Batman has one of the best rogues’ galleries in the history of comic books. Joker, Penguin, Riddler, Two-Face, Catwoman, Mr. Freeze, and Poison Ivy are all household names on par with Batman and Robin. Since the 1960s, quite a few actors have put their stamps on these and other villainous characters as they brought them to the screen. These include:
- Cesar Romero
- Burgess Meredith
- Jack Nicholson
- Jack Palance
- Danny DeVito
- Christopher Walken
- Michelle Pfeiffer
- Tommy Lee Jones
- Jim Carrey
- Arnold Schwarzenegger
- Uma Thurman
- Liam Neeson
- Tom Wilkinson
- Ken Watanabe
- Cillian Murphy
- Rutger Hauer
- Heath Ledger
- Aaron Eckhart
- Ron Dean
- Eric Roberts
- Chin Han
- Tom Hardy
- Marion Cotillard
- Jesse Eisenburg
I had a fun thought that many of these actors starred together in other films. And once I started down that rabbit hole, I couldn’t be satisfied until I’d explored it thoroughly. I hunted high and low for obscure movies, and I now present my long list of 30 films to you.
Jack Palance – Carl Grissom
Jack Palance is a famous bad guy who starred in more movies than I can count. He just so happened to appear in a number of films with other Batman baddies. Two of them are from the 1960s Batman TV show and movie, while only one was in a more modern context.
Torture Garden
Burgess Meredith
Jack Palance
Madigan’s Millions
Cesar Romero
Jack Palance
Sarah, Plain and Tall: Winter’s End
Christopher Walken
Jack Palance
Danny DeVito – The Penguin
The Penguin is a tragic villain in Batman Returns. I find him grotesque and not as interesting as the character in the comics, but I can’t deny Danny DeVito really devotes himself to the role, all but disappearing in the process. He’s appeared in other films with many fellow Batman villains, including Jack Nicholson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Jim Carrey. He even shows up for a cameo on a TV screen full of aliens on Earth in Men in Black, so I’ll count that as appearing with Tommy Lee Jones.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Jack Nicholson
Danny DeVito
Terms of Endearment
Jack Nicholson
Danny DeVito
Twins
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Danny DeVito
Hoffa
Jack Nicholson
Danny DeVito
Junior
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Danny DeVito
Mars Attacks!
Jack Nicholson
Danny DeVito
Men in Black
Tommy Lee Jones
Danny DeVito
Man on the Moon
Jim Carrey
Danny DeVito
Solitary Man
Jesse Eisenburg
Danny DeVito
Michelle Pfeiffer – Catwoman
I consider Catwoman a villain in Batman Returns because she works with the Penguin for a large portion of the movie, and she only fights against Max Schreck because she wants to take revenge for his murdering her. Even when Batman reveals his secret identity to her, she still thinks first of fighting him. Michelle Pfeiffer appeared with Rutger Hauer in the excellent 1985 film Ladyhawke. He’s not a main villain in Batman Begins, but he’s definitely an obstacle to the heroes’ efforts. And he’s far from the only bad guy Pfeiffer crossed paths with over the years.
Ladyhawke
Rutger Hauer
Michelle Pfeiffer
The Witches of Eastwick
Jack Nicholson
Michelle Pfeiffer
Wolf
Jack Nicholson
Michelle Pfeiffer
Hairspray (2007)
Michelle Pfeiffer
Christopher Walken
The Family (2013)
Michelle Pfeiffer
Tommy Lee Jones
Tommy Lee Jones – Two-Face
In the two years leading up to Tommy Lee Jones’ portrayal of Harvey Two-Face in Batman Forever, he starred in two films that featured Ron Dean, who would go on to play a dirty cop in The Dark Knight. That dirty cop helps the Joker turn Harvey Dent into Two-Face, so that’s a fun connection.
The Fugitive
Tommy Lee Jones
Ron Dean
The Client
Tommy Lee Jones
Ron Dean
(Fun fact: The Client was directed by Joel Schumacher the year before he made Batman Forever.)
