Warning: Contains SPOILERS for The Batman!Matt Reeves' The Batman hinted at a lot of future villains, but these teases just couldn't match the ones in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy. Although the two series have come out in completely different eras of superhero films, the films share lots of similar traits. While The Batman improved on The Dark Knight in several ways, when it comes to setting up future villains, Nolan's films were superior.
Running from 2005-2012, Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy is one of the most critically acclaimed superhero series of all time, with all three films being box office successes and even garnering some nominