In The Batman's moody trailer, The Riddler appears to brutally kill Gotham City's mayor Don Mitchell, but wait, who exactly is Don Mitchell? After seeing The Batman trailer though, maybe the better question is, who is this Bruce Wayne? Robert Pattinson's Bruce seems to be fully embracing the inherent darkness of a vigilante who dresses up like a bat and beats the hell out of bad guys, striking a somber, downbeat tone with every glance toward the camera. Thankfully, most fans feel it fits with the overall tone of the trailer, and presumably the film.
The same question could be asked about this version of The Riddler, played by Paul Dano, reverting back to the character's original less-gimmicky name of Edward Nashton. This Riddler is a far cry from the flashy, flamboyant take brought to life by Jim Carrey in Batman Forever, which remains, surprisingly enough after 25 years, still the only live-action film outing for the character so far. For those who always wished The Riddler would get a more serious, Dark Knight Joker-esque treatment, this seems to be the version they'll love.
With The Batman still quite a ways off from release, it's unclear when fans will get to see any more footage, or learn new concrete details about the characters and their stories in this particular vision of Gotham City. But for now, the question remains: just who is Don Mitchell, and why did The Riddler feel the need to murder him in such a truly sickening fashion?
Why The Riddler Kills Gotham's Mayor In The Batman
Depending on The Riddler incarnation one is most familiar with, murdering someone in that manner might seem wildly out of character for Riddler. Sure, he'll kill people, but he's usually more about the fun of the game. Suffocating someone with duct tape seems more like something Joker would usually do. This is clearly not the usual Riddler, which is one reason so many are looking to Dano's portrayal, to see how The Batman alters the iconic villain. As for the motive for Don Mitchell's killing, the use of "No More Lies" makes it readily apparent that Edward believes the now former mayor of Gotham to be a liar, enough that it warranted paying with his life.
If there's one thing Gotham City's famous for, other than Batman himself, it's corruption, and lots of it. Newspapers seen onscreen say Mitchell had just been elected for a third term, and if one is in their third term as Gotham mayor, they've probably done lots of shady things to hold onto power. This type of punishing sins aim is unusual for The Riddler though, and almost suggests that he sees himself as the real vigilante in Gotham. The way Riddler leaves Mitchell as a direct message to Batman, and speaks dialogue later accusing him of being part of the problem, suggests that Riddler sees Batman as being no more virtuous than the scum he just took out. If Riddler is on a mission to expose corruption though, it seems likely he'll claim many more victims at City Hall.
Everything We Know About Batman's Don Mitchell
While there's not a lot of information available on Don Mitchell as a character at present, we do know thanks to the aforementioned newspaper that he was recently elected to a third term as Gotham's mayor. Thanks to previously confirmed reports, we also know that Mitchell's opponent in the election was a woman named Bella Real, played by newcomer Jayme Lawson. What we don't have an indication of yet was just how heated the race between Bella and Don was. If Don really was that corrupt, it's possible Bella knew Edward Nashton, and at some point expressed her frustrations with the stranglehold corruption has on the city. Perhaps Edward even volunteered for her campaign, although that might be a bridge too far to accept Riddler going door to door in his off hours.
Interestingly, some fans have theorized that Dano's Riddler is actually Hush, since his look is similar, and Riddler actually ended up being Hush in the recent animated movie adaptation. That would certainly change the way many are looking at The Batman's story, as avenging corruption isn't Hush's usual M.O., that being to destroy Bruce Wayne in some form. Hush or no, this Riddler counts Bruce as part of Gotham's corrupt underbelly, and it's quite possible that Don Mitchell had dealings with Thomas Wayne at some point too. While Thomas Wayne is usually portrayed as being moral, 2019's Joker movie stressed that he can be kind of a jerk too. If Mitchell was involved with the Waynes, that could explain why Edward thinks Bruce is turning a blind eye to corruption.
Is Don Mitchell A DC Comics Character?
Based on name and occupation alone, it would seem that Don Mitchell is an original character created for The Batman, as there don't appear to be any direct counterparts for him in the DC Comics universe. However, his apparent character type, a corrupt Gotham politician, is far from an original concept. There have been over a dozen recognized Gotham mayors on the pages of DC Comics over the decades Batman has existed, including a brief period where Bruce Wayne himself was mayor. Many of those mayors were, naturally, incredibly corrupt, and it's quite possible Don Mitchell incorporates some aspects of those characters.
In that way, Don Mitchell could serve as an amalgamation of some Gotham City's past corrupt public officials, and wow are there a lot of those. Beyond just mayors, there's police officials other than Jim Gordon, judges, city council members, and so on and so forth. Rarely does someone attain power in Gotham without stepping on people to get there. There's also one other possibility, at least as far as the name Don being used. Since this plot is dealing with political corruption, and we live in an age where both sides think the other is corrupt, the name Don might well be a subtle reference to President Donald Trump, who's certainly been accused of lying quite a few times.
