The Riddler from Jump Street

Its way too early to even be talking about who’ll be the villains in the next Batman movie, let alone who’ll be playing those bad boys (or bad gals? Suppose Catwoman’s in with a chance?), but nevertheless these kinds of rumours provoke discussion.. and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if that’s what Warner’s after. Heck, I wonder whether the studio starts these rumours themselves sometimes, just to gage interest in something.. or someone, as is the case here.

Riddle me this, Riddle me that, who’s afraid of a money-spinning Bat?

I don’t know, but something tells me Johnny Depp could be. He did, after all, pass on the role of The Caped Crusader a few years ago. He’s also friends with Tim Burton, who having seen what became of the film series he launched, probably isn’t the biggest fan of this franchise. Either way, I just don’t think playing a villain in a Batman movie would be Depp’s thing. But then, he did do those god-awful “Pirates of the Caribbean” sequels didn’t he? They were about as necessary as a cork for a coke can.

So, yeah, it might take more than a few carrots to entice Depp to Gotham.

Hasn’t stopped The Telegraph from claiming Depp’s in line to play ‘The Riddler’ in the second sequel to “Batman Begins” though.

“Producers are convinced that the role of The Riddler is perfect for Depp. Johnny’s a pro. He’ll be able to take direction and still make the character his own”, a source tells the paper.

The paper is also running with the ol ‘Philip Seymour Hoffman as The Penguin’ rumour too – the same rumour popped up pre-“Dark Knight”, stating that the “Capote” star was set to make an appearance as the Umbrella-yielding fatty in that film; proved untrue – which has me doubting the validity of this rumour.

We shall see…. in three years time, or whenever the next film comes out.