The More I Think About It ...

... the more taken I am with the idea of incorporating Anthony Michael Hall as Jean-Paul Valley into the Batman film franchise.

If you streamlined the story, and simply had Jean-Paul Valley taking up the Azrael identity after being inspired by Batman's actions and becoming increasingly ruthless until a confrontation with Batman himself occurs, it would fit in really nicely with the themes of justice versus vengeance that were so strongly established in Batman Begins, as well as the idea of escalation that was touched upon at the end of that film and that's been promised to be elaborated on in The Dark Knight.

If the filmmakers introduced Jean-Paul in The Dark Knight and then depicted his transformation into Azrael and subsequent showdown in the next film, it would take all the things that Spider-Man 3 tried to accomplish but failed to because of its over-stacking the deck.

I guess the main reason I find this idea so compelling is that, besides the fact that I didn't previously see it as something that could be accomplishable in film, I've always had a fascination with doppelganger versions of heroes. From Azrael to Venom to Bizarro and beyond, "through a looking glass darkly"-style villains have always held a certain appeal to me, both aesthetically and thematically. Exploring the darker side of a protagonist by personifying it is, I believe, inheriantly fascinating. I guess it's also a little indictive of "low art", but I don't care.

Of course, all this is moot if it turns out Hall's been cast as some Joe Blow. But that's part of the fun of watching these films develop; the guessing game that goes along with them, followed by the enjoyment/disappointment of the reveal.

On a tangent; with Venom's appearance in Spider-Man 3, the Iron Monger in the currently filming Iron Man, and the possibility of Azrael in The Dark Knight, it's curious to think what's going on in the cultural psyche at the moment that sees us being provided with all these dark variations on our cultural heroes.