from both fan reaction and near universal critical acclaim, "The Dark Knight" will almost certainly go down as the greatest comic book movie of all-time, with a performance from Heath Ledger that is being hailed as one of the greatest on-screen villains ever.

Now all Christopher Nolan, his brother Jonathan, David Goyer, and an as yet unnamed villain have to do is top it.

"I think that's the scariest thing – to think, could we come up with a third movie that was as good as the first two? Can we top ourselves?" screenwriter David Goyer asked aloud, almost rhetorically, in a recent conversation with MTV News. "Doing it a third time would be a big proposition." Read more...