Best Batman Villain
Having appeared in comic books for nearly 100 years, Batman has amassed one of the most impressive rogues galleries in fiction. Some are ordinary mobsters, some are thieves, some are mentally deranged, some are superpowered, some are mass murderers -- some are all of the above! But the best of them are incredibly iconic, having jumped from the comic pages to television, movies, video games and more. Now the Great Pop Culture Debate wants to determine the Best Batman Villain. Bad guys we consider: Joker, Man-Bat, Ra’s Al Ghul, Harley Quinn, Riddler, Clayface, Talia Al Ghul, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, Mad Hatter, Bane, Mr. Freeze, Catwoman, Ventriloquist, Penguin, Two-Face.
Join host Eric Rezsnyak, GPCD panelists Kevin Dillon and Michael Schwarz, and special guest Jordan Morris as they discuss 16 of the most iconic Batman bad guys, covering decades of Bat-history and dozens of Bat-media.
Play along at home by finding the listener bracket here. Make a copy for yourself, fill it out, and see if your picks match up with ours!
For more exclusive content, including warm-up in which we discuss the villains we were bummed didn’t make the bracket, become a Patreon supporter of the podcast today.
Round 1 Match-Ups:
Not a Patreon subscriber? Here’s a primer on how we came up with the bracket.
Match-Up 2: Ra’s Al Ghul (3) vs. Harley Quinn (2)
Match-Up 4: Talia Al Ghul (3) vs. Scarecrow (2)
Match-Up 5: Poison Ivy (1) vs. Mad Hatter (4)
Match-Up 6: Bane (3) vs. Mr. Freeze (2)
Match-Up 7: Catwoman (1) vs. The Ventriloquist (4)
Want to play along at home?
Download the Listener Bracket and see if your picks match up with ours!
Sign up for our weekly newsletter!
Subscribe to find out what’s new in pop culture each week right in your inbox!
Vote in more pop culture polls!
Check out our Open Polls. Your votes determine our future debates!
Then, vote in our Future Topic Polls to have a say in what episodes we tackle next.
Episode Credits
Host: Eric Rezsnyak
Panel: Kevin Dillon, Michael Schwarz
Special Guest: Jordan Morris
Producer: Bob Erlenback
Editor: Bob Erlenback
