Content Warning: SPOILERS For DC's The Batman Are Discussed In This Article.
With Matt Reeves' The Batman finally hitting theaters after five years of development turmoil, so comes with it a new, dark rendition of the Riddler. The gritty detective crime-noir premise fits Paul Dano's incarnation of the supervillain smoothly by taking inspiration from movies like David Fincher's Zodiac and Se7en.
The Riddler's chilling depiction works well for the story opposite Robert Pattinson's Batman, providing some of the most memorable lines of dialogue in the movie. While the popular versions from DC's comic books venture more into bombast, The Batman's take goes for a more subdued and ominous role that actor Paul Dano fills to make his various lines -- and namely his riddles -- strike a terrifying chord among fans.
His Most Resonant Riddle
"If You Are Justice, Please Do Not Lie. What Is The Price For Your Blind Eye?"
DC FanDome 2020 closed with the first trailer for The Batman sending emphatic reactions across the fan base. That trailer featured what might be Riddler's most iconic line in the movie, and the delivery of it in the final cut hits harder with the context. The Riddler is picking off elected officials and law enforcement for feeding the systematic corruption in Gotham City.
He puts Batman and District Attorney Gil Coleson through a timed test of riddles to force the latter in revealing the dirty bribes he's taken to work for Carmine Falcone. It was one of the most gripping scenes in the movie, as the Dark Knight was in a race against time to pry the truth out before Gil Coleson would gruesomely meet his end. Batman has several mysterious cases in the comics, and The Batman served as a worthy one for live-action.
Arguably The Riddler's Most Foreboding Riddle
"It Can Be Cruel, Poetic, Or Blind. But When It's Denied, It's Violence You May Find."
The Riddler has several iconic moments in the comics, and perhaps one of the best in live-action will be from a scene where he didn't even need to be physically present. One of the early riddles the supervillain forced Coleson and Batman to answer is an indicative one to one of the biggest themes tackled in The Batman.
That aforementioned corruption at practically every level of Gotham City has been allowed to hide and deny any real progress to be made for its citizens. This riddle was essentially foreshadowing the mayhem that Riddler would let loose upon the city as a punishment to Coleson, Falcone, Mayor Don Mitchell, and more for their crimes. Given his master plan of flooding the city into blackout, Coleson's brutal death was another appetizer for that violence yet to follow.
Riddler's Ominous & Foreshadowing Message To Batman
"You're A Part Of This, Too."
The stinger scene from The Batman's first trailer also helped set the stage of the final movie's atmosphere -- as well as the grand mystery at the center of it. From the Riddler's first victim, Mayor Don Mitchell, he had been mysteriously leaving calling cards teasing Batman's involvement in all of this.
For most of the movie, the World's Greatest Detective can't pin down his exact place in the serial killer's plans, assuming that he'd eventually be a target. Riddler's ominous tease to Batman that he's "a part of this, too" ended in a revelation with shocking effects on both of the hero's personas. Strangely enough, it also resulted in Bruce being forced to rethink his aggressive approach against Gotham's criminal underworld.
... And His Threat To Bruce Wayne
"You Need To Answer For The Sins Of Your Father."
Once the pieces of the Riddler's bloody puzzle started to come together, the killer had the brooding superhero in a mental panic. He eventually leads Lieutenant Gordon and Batman through the abandoned Wayne Manor, only to find a video of Thomas Wayne's old campaign videos and threatening graffiti on the walls. At this point, Batman knew he would be the villain's next target as the latter blamed him for part of the city's rot.
Bruce Wayne was meant to atone for Thomas' indirect failure to keep the Wayne Manor orphanage as a haven for the underprivileged youth. Not to mention his entanglement with Carmine Falcone. It's one of the examples of Reeves and co-writer Peter Craig's intricate way of making Riddler an oppressive menace as a puppet master operating in the dark. His profound psychological effect on Batman is palpable when the shot focuses on the graffiti telling him "you need to answer for the sins of your father."
The Shocking Reveal Of Riddler's Admiration For Batman
"All It Takes Is Fear And A Little Focused Violence."
As unsettling as the Riddler was with a minimal physical presence, Paul Dano conveyed the full range of the villain's mental state once the mask came off. In an echo of Batman's interrogation of the Joker in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, the shocking revelation is that while Riddler intended to make Bruce Wayne his last mark, he was admiring the Caped Crusader this entire time. The Riddler is one of Batman's greatest villains, but while the comics depict him as a man with a severe inferiority complex who's desperate to one-up the hero, this was an inventive spin on the character's motivations.
He felt inspired -- in a twisted way -- by how Batman targeted Gotham City's corruption and developed a sick infatuation with him. Edward Nashton came to feel influenced by Batman's methods of fear and violence to go after the likes of Penguin, Falcone, etc. and used it as fuel for his fringe, terroristic ideals. This quote creates a ripple effect in the hero's psyche, as after he aggressively rejected Nashton's obsession, Bruce finally made a stride in his character growth when realizing he needs to balance striking fear in villains' minds with instilling hope in the downtrodden.
Riddler's Grand Scheme
"Oh, you're really not as smart as I thought you were."
The same interrogation scene in The Batman takes a turn for the worst, capturing a similar sense of dread as in the Joker's in TDK. Nashton falls further into exasperation once realizing that his envisioned "partner" did not share his extremist ideology. Watching the villain breaking out in frustration was nerve-wracking as is, especially as the Dark Knight grew angry and disgusted that a terrorist was warping and projecting his motivations onto him.
Then, once the tension eased into a composed, yet suffocating atmosphere, the Riddler mocks his "false idol" for not seeing what he should have. Dano's delivery of this quote was chilling, especially after no longer being confined by the mask. His voice modulation beforehand was foreboding, but Dano's quiet, wispy voice struck home the overwhelming sense of fear in the scene. It also prompts the audience to see something rare: Batman in a state of near-helplessness in the face of his enemy.