After years of waiting, the Dark Knight’s latest big screen adventure —The Batman, directed by Matt Reeves and starring Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne — is finally in theaters. And while a sequel is already in the works, not much is currently known about what fans can expect from Pattinson’s next outing in the cape and cowl.
However, Reeves and Pattinson have been very frank in interviews about elements from the comics that they want to include in future movies. The Court of Owls have been mentioned as likely candidates for future antagonists, and the possibility of Robin’s introduction has been brought up as well. However,there’s one potential villain Matt Reeves has proposedwho would be perfect for a future movie: Mr. Freeze.
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His Cold-Hearted Past
Mr. Freeze has appeared on film before, of course — he was the main antagonist of 1997’sBatman & Robin, in which he was portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Far from a nuanced character, Freeze under the vision of director Joel Schumacher was little more than a typical campy supervillain, in the same vein as Jim Carrey’s Riddler. While his traditional backstory as a scientist trying to save his ailing wife was retained, any pathos derived from Schwarzenegger’s Mr. Freeze is undermined by his gleeful villainy and love of incredibly cheesy ice-based puns. However,not all interpretations of the characterare quite so ridiculous.
Fans of the 90s cartoon classicBatman: The Animated Serieswill remember Mr. Freeze as the central antagonist of one of the show’s greatest episodes, the Emmy-winning “Heart of Ice”. The episode’s plot follows Batman as he clashes with Mr. Freeze for the first time, investigating the villain’s string of robberies and unraveling his dark past along the way. Bruce discovers that Freeze was once a kindhearted scientist named Victor Fries, who was desperate to find a cure for the illness of his wife Nora, whose body was cryogenically frozen to keep her alive. Fries’ greedy employer Ferris Boyle cut his funding just to save money, and a fight broke out when Fries resisted, leadingto a disastrous lab accident.
The incident left Fries unable to survive outside of sub-zero temperatures, transforming him into the vengeful Mr. Freeze. Freeze swore vengeance on Boyle, the man who ruined his life and nearly killed his wife. And despite Batman’s attempts to reason with Freeze, he refuses to give up on his quest for revenge. The episode concludes with Batman defeating Mr. Freeze and exposing Boyle’s crimes to the public, but it still ends on a tragic note as Freeze sits alone in his Arkham Asylum cell, lamenting the loss of the happy married life he once had.
A Chilling Return
“Heart of Ice” is widely considered to be one ofthe best episodes ofBatman: The Animated Series,if not its absolute peak. And it’s very easy to see why: not only is it a compelling story that showcases Batman’s detective skills and sense of compassion, but it also reinvents a formerly unremarkable villain as one of the most fascinating and sympathetic antagonists in Batman’s entire rogues’ gallery. Before “Heart of Ice”, Mr. Freeze wasn’t a tragic figure desperate to save his wife, but simply a generic ice-themed mad scientist. Even the name Victor Fries was an invention ofBatman: TAS. The reimagined Freeze was so impactful, in fact, that his cartoon backstory was quickly adopted by the actual comics.
The episode isn’t just one of thehigh points of a beloved series,it’s also the definitive Mr. Freeze story — one that redefined the entire character. As such, it’s only natural that if the sequel toThe Batmandoes indeed feature the Caped Crusader going up against Mr. Freeze, its story should take some influence from “Heart of Ice”. The film wouldn’t need to be a direct adaptation of theBatman: TASepisode, of course. But just as Matt Reeves incorporated elements of past Batman comics likeYear One,The Long Halloween, andEgoto create a brand-new story forThe Batman, so too could he blend “Heart of Ice” together with other new influences to form the plot of the next film.
In fact, a sequel that involves both Mr. Freezeand the Court of Owlsmight very well be in the cards. The Court of Owls are a secret society of upper-class Gotham residents who use their wealth to control the city from the shadows. An alliance of Gotham’s most corrupt and avaricious citizens could easily become a target of Mr. Freeze, whoseBatman: TASincarnation was himself a victim of corporate greed. A story in which Freeze is Batman’s main opponent while the Court of Owls pulls their strings from the shadows could definitely make for a compelling film.
While it’s presently unknown whether Mr. Freeze will indeed be making an appearance in the sequel toThe Batman, there’s no denying that he would bea perfect fit for the film.Mr. Freeze’s full potential as a tortured, humanized antagonist has yet to be realized on the big screen, and there’s no better place to remedy that than Matt Reeves’ atmospheric and moody take on Gotham City. Here’s hoping that Robert Pattinson’s next outing as the Dark Knight takes some inspiration from Mr. Freeze’s bone-chilling history.
