David Hyde Pierce should have played The Riddler.

I wanted DHP for TDKR before they announced the Riddler wouldn't be in the film. However, I still think he would have been a fantastic Riddler and in a way, a twist on the character.

Everybody was throwing around names like Johnny Depp, David Tennant, and Guy Pearce. They are all fine actors but one thing that made DHP stand out was (apart from his obvious intelligence and voice) was his age. I wouldn't put the Riddler in by himself for the last film but it would have been fascinating and terrifying to see an older man who you think is no real threat to Batman end up being a cold fighter.

Now, apologies in advance for my TDK rant.

I think Dark Knight is a fantastic movie but I didn't orgasm over it like most people did. I still think the JOker is one of the most interesting villains every put on screen and Heath Ledger deserved his oscar, however my main problem with the joker, and the film as a whole, was that the Joker was too invincible. He had this uncanny (and by uncanny i mean unexplained) ability to choreograph massive acts of violence without anyone noticing. He somehow attained hundreds of barrels of gasoline and put them in warehouses and ferries. I say unexplained because the filmmakers clearly had no logical way to explain it. Then there is the fact that he knew everybody's plan. The joker must be the best chess player in the world because he is able to predict anyone's next 15 moves no matter how illogical those moves may be. For example, Gordon is the ONLY PERSON IN GOTHAM to say "we gotta get the inmates in Gotham out of the city." Fortunately there is only one ferry's worth of criminals apparently so one ferry is full of criminals and the other is full of decent citizens. How the hell did the Joker know Gordon was going to do that? How did he put a phone in a guy and sew him back up and find himself in the same vicinity as that poor guy? How do all the gangsters go through a metal detector and he just sneaks in with a jacket full of bombs? And why, when he was locked in an interrogation room by himself, did that one police officer have to stay inside with him? The only reason why the Joker got out is because Batman slammed him into the glass so hard that it broke, giving him a shard to use as a knife to threaten the officers. What if he didn't have the glass? What if the detective didn't stay in the room with him? There are so many amazing calls on the Joker's part and I can't help but think this is why Nolan didn't go with the Riddler. In the 60's show, the Riddler and the Joker are almost identical. They both have their crazy schemes and they both laugh their crazy laugh, the only difference is The Joker tells jokes and the Riddler tells riddles. That's the key problem. Nolan made the Joker too smart, unrealistically, unbelievably smart. There is no way for the Riddler to come in because they made a character that could predetermine every move of every person in the city.

Thanks for letting me rant there.

If they hadn't made the Joker a genius, it would have been awesome to see the Riddler. I imagined he would be a struggling man working for Wayne Enterprises but still living near the narrows. He's super smart and loves riddles but he's a doormat and everyone pushes him around. Then, another villain (Bane or Catwoman) would coerce him into working with them to find the identity of Batman. They would seduce him with the promise of power and as the film progressed he would have let the twisted, powerhungry maniac out of the cage. This would tie in with Caesar never giving up his power. In my dream film, Two Face would have still been alive. After Heath Ledger died and they knew they wouldn't have him for the third film, Nolan and company should have rewritten the ending, allowing Dent to survive and escape or something. That scene at the bar where he says "dent, i thought use was dead." and he says "half." would have been the end of the movie. Anyway, Dent and the Riddler would end up fighting Batman and the Riddler would reveal that Batman is Bruce Wayne and he would unmask himself at gunpoint, the Riddler pointing a gun at him. Dent would then realize that he wasn't the only one who lost everything, Batman lost something as well. He come to terms with the fact that the world isn't just black and white, fair and unfair, but that there are lots of grays. He would tell the Riddler to put the gun down and the Riddler wouldn't back down (Caesar). He goes to shoot Batman, Dent gets in the way, Riddler shoots Dent, Batman fights and subdues the Riddler and thus Harvey Dent is redeemed as the white knight. Anyway, that is what I would have liked.

And I think David Hyde Pierce would have been perfect in the role.

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