Y'all are going to LOVE this! I think. Anyway, this comes in from probably my best source who confirmed many things for BOF in the past (such as the Katie Holmes and Ken Watanabe casting; the offer made to Ledger). Here goes:

As you have long suspected, the two main villains in the BATMAN BEGINS sequel will be The Joker and The Penquin.

I can confirm (as I did a few weeks ago) that while an offer has been made to Heath Ledger, Ledger has not signed any deal, and is reluctant to do so (at the moment.) Ledger is not a lock.

It seems Nolan has been listening to you guys when it comes to casting his other villain, however. I can confirm that an offer has been made to Phillip Seymour Hoffman for the role. Yet Hoffman has indicated that he may not get involved in the sequel.

Also, industry reaction to the Ledger 'leak' has been much like the fans: A fair bit of head scratching, and a generally tepid response.


So the scuttlebutt long reported by BOF that The Penguin will be in the sequel looks to be true (The rumor is that he'll be a British arms dealer/mob boss with designs on Gotham). Also, this was the second time in a very short time frame that I heard that Ledger, while offered the part, had not yet signed on. While I'm down with the offer to Ledger due to my trust of Chris Nolan, I've on record saying that I would've prefered someone else for the part (like my choice, Lachy Hulme). There's a bit more to this, so check back later today for additional info.