LongtimeBatmanmovie producer Michael E. Uslan would love to see Mr. Freeze get his own supervillain origin story in the vein ofJoker, especially if the “Heart of Ice” episode ofBatman: The Animated Seriesis used for inspiration. Starting with Tim Burton’s 1989Batmanmovie with Michael Keaton in the lead role, Uslan has been serving as an executive producer for every modern movie about the caped crusader. That includes theLEGO Batmanmovies, Christopher Nolan’sThe Dark Knight, andThe Batmanwith Robert Pattinson.
Michael E. Uslanknows a thing or two about Batman’s adversaries as well. He also served as an exec producer for last year’sJoker, which undeniably proved just how successful supervillain origin movies can really be. Speaking about the movie in a virtual “From Batman to Joker” panel for Wizard World, Uslan addressed how there are “great possibilities” for other DC villains to be explored in their ownJoker-style projects. Addressing which supervillain he’d personally most like to see get a movie, Uslan pointed to Batman’s chilliest foe, though he also made it clear that there are currently no plans for a Mr. Freeze movie.
“One of my favorite episodes ofBatman: The Animated Series, which I absolutely love, dealt withMr. Freezeand the loss of his wife,” Uslan says. “The empathy, the emotions that that created. I’m putting on my fanboy hat, not my producing hat. This has nothing to do with any plans. It’s just that, as a fanboy, I could see taking that iteration of Mr. Freeze and doing something amazing with his backstory.”
Mr. Freeze might by Uslan’s personal choice, but he also mentions the many other great options that aJoker-style movie could delve into. “It doesn’t matter if it’s Scarecrow, Riddler, Catwoman, Penguin… they’re so juicy. Part of their success has been their mystique, where all the i’s haven’t been dotted and the t’s haven’t been crossed. It allows filmmakers and writers to come in and take it to places that it’s never been taken before.”
“Heart of Ice,” the firstBatman: The Animated Seriesepisode to feature Mr. Freeze, fully explores the backstory of the character. As revealed in the episode, Mr. Freeze is really Victor Fries, acryogenics scientistwho freezes his terminally ill wife until he can find a cure for her condition. A lab accident results in Fries' transformation into Mr. Freeze, leaving him unable to survive unless his body kept in sub-zero conditions. The acclaimed episode won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in an Animated Program, serving as one of the most memorable supervillain origin stories in DC lore.
As Uslan stated, there are no concrete plans for Mr. Freeze to get his own movie at this time. Considering the success ofJokerlast year, there is still a good chance we’ll be seeing more supervillain origins movies in the future. Let’s just hope Mr. Freeze is one of the first in line. You can check out the complete From Batman to Joker panel below, courtesy ofWizard World on YouTube.
