The Batman reveals in the trailer that The Riddler is arrested and imprisoned, which may have been part of his plan all along. The upcoming DCEU movie stars Robert Pattinson as the Caped Crusader following the notable Batman portrayals by Ben Affleck, Christian Bale, and Michael Keaton’s reprisal for The Flash. The Batman follows Bruce Wayne in his second year of fighting crime in Gotham, where he uncovers deep corruption while battling the serial killer The Riddler, the crime lord The Penguin, and the mysterious Catwoman.
The Batman’s Riddler (Paul Dano) appears to be far grittier than past film adaptations, with a darker and less maniacal demeanor than Jim Carrey’s erratic Ridder in Batman Forever. The Penguin is clearly set up in The Batman’s trailer as Bruce Wayne’s more pressing and imminently destructive foe, while The Riddler seems to be far more damaging from whatever he is planning behind bars. The clip in which Batman goes to visit Riddler in what looks to be Arkham Asylum and Robert Pattinson shouts “What have you done?” in a desperate and garbled voice suggests Gotham’s more fearsome villain is enacting his terror while already shackled and behind bars.
This will be the first time in over 25 years that The Riddler will play an integral role as a villain in a major Batman movie, which is thrilling as it allows the franchise to take a break from The Joker. The Batman trailer already hinted that The Riddler is arrested early on as he is seen apprehended by police in a cafe, but revealing this in the trailer for such a calculated villain leads to more questions on Riddler’s strategy at large. The quick reveals of the faceless Riddler both in and out of prison seem to suggest being arrested was always part of his devious plan.
The Riddler's Arrest In The Batman Is Way Too Easy
Most apprehensions of Batman’s biggest foes take most of the movie and occur in a life-or-death struggle. As shown in The Batman’s trailer, Riddler is arrested with no resistance as he sullenly sits alone in a cafe. His head is smashed on the diner counter by policemen with no attempt to fight back, speak, or emotionally respond, which makes the character far more sinister than imagined. Gotham’s police take in Riddler while he’s drinking a coffee at a public cafe, which seems to be way too easy a manner for a menacing serial killer like Riddler to be caught. The saying goes that “if it’s too good to be true, it probably is,” and this likely applies to Riddler. It was far too easy for him to be caught without reproach in a cafe with no disguise or apparent setup, which begs the question of why he would place himself in a situation to be quickly and easily imprisoned. The Batman trailer then zooms in on Edward Nashton/Riddler’s coffee cup after he’s been arrested, which features a question mark as latte art - his calling card. Why would Riddler have left his signature serial killer calling card in his coffee if he didn’t know the police were coming for him?
Theory: The Riddler Is Arrested On Purpose In The Batman
It’s possible that getting arrested in the cafe was The Riddler’s plan all along. A well-calculated criminal whose terror is clearly not over wouldn’t allow himself to be caught so easily without an elaborate plan behind it. Perhaps The Riddler is working alongside another villain who will be watching his plan from the outside while Riddler takes over matters from within prison. Gotham Police Department knowing where he was and having enough personnel to completely surround the cafe suggests they got a tip about where he was, most likely from The Riddler himself. One of the most obvious reasons for The Riddler to make sure he was in prison during whatever he’s done that has Batman so scared is because he needs an alibi. He’s already in prison, so they can’t find and arrest him for killing someone when he was clearly chained and behind bars. Whatever he has planned that’s tormenting Batman’s own personal life, it has to be conducted from prison.
What The Riddler's Ultimate Batman Villain Plan Could Be
Paul Dano’s villain leaves one of his first mysterious messages in The Batman trailer, asking “What's black and blue and red all over? You,” which could either be to Gordon or Batman himself. This particular riddle connects to what appears to be The Riddler’s overall plan to be, which is to go after corrupt institutions. By putting himself in prison, The Riddler will be able to expose one of the institutions most commonly accused of corruption. He would clearly have a distaste for Chief Commissioner Gordon and Gotham’s S.W.A.T. team, so he’s likely waiting until he can further uncover and expose their inside corruption before escalating it into an extremely deadly attack.
The first two trailers of Matt Reeves’ The Batman have already revealed a few of Riddler’s notable victims, namely Gotham Mayor Don Mitchell, Jr., Gotham’s District Attorney Gil Colson, and GCPD Commissioner Pete Savage. As Batman lays out all the clues he’s gathered so far, a mysterious clue states “the sins of my father,” suggesting The Riddler may be going after Bruce Wayne due to whatever corruptive activities Riddler interpreted Thomas Wayne of partaking in. The most commonly theorized explanation for targeting Batman’s father is Thomas Wayne’s participation in Court of Owls, an organized crime group conspiracy that is said to be made up of wealthy Gotham citizens controlling the city.
Matt Reeves’ The Riddler takes on a serial killer villain persona reminiscent of David Fincher’s John Doe in Se7en, making it the clearest Batman film noir movie yet. Just like John Doe was hunting victims based on the Seven Deadly Sins, The Riddler is apparently killing based on the most powerful corrupt institutions in Gotham. Since John Doe’s ultimate plan was to make Brad Pitt’s Detective David Mills his final victim for wrath, it seems The Riddler hopes his final victim will be Batman for being a product of all of Gotham’s corruption and citizens “turning a blind eye” as he leaves in a clue. The connection to Se7en goes even further with John Doe being imprisoned at the time of his last few kills, having intentionally gotten himself arrested just as The Riddler may be doing. The Riddler’s final few kills will clearly be enacted while he’s in prison, making it all the more difficult for Gotham PD and Batman to stop him.
While he takes down the police department and guards in the jail first, Riddler's plan likely saves Batman for last - seeing him as the most corrupt of all. Batman often gets to kill and break laws without any consequences because he’s a vigilante taking down Gotham’s most notorious villains, so The Riddler may see this as the most elaborate corruption by Gotham’s police department, politicians, and city at large. Whatever The Riddler has in store for the Dark Knight in The Batman, it’s going to be far more sinister than expected.
