Inferiorego recently wrote an article about the possibility of Black Mask being the main villain in the upcoming Batman film. I completely agree with him that Black Mask would not only make an excellent villain for Nolan's established universe, but he'd also be a perfect follow up to the conclusion of The Dark Knight. But every crime lord has his right hand man. The Kingpin has Lady Bullseye, The Red Skull has Crossbones, Joker has Harley Quinn, so on and so on. So, who can stand beside The Black Mask and be the primary threat to Bruce Wayne in Batman 3? Deadshot, that's who.
He already fits the bill. He's been a hired gun for the majority of his appearances, and with his near-flawless accuracy, he'd be the best man for the job in Black Mask's eyes. While Deadshot might not be considered a Batman villain, he's had numerous encounters with Wayne, definitely more than enough to justify having a role in a movie. He even appeared in the animated movie Gotham Knight as a hired gun. To top it all off, he's a realistic villain, making it an easy translation into the films. He's merely a man with good accuracy. His costume? Of course it wouldn't translate well to the big screen, but it can be simplified with some kevlar, pistols, a trench coat (as in Deadshot Vol. 2) and a mask with a basic targeting system installed.
But now we have to dive into the question of how would they treat Deadshot? Would he be like his comic counter-part who purposely pulls his shots against the Dark Knight, or would be be a blood-thirsty gunman who won't hesitate to take down Gotham City's biggest challenger? Personally, I think it would be easy to have Deadshot pull his shots without diving into his complex back-story which explains why. After all, this could be Deadshot's biggest challenge, so maybe he'd want to enjoy the challenge, such as villains often do with their heroes. Then on the other hand, we can ignore that aspect and just assume Batman's stealth, armor, and gadgets will allow him overcome Deadshot. Either are perfectly acceptable to me. There's no real need to dive into his origin or give him his own side plot. I think all of his actions should be dictated by Black Mask's order until his final encounter with the Bat. By doing this, the movie would avoid the same mistakes Spider-Man 3 made with it's villains. And in the end, it always leaves him open for future roles in the franchise, since he likely wouldn't die.
Every blockbuster needs its major fight scenes. Sure, a movie involving Black Mask can be loaded with Batman beating up thugs and falling for traps, but it would be missing that "big showdown" element. I think Deadshot is the man for that job. Agree? Disagree? Discuss!
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