How Batman might continue

It's probably not much of an exaggeration to say that I owe much of my quizmasterhood to Batman. As a kid, I was a comics geek with a mean streak, so it was only natural that I became a major fan of the Dark Knight Detective; the fact that I turned 13 the summer of the first Tim Burton Batman film certainly didn't hurt. So it's incumbent upon me to at least comment on some aspect of the current Bat–cultural moment.

First of all, I liked The Dark Knight a lot; liked it more than Batman Begins, in fact, and I've seen it twice already. It had its problems (I went to a screening with this guy, and while I enjoyed it more than he did, he's mostly right on), but it was a whole lot of fun, and got a number of key things right (the Batman-Joker dichotomy and Jim Gordon, most notably). And yes, Heath Ledger was great, alas alack.

But the question now: What next? Another entry in this series is a no-brainer, but what could we expect? Allow me to game out a few scenarios… (SPOILER ALERT! I'm going to reveal a few minor details about The Dark Knight; not enough to impede your enjoyment of it, though, unless you're one of those extremist geeks who's violently allergic to hearing even the barest hint of a plot detail before you see a film. But you people have almost certainly already seen the film, and besides, how are you going to deal with Watchmen?)

SCENARIOS FOR THE NEXT BATMAN MOVIE:

(1) Batman is reviled by the Gotham public and hunted by the police. But he continues his crusade, encountering another outsider vigilante, the ex-hooker feminist Catwoman. Romance presents itself, but soon it becomes obvious that Catwoman is willing to cross some lines that Batman will not and a showdown becomes inevitable. In the process, Batman is redeemed in the eyes of the public and Gordon reinstalls the Bat-Signal. Somewhere along the way, there's a battle with a scary villain like Killer Croc or a crazy one like the Riddler.

(2) Batman is reviled by the Gotham public and hunted by the police. In the process of their manhunt, the GCPD consults a prominent abnormal-psychologist, Professor Hugo Strange. However, Strange is secretly a lunatic who dreams of manipulating Gotham's populace for his own mad-scientist ends. In the process, Batman is redeemed in the eyes of the public and Gordon reinstalls the Bat-Signal. Somewhere along the way, there's a battle with a scary villain like Man-Bat or a crazy one like the Mad Hatter.

(3) Batman is reviled by the Gotham public and hunted by the police. Meanwhile, Gotham's economy is revived by the investment of a shady businessman named Oswald Cobblepot, otherwise known as the Penguin. Cobblepot and Batman never really fight, but form an uneasy truce by which the Penguin's unethical yet not evil activities may continue, and Batman is redeemed in the eyes of the public (and thus Gordon reinstalls the Bat-Signal). Somewhere along the way, there's a battle with a scary villain like Clayface or a crazy one like the Ventriloquist (actually, I'd love to see the Ventriloquist—I think it could be really clever and get at some of the fun weirdness that the best Batman stories do so well).

(4) Batman is reviled by the Gotham public and hunted by the police. Seeing opportunity, Egghead, Louie the Lilac, and Marsha Queen of Diamonds team up to steal a rare ruby-encrusted trampoline from the Gotham Museum. Batman intervenes, and though he nearly has his memory erased, is almost devoured by man-eating flowers, and comes close to marrying against his will, he triumphs and is redeemed in the eyes of the public, and Gordon reinstalls the red Batphone. Somewhere along the way, there's a cameo appearance by a C-list actor leaning out the window of a high-rise.

I also think it's likely that Two-Face didn't really die in The Dark Knight, so we might see Aaron Eckhart again. And while I consider it a remote possibility of happening, I guarantee you that some movie exec is suggesting that Robin appear in the next film. But I think my scenarios are all plausible; it could be any of these, or a combination of them, or—probably the best bet—something completely different (part of me wants them to use Mr. Zsasz, even though he made a minor appearance in Batman Begins, played by the guy who sang, "This bed is on fire with passion and love").

Your thoughts? Am I way off? Any way they can even mention the Joker again? I'm waiting, Bat-buddies…