The Riddler: Eddie Murphy Vs. Johnny Depp

After the recent success of 'The Dark Knight', filled with the haunting performance by the late Heath Ledger, speculation grew rapidly as to who who be the next villain to wreck havoc on Gotham city and torment the capped crusader. Initially, some speculated Philip Seymour Hoffman would take up the role of 'The Penguin', a character previously portrayed brilliantly by Danny DeVito. Still others pushed for Angelina Jolie to slide into the skintight leather of 'Catwoman'. Both castings would make sense by bringing A list talent with solid fan bases to the already strong franchise. However, maybe the most interesting name to come up was Jack Sparrow himself, Johnny Depp as the next Riddler. The man has had an uncanny knack for playing off-beat characters with an unforced whimsical charm and it seemed to satisfy the fanboys and all others excited for the next Batman flick. With his name unofficially linked to the movie, rumors died down and there was silence for months on end. At least until recently. Over the past few weeks a new rumor surfaced. Someone else might take up the Riddler's green leotard. Eddie Murphy. This kind of came from left field and not many saw it coming, but it could work, and work very well. Eddie Murphy has denied rumors of him meeting with movie executives over the part, but he may just be contractually obligated to deny the rumors until a specific date or after shooting starts. Either way, both actors would bring something different to the table, which just happens to be why speculation should continue.

Johnny Depp, as stated above, has long honed his craft of portraying odd characters in a way no one else has been able to do, in maybe all of Hollywood history. In fact his most memorable rolls have come from these performances. His other's, where he plays a 'normal' individual (outside of Finding Neverland), have been mostly forgettable. The Riddler would offer Depp a new take on odd, and of course it would be fun to see Depp play a deeply disturbed evil character. Maybe with it he could finally secure that elusive Oscar he's somehow missed for the duration of his career.

Eddie Murphy has to be considered a slightly different story. His career has been filled with hits and misses, with possibly more misses than hits. He started off his movie career with a bang as the fast talking Detroit cop in 'Beverly Hills Cop' (as well as the sequel), but than couldn't seem to to plant his feet into a suitable role until 'The Nutty Professor' came along. With it came his reestablishment as one of the funniest actors in Hollywood. The Riddler role, if casted, would probably become the highlight of his career. The only not of caution would be if he portrayed the character along the same lines as Jim Carrey did in "Batman Forever." There is of course nothing wrong with Carrey's performance, and in fact he stole the movie, however these are two different series, with the newer much darker, and the goofy comedy would absolutely not fit within it's grimacing, shadow filled walls.

When looking at either character, they both could do an adamant job, as long as the performances were original and not over the top in a silly goofy way. Johnny Depp probably has a more tailer made feel for the role, but don't count out Eddie Murphy. If one of these men at the end is chosen, than the audience should be in for a real treat. And not to worry, the one which isn't chosen could still be in the running to play 'The Mad Hatter', if and when the franchise decides to go in that direction.