Should Deathstroke Be The Only Villain In The New Batman Movie?

Deathstroke will be making his big screen debut in the new Batman movie. That’s why he needs to be the main villain of the film.

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By now, you’ve probably heard that Deathstroke will be in the new Batman film that Ben Affleck is both starring in and directing. This will be the first time Deathstroke has been on the silver screen. So why mess up his debut with a convoluted plot involving a mess of villains?

Rumor has it the new Batman movie will take place in Arkham Asylum. On the surface, this seems like such a cool concept. I know I was excited about it when I first heard it was a real possibility. Arkham Asylum has never been a huge focal point in any previous Batman film, save for Scarecrow’s tactics in Batman Begins. Even then, however, it was more of a side arc and not the main focus. As cool as it would be for the movie to take place primarily in Arkham, it poses several problems.

Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen

There are very few occasions where having more than one main villain in a comic book movie has worked. Spider-Man 3 immediately comes to mind as an example of it not working well. So does Batman & Robin, although that movie had more issues than just too many villains.

Can it be done well? Absolutely. The X-Men movies all pull that off, but those also work better because there’s a much larger cast of heroes too that balance that out. When it comes to movies with just one main hero, it’s usually better to stick with one main villain.

Can you have a main villain and add side villains to the plot as well? You sure can. It’s even been done in the Batman film universe before. The Dark Knight Rises did that effectively with Bane being the main villain while Talia operated as a secondary villain. Affleck’s new Batman film can take this approach if it is indeed set in Arkham.

It’s Been Done before, But …

If you’ve ever played any of the games in the Arkham video game franchise, you know how well having all those villains in one story can work. Comparing the video game franchise to a movie doesn’t work, however. Because in a video game you get to interact with those characters. Every villain is brought to life not only through your interactions with them, but also through all the extra content a video game provides.

A video game gives you infinitely more depth than a movie does for any sort of character development. That’s why it’s dangerous to include more than one villain as the focus of any superhero movie.

The new Batman film could useThe Dark Knight Rises  as an example. Deathstroke would be the main villain with the residents in Arkham providing support. But knowing how much the new DCEU and Warner Bros. want to push the Joker and Batman together, you have to figure the Clown Prince of Crime will be in it somehow. And it’s hard to make the Joker a side villain when Batman is involved. Even if he isn’t, including all those villains throughout the movie will likely feel more overwhelming than cool.

Affleck’s new Batman movie could be the exception to this. There are other comic book movies that have had more than one villain and managed to make it work. But it’s harder to pull off, and it will be even more difficult considering Deathstroke will be a whole new villain being introduced in the midst of all the mayhem.

Just Let Him Have the Floor

Deathstroke deserves to have his own spotlight. In my opinion, he’s one of the most underrated DC villains out there. He matches up well with Batman both physically and mentally, and the two should be able to play off each other well. But that could get lost in the plot if too many villains weigh it down with unnecessary scenes and dialogue.

Next: Joe Manganiello cast to be main Batman villain

Too many people don’t know who Deathstroke is. His introduction onto the big screen needs to go as smoothly as possible, and that’s why he needs to be the main villain of the new Batman movie. Other villains can be around, sure. But let’s give Deathstroke his time.