A clearer, more detailed look at The Riddler’s costume in The Batman has been revealed, and with that came a lot of jokes and memes on social media – and here’s why. Batman’s history on the big screen began in the 1940s and has since been marked by many ups and downs, with successes like Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy and failures like Joel Schumacher’s Batman & Robin. Of course, with Batman have come some of his most notable enemies in the comics, and one that is getting a new chance in Matt Reeves’ The Batman after a not-so-successful adaptation in Batman Forever is The Riddler.
After Ben Affleck’s version of Batman failed to connect with the audience, Warner Bros. made some changes to its DC Comics movie universe and gave the Caped Crusader another chance in a movie separate from the DC Extended Universe. Simply titled The Batman, it will see Robert Pattinson as a younger Bruce Wayne on his second year of crime-fighting in Gotham City, and he will come across some notable villains: Oswald Cobblepot (Colin Farrell), Selina Kyle (Zoë Kravitz), Carmine Falcone (John Turturro), and The Riddler (Paul Dano), the latter serving as the main antagonist. The trailers for The Batman have focused heavily on The Riddler’s presence and actions, yet he hasn’t been seen often.
The Riddler has had little screen time in The Batman teasers and trailers, so fans didn’t have a clear idea of what Dano’ costume looked like, only that he’s covering his whole body and doesn’t have a campy costume with interrogation signs all over it, like Jim Carrey’ in Batman Forever. Now, Warner Bros. has finally revealed a clear and detailed look at The Riddler’s new costume, showing how simple but still menacing it is, with pants, a jacket, and gloves in different shades of dark green (and the jacket with a white interrogation sign on the side) and a mask made of a more plastic material that covers everything but his eyes – but instead of inspiring the fear that it does in the movie, it has become the target of a lot of jokes on social media.
The Riddler’s new costume has made way for all types of comments – from humorous ones to comparisons to characters in well-known movies. Some have mocked the “expensive” costume, tagging luxury brands and giving each piece a price, others have compared The Riddler to “the gimp” in Pulp Fiction, to a picture of Steve Harvey wearing a green suit, saying the TV host wore it best, and even to author Matthew Lesko, who according to some has a more Riddler-like look than Dano's version. Others have used their photo editing skills to add an orange eye mask to The Riddler comparing him to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ Michelangelo, Rick and Morty’s Pickle Rick, Trailer Park Boys’ The Green Bastard, and turning him into a character from the videogame Among Us. If it wasn't for the white interrogation sign on the side of the jacket, casual viewers wouldn't know that this is The Riddler, which is what many fans are criticizing, sharing that they feel it took away the character's essence, while others feel they can't take him seriously with this more serious costume and mask.
Among the many jokes and memes about The Riddler’s new costume are also good comments, with many praising its Zodiac vibe and comparing the way it has been received to how the audience reacted to the first look at Heath Ledger’s Joker in The Dark Knight, as fans initially weren’t on board with it, but their opinion changed completely once the movie was released. It’s important to remember that The Batman is going for a darker and more grounded approach (perhaps even more than Nolan’s trilogy), so The Riddler had to go through a major transformation from the look he has in the comic books and the one that Jim Carrey made so popular, and it will look different in the movie and with the context of the story.
