Content Warning: Major SPOILERS For DC Films' The Batman Are Discussed In This Article.

The Batman has finally hit theaters after being five years in the making, and Matt Reeves and Robert Pattinson's first endeavor with this rendition of the Dark Knight has left Gotham City in dire straits. The future and soul of the city are uncertain, with the brooding superhero himself getting introspective about how the Batman is going to have to evolve for the sake of the city, as well as the villainous power grabs that will be sure to follow.

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The ending of the movie is open-ended in this regard, but there are some solid picks from the DC superhero's vast catalog of comic book mythos for where the inevitable sequel could take fans. On top of the potential storylines themselves, the characters on the horizon for Reeves' blossoming Bat-verse could be clues as well.

No Man's Land

Batman standing in a destroyed Gotham City in No Man's Land.

Though it will in all likelihood serve as the foundation for the sequel to The Batman, it was also a partial influence for its third act. The aforementioned closing monologue from Bruce Wayne's journal is a narration over a Gotham City in tatters, flooded, and dismantled beyond belief. The odyssey-level story arc No Man's Land used a similar plot device for its premise, with the city reeling from the aftermath of a devastating earthquake.

As a result, the United States federal government deems the leveled city a quarantined "no man's land" zone. Only Batman, Gordon, and the extended Bat-family are willing to help and, naturally, several of Batman's colorful rogues' gallery members come out of the woodwork to carve out territories from this lawless urban jungle. With Reeves' Gotham now effectively under martial law, this seems like the likely landscape for this world in the sequel. Given the dramatic camera pan to Colin Farrell's Penguin overlooking the destruction -- and his greenlit HBO Max TV show -- this seems like an inevitability.

Hush

Batman and Hush's faces split in half in Hush cover art

It was surely one of the most fun Easter eggs for longtime fans of the superhero, but The Batman's reference to the supervillain Hush -- and the comic book arc of the same name by extension -- could end up meaning much more than that. The villain's alter ego, Thomas Elliot, was the main antagonist for the iconic 2000s Batman story arc Hush, and was a childhood friend of Bruce leading a string of cryptic killings in the present.

It wasn't merely a targeted attempt against Batman, but the spree suggested to the World's Greatest Detective that this was a bloody vendetta against Wayne specifically. In the movie, the Riddler reveals that a crooked journalist on Salvatore Maroni's payroll named Edward Elliot tried to expose Thomas and Martha Wayne's secret of the latter grappling with mental illness in Arkham State Hospital. While Carmine Falcone had Elliot murdered, working Tommy into the sequel as his vengeful son reads like a strong premise for Hush's integration into the franchise.

Heart Of Ice (Batman: The Animated Series)

Artwork of Mr. Freeze in his suit for BTAS' Heart of Ice episode

Matt Reeves's The Batman is intricately grounded and realistic (or as much as a superhero can be), but he's told Collider that he'd be interested in tackling a grounded rendition of the iconic Mr. Freeze too. Though it isn't a comic book, the "Heart of Ice" episode of Batman: The Animated Series is quintessential reference material for when it comes to telling a great story involving Mr. Freeze in a major capacity.

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The '90s cartoon was critically acclaimed for how it struck an exceptional balance of childlike imagination and realistic, darker themes in Batman's world, and it's also what reclaimed Mr. Freeze as a compelling supervillain. It told a new origin for Victor Fries in a sympathetic light, as though his present methods are reprehensible, he's also the product of corporate corruption. Picking apart and analyzing themes like these are baked into Reeves' Batman universe, making this an excellent inspiration for a live-action Mr. Freeze.

The Killing Joke

The Joker in the moment he loses his sanity in The Killing Joke

As far stories with the Joker as a major figure go, The Killing Joke by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland is arguably the most influential Batman comic ever. It was the groundwork for both Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight and Todd Phillips' Joker, serving as a roadmap for how to write a new live-action rendition of the infamous Clown Prince of Crime. Though he wasn't the antagonist for The Batman, once the Riddler was finally apprehended, it was revealed that Barry Keoghan was portraying this universe's iteration of the Joker.

Reeves has said in an interview with Variety that this wasn't a guarantee that the villain would star in the sequel, but he could at least be in the cards. In the same interview, Reeves also revealed that this version was born with a congenital disease giving him a perpetual grimace akin to the 1928 silent movie The Man Who Laughs -- from which the villain was initially inspired by-- and already has an established history with the World's Greatest Detective himself. Should he feature in a sequel, the chronology of The Killing Joke could be a blueprint for the dynamic between his takes on Batman and Joker.

The War Of Jokes And Riddles

Batman stuck in the middle of Joker and Riddler's gang war in DC comics

Writer Tom King's Batman run during DC's Rebirth era was a mixed bag, but The War of Jokes and Riddles arc was one of the high points. After hearing Selina Kyle's response to his marriage proposal, Bruce Wayne tells a cautionary flashback tale during his second year of donning the cape and cowl.

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The story is centered around the Joker and the Riddler amassing their armies in a gruesome street war over who has the right to bring down the Dark Knight once and for all. After fans have seen the Joker manipulate Nashton from between their cells in Arkham State Hospital and the sequel seemingly crawling towards a No Man's Land-like setting, it wouldn't be farfetched to see the two break out, eventually have a falling out, and be let loose under Gotham's martial law order.

Zero Year

Split image of Batman wearing a guerilla-like suit in a Gotham under blackout and confronting the Riddler

Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's run on Batman during The New 52 days of DC Comics were one of the most consistently well-written runs on the characters. And on top of being one of the best Batman comic book arcs of the last decade, it similarly inspired elements of The Batman's climax. The story arc is a rebooted origin story for the Dark Knight that pits the Riddler as one of his first major threats, where the first half ends in the villain flooding Gotham City and facing a perpetual blackout.

It's what helps Riddler force the city to operate under his unique brand of martial law. While Edward Nashton is thwarted (mostly) by the end of the movie, his scene with Barry Keoghan's Joker suggests this might not be the last time fans see more of Paul Dano's take on the cryptic supervillain. A sequel could blend elements of No Man's Land with a smaller-scale resurgence of the Riddler after an Arkham breakout.

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