Live-action adaptation of the Batman horror film: First official trailer here

Batman always has enough villains to fight—his extensive rogues gallery probably includes more individuals than Arkham Asylum could ever house at once. And we’ve seen them in action time and time again, in whatever form the narrative medium may be.

But when we think of his enemies, we tend to gravitate towards live-action films. That’s not to say DC Comics hasn’t given us some great versions over the decades, but it’s the Batman movies that have helped ingrain them in our collective pop culture psyche.

The Batman era of Tim Burton/Joel Schumacher

Long after Adam West’s 1960s Batman gave us the first live-action rogues gallery – Cesar Romero’s Joker, Julie Newmar’s Catwoman and Meredith Burgess’ The Penguin, etc. – Tim Burton’s Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992) introduced quasi-gothic versions of these characters with Jack Napier/Joker (Jack Nicholson), Selina Kyle/Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer), and Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin (Danny DeVito).

Joel Schumacher’s two (so to speak) successors, Batman forever (1995) and Batman and Robin (1997) featured even more supervillains from Gotham City: Edward Nygma/The Riddler (Jim Carrey), Harvey Dent/Two-Face (Tommy Lee Jones), Victor Fries/Mr. Freeze (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman).

At this point, Two-Face and Poison Ivy had joined the ranks of the well-known Batman villains, alongside the Joker, the Riddler, the Penguin and Catwoman.

Related: Upcoming Batman (1989) Sequel: All Returning Characters Explained

The Dark Knight Villains of the Trilogy

But in future Batman films, the number of villains would not be reduced; we would just see more emerge from the shadows of Gotham City. Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight The trilogy also features a number of members of the Rogues Gallery, perhaps more than in the Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher films combined, if you include those who are hiding in plain sight.

But while The Dark Knight (2008) is the most memorable of the three films, thanks to Heath Ledger’s outstanding performance as the Joker, Batman begins (2005) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012) helped bring lesser-known names such as Ra’s al Ghul (Liam Neeson), Jonathan Krane/Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy) and Bane (Tom Hardy) into the spotlight.

These names are now as synonymous with Batman as the usual suspects.

The DC Universe and the rogues gallery of DC Elseworlds

But while the recent reboot, Matt Reeves’ The Batman (2022) gave us three of the most used villains of the Rogues Gallery in Oswald “Oz” Cobblepot/The Penguin (Colin Farrell), Edward Nash/The Riddler (Paul Dano) and The Joker (Barry Keoghan), non-Batman-specific films like the DC Universe (DC) parts Suicide Squad (2016), Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey (2020) and The suicide squad (2021) and other DC Elseworlds entries such as joker (2019) also introduced and helped to “iconize” other villains, namely Dr. Harleen Quinzel/Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie).

And we haven’t even mentioned the live-action series Gotham (2014 — 2019), with a gigantic a number of villains, many of them of the rather unknown variety.

Overall, all of the Batman films and television series have helped make his enemies as iconic as the crime-fighting avenger himself. Granted, there are still many Gotham City supervillains who have yet to become household names, but there is one who is about to get the live-action screen time he has been deserving of for some time.

Related: Michael Keaton’s new Batman series (1989) explained

Upcoming Batman Projects

Thankfully, we’ll never be short of new material, whether it’s comics, cartoons, movies, or video games, when it comes to Batman’s many enemies. And with the Dark Knight celebrating his 85th birthday this year, several new Batman installments are in the works.

Joker: Foil for Two (2024), Batman: The Masked Crusader (2024), “Batman: Arkham Shadow” (2024), “Batman: Resurrection” (2024), Batman – Part II (2026) and The brave and bold (TBA) are just a few examples of what awaits us in the coming years.

In addition to these upcoming projects, there is a new film titled Gotham-Noir in development. And since it’s described as having “horror elements,” we’ll soon see the darkest versions of some of these rogues’ gallery villains ever brought to life in live-action.

Costume and prop maker and film critic Chris Stanley, best known for his YouTube channels Chris Stanley and Cosplay Chris, produces the film and stars as Bruce Wayne/Batman.

Stanley has teamed up with Sarah Leiker (director, actress) and Danielo Barcelli (director) of Luxxe Media, as well as Womp Stomp Films founder, producer and director Vincent DiSanti (a well-known figure in the horror fan film community) to create the first Batman horror film.

In an announcement for the film shared by Chris Stanley, Barcelli says, “Since Batman has always had characters that were pretty terrible at what they did, we thought it just fit the overall tone of the film (Gotham-Noir) is so reminiscent of Batman (1989), Batman Returnsvery Tim Burton, but this time (with a) higher level of horror, action, drama and suspense.”

Barcelli is certainly not wrong about some of these villains, because Gotham-Noir has just released its first official trailer, introducing one of the most terrifying characters to ever emerge from Gotham City’s corrupt underworld – but you probably have no idea who he is.

Check out the teaser from Luxxe Media below:

Related: Batsuit from live-action Batman horror movie revealed

Even if you are a lifelong Batman fan, you may not be familiar with the grotesque-looking figure in this trailer. But rest assured, he is not for Gotham-Noir – “Professor Pyg” is actually a certified member of the Caped Crusader’s Rogues Gallery.

And like all the other villains of Gotham City, Professor Pyg, aka “The Pyg” (also stylized as “Pig”), has appeared in several DC comics over the years, including the 2011 reboot of “Batman: The New 52.” He also appeared in the 2015 video game “Batman: Arkham Knight.”

But unlike the Joker, the Penguin, the Riddler and the others who all enjoyed several Live-action excursions over the decades, Gotham-Noir only marks The Pyg’s second Live-action appearance, after a brief appearance in Gotham‘s Season 4 Episode ““Let Them Eat Pie,” in which he is played by Michael Cerveris.

As such, the Pyg is not an iconic villain. But Gotham-Noir could change that. Although it’s just a fan film, there’s every chance it will make an impression on fans and maybe even catch the attention of Warner Bros. and DC, who might feel inspired when it comes to official future installments.

However, it would be advisable not to give this disturbing figure a role in the accessible Plot. Before becoming The Pyg, Lazlo Valentin was a scientist who suffered a nervous breakdown and decided to don a terrifying pig mask. Now he kidnaps his victims and turns them into human-animal hybrids using chemicals and surgical instruments.

We think you will agree that he sounds and looks like a character who The Texas Chainsaw Massacreand not Batman. But there Gotham-Noir is a Batman Horror film, he will fit in perfectly. One could even say that he will be responsible for most of the violence in the film.

But it is not just the Pyg who provides blood and guts – Batman himself will be a very Dark Knight. “This is a very brutal Batman,” says Bruce Wayne/Batman actor Chris Stanley (and one of the film’s producers) in Gotham-Noir Stunt training video with behind the scenes insights.

Gotham-Noir with Chris Stanley (Bruce Wayne/Batman), Kourosh Karimian (Commissioner James Gordon), Richard Cotter (Alfred Pennyworth) and Sarah Leiker as Selina Kyle/Catwoman. The film will also feature other “familiar faces from the rogues gallery”.

How can you help Gotham-Noir

Gotham-Noir is surprisingly ambitious for a fan film. It is being crowdfunded through Kickstarter with a goal of $100,000 and an estimated runtime of 1 hour and 47 minutes. Be sure to visit the campaign to learn how you can support this exciting project.

The film is a non-profit fan project. All profits generated from the film and any remaining balance will be donated to the charities mentioned in the campaign.

Gotham-Noir is a fan film and has no connection with Warner Bros., Time Warner or DC Comics.

Are you looking forward to Gotham-Noir? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments below!