Jim Carrey – The Riddler
The Dead Pool is the fifth and final Dirty Harry movie, which came out in 1988. Watching it for the first time recently, I was shocked early on when a young Jim Carrey made a brief appearance, before he was famous, alongside a young Liam Neeson. Carrey plays a drug-addicted rock star being patiently counseled by film director Neeson. Seeing those two together was what inspired this article.
The Dead Pool
Liam Neeson
Jim Carrey
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Jim Carrey
Tom Wilkinson
Uma Thurman – Poison Ivy
Uma Thurman’s Poison Ivy portrayal is infamously bad, but that didn’t stop her from making some more enjoyable movies with other side villains from Christopher Nolan’s Batman films, which came long after Batman and Robin.
Final Analysis
Eric Roberts
Uma Thurman
Les Miserables (1998)
Liam Neeson
Uma Thurman
Paycheck
Uma Thurman
Aaron Eckhart
Cillian Murphy – Scarecrow
Speaking of Christopher Nolan, he seemed to really enjoy working with Cillian Murphy because he kept bringing him back for each of his Batman films. Plus, Murphy had a prominent role in Inception alongside a couple of former and future Batman villains. And Tom Wilkinson makes yet another appearance on this list, too.
Girl with a Pearl Earring
Tom Wilkinson
Cillian Murphy
Inception
Cillian Murphy
Ken Watanabe
Tom Hardy
Marion Cotillard
Eric Roberts – Sal Maroni
Not exactly the most high-profile Batman villain, Eric Roberts’ Sal Maroni is nevertheless perfectly sleezy and self-confident. He almost manages to escape The Dark Knight unscathed until a fateful run-in with a vengeful Two-Face. And he just so happens to have shown up in a couple of films with other Batman alumni.
Voyage (1993)
Eric Roberts
Rutger Hauer
The Expendables
Eric Roberts
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Heath Ledger – The Joker
Tom Wilkinson’s Carmine Falcone is responsible for the greatest speech in the Dark Knight Trilogy, in my opinion. He also appeared in the 2000 Mel Gibson vehicle The Patriot with a very young Heath Ledger.
The Patriot
Heath Ledger
Tom Wilkinson
Marion Cotillard – Miranda Tate
The 2011 film Contagion features two actors who played seemingly upright but secretly treacherous businesspeople from Christopher Nolan’s last two Batman films: Lau in The Dark Knight and Miranda Tate in The Dark Knight Rises.
Contagion
Marion Cotillard
Chin Han
Villain and Hero Connections
During my research for this article, I came across many interesting connections I wasn’t expecting. It wasn’t just Batman antagonists who had run into each other before and after their encounters in Gotham City. I’ll include these hero-and-villain run-ins as a fun aside.
The Breakfast Club
Anthony Michael Hall
Ron Dean
Johnny Be Good
Anthony Michael Hall
Uma Thurman
Stranger on My Land
Tommy Lee Jones
Pat Hingle
Dylan Thomas
Uma Thurman
Gary Oldman
JFK
Gary Oldman
Tommy Lee Jones
True Romance
Christopher Walken
Val Kilmer
One Fine Day
George Clooney
Michelle Pfeiffer
The Ghost and the Darkness
Val Kilmer
Tom Wilkinson
L.A. Confidential
Kim Basinger
Danny DeVito
Blast from the Past
Christopher Walken
Alicia Silverstone
10 Things I Hate About You
Heath Ledger
Joseph Gordon-Leavitt
The Stepford Wives (2004)
Nicole Kidman
Christopher Walken
Michael Clayton
George Clooney
Tom Wilkinson
The Steam Experiment
Eric Roberts
Val Kilmer
Kill the Irishman
Christopher Walken
Val Kilmer
Criminal (2016)
Gary Oldman
Gal Gadot – I know she’s Wonder Woman, but she debuted in a movie with “Batman” in the title, so I’ll count it.
Tommy Lee Jones
Gotham
Tommy Lee Jones
Conclusion
I know that that last one doesn’t really count, but I like the name connection. Anyway, this has been a fun exercise in making connections. Feel free to let me know if there are any I missed.
This is the Deja Reviewer bidding you farewell until we meet again.
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