Fresh off the blockbuster heels of another bangin’ installment of the Christopher Nolan “Batman” era, Warner Bros. has been all hush-hush about the next episode of the caped crusader’s storyline, but rumors are circling faster than a proton-particle in Switzerland that Johnny Depp and Philip Seymour Hoffman are set to hit the big screen as “The Riddler” and “The Penguin” respectively. (Javier Bardem should totally play the villain that punctures person’s skulls with an oxygen tank. Wait, is that not in the comic?) Legendary actor Michael Caine (“Get Carter!”) is the culprit spittin’ all of these very juicy rumors.

Pressed on the issue of where he got his information, Caine said he heard the news through someone at the studio. “I was with [a Warner Bros.] executive, and I said, ‘Are we going to make another one?’ They said yeah. I said, ‘How the hell are we going to top Heath?’ ” –- referring to Heath Ledger’s critically acclaimed performance as the Joker in “The Dark Knight” –- “And he says, ‘I’ll tell you how you top Heath –- Johnny Depp as the Riddler and Philip Seymour Hoffman as the Penguin.’ I said, ‘… they’ve done it again!’ ”

Well, we feverishly applaud this rumor because both actors are versatile enough to achiece Heath Ledger’s performance, or parallel its briliance, but we’re going to keep our excitement at a stand still until the big wigs at Warner Bros. plaster the media with press releases. What say you, cinephiles?

Riddle me this: Will Johnny Depp star in the new ‘Batman’? [LA Times]
Image [MTV]