What do all of Riddler's clues mean in The Batman's second trailer? Assuming main villain duties for Matt Reeves' The Batman is Paul Dano as Edward Nashton, a.k.a. The Riddler. Famous for his penchant of leaving behind teasing clues, The Batman's Riddler didn't disappoint when the film's first trailer released back in August 2020. Riddler left the riddle, "what does a liar do when they're dead?" to which the coded answer replied "he lies still." Riddler also alluded toward corruption in Gotham City with, "what is the price for your blind eye?" and the cartoon owl greetings card was taken by many as a Court of Owls nod.
The Batman's second trailer, released as part of DC's 2021 FanDome event, contains a whole new selection of word games to infuriate fans over the coming months. The new footage contains 3 main pieces to the puzzle. First is a riddle Paul Dano orates as part of the trailer's voiceover, the second is a crime scene message, and the last seems to be an investigation board Bruce Wayne has assembled on the Bat-cave's floor. Here's everything we can make out from the fresh clues.
"What's black, and blue, and dead all over? You." One possibility is that Riddler's puzzle refers to Batman himself, but on two different levels. On the surface, it's an open threat to Bruce Wayne - a promise to leave his corpse battered and bruised. Digging deeper, it's also a fairly accurate description of Batman's state of mind in The Batman. On the outside, he's dressed in black, on the inside he's blue (i.e. miserable), and both sides of him are equally dead, emotionally speaking, with Bruce not caring what his crusade costs, and Batman showing no mercy to his enemies. Alternatively, the riddle may be targeted toward the GCPD. Paul Dano's Riddler will be gunning for Gotham City's corruption in The Batman, and we know one of his victims is the city's police commissioner. This riddle could be the clue Nashton leaves ahead of the commissioner's death, with "black" referring to his suit and "blue" his police position.
Riddler's second clue in The Batman's FanDome trailer is picked up at a crime scene - "see you in hell." Though there's not an awful lot to go on here, maybe Riddler is just referencing the mutual destruction he and Batman are heading toward. Both men have accepted their respective fates, and as one pursues the other, hell is the only possible conclusion. But the writing itself is mysterious, painted on something vaguely resembling sandpaper. This could be one of those hidden messages only legible when the paper is exposed to flame - hence "see you in hell." More likely, this is just one element of a larger riddle, and The Batman's second trailer doesn't provide all of the pieces. The remainder might be The Batman's version of the classic "heaven or hell" riddle, where one door leads to the former, and one the latter. One guard only tells the truth, the second only lies, but you can only ask one question.
The trailer's final collection of clues is the unconventional investigation board Robert Pattinson stands in the center of. Mitchell, Colson and Savage are all names of Riddler's victims. Don Mitchell Jr. is the Gotham mayor Riddler executed with tape in The Batman's first trailer, and who Bruce and Selina attend the funeral for. Gil Colson is Gotham's district attorney, played by Peter Sarsgaard, who had an envelope attached to his body in the 2020 trailer. Pete Savage acts as commissioner of the GCPD. "No more lies" is the slogan Riddler paints all over Mitchell's office and corpse, and "renewal is a lie" could be Riddler warning Bruce Wayne that he can't escape the past by "renewing" into Batman. The most important clue, however, is "sins of my father." Riddler's greetings card from the first trailer hinted toward the Court of Owls, who Thomas Wayne was involved with in DC comics. Paul Dano's character seems to know Bruce's dark family secrets, and may be exposing Thomas Wayne's Court of Owls sins.
