Sean Report: Batman 3 and Catwoman

As Rachel Dawes perished in The Dark Knight, Batman 3 will need a new female lead and words are around that it's likely to be a feline. Catwoman is likely to be both a villain and Bruce Wayne's love interest in the third installment of Christopher Nolan's Batman series.

Catwoman's appearance in the film is ever so likely if the Nolan brothers and David Goyer are to further adapt the graphic novels Batman: The Long Halloween and its sequel Dark Victory.

As she plays a big role in the graphic novels and with the spot of a female lead character needing to be filled, we'll just have to guess who will play Catwoman.

As for the choice of a second villain, it may be the return of Two-Face and/or the Joker. Both Aaron Eckhart and Heath Ledger signed deals for two Batman films and Two-Face is an important character in The Long Halloween.

Nolan wants realistic theme and characters in his Batman series, thus we won't be seeing villians that need a lot of CGI special Effects, such as Killer Croc, Man-Bat and even Poison Ivy.

The Riddler will make a good addition to the series, as he can fill the void left by the Joker to give Batman mental tests of wit.

If Nolan is really serious about realistic villains, how about the mob boss Carmine "The Roman" Falcone? His inclusion will move the film further into the noir genre that was initiated by TDK.

One thing that's almost certain is that we won't be seeing Robin in the next Batman movie because Christopher Nolan does not want to work on the Boy Wonder. It will be a waste not to see Joker again but if he is to return, who will replace Heath Ledger as the clown prince?
-- Sean Hein