Batman Begins and Possible Telegraphed Sequel Ideas

Anyone keeping up with the sequel talk for Batman Begins knows any of the many rumors of who will appear in the next film. If not, the two main candidates are Harvey Dent and the Joker. Knowing how well they did Batman Begins, I feel very safe with anything the decide to do. I mean, come on, Batman Begins earned over 250mil at box office and was nominated for an Oscar - you can't say they were on the wrong path.

Anyway, as of right now the only official word on the sequel is that a number of the main characters are locked in thanks to contracts (primarily Christian Bale and Michael Caine). I just figured out a very important suggection as to where they are going plot wise, and possibly the origin to the rumors of Dent and Joker.

The Delux Edition set of Batman Begins that is available has a chopped together collection of various comic stories showcasing the early years of Bruce Wayne and Batman, very much in line with the movie. It is small, but it is a nice companion piece. The three main stories are each origin stories.

One of the many Batman origin stories, which is more comprehensive of the previous stories.

One is the story that would later become twisted into the origin story for the Joker. It isn't quite the revised tale of the Red Hood as told in the Killing Joke, but it is the (Pre-Crisis) story of the chemical plant heist that went wrong for that poor ganster that fell over a rail into an acid vat. This story had no bearing on Batman Begins in any form, other than simply having Batman in it.

The next story is the first chapter of The Long Halloween, which has relevence on Batman Begins. It introduces Carmine Falcone and his mob network, as well appearances of Batman and Catwoman. As much as I would like Selina Kyle to make a cameo inthe film, the real item to note is that The Long Halloween is basically the grand origin of Two-Face.

Could this be WB giving a subtle nudge to the public as to where the franchise is headed plotwise into the next movie? Joker is obviously the fan favorite, but the interconnected plot of Falcone and Harvy Dent is just two easy a plot for the sequel. In my mind they are just telegraphing where they are going with the mini graphic novel they included.

If they do in fact have Joker in a film and continue the novella tie in they had with Begins, what would they include? The Killing Joke is a bit too mature for a wide audience (think of those poor kids!) so I suppose they will do something like the first story with the Joker in it (Batman #1 I think). If they do Harvey Dent we'll just have to wait and see, but my guess is the chapter of The Long Halloween which Dent gets splashed in the face with the acid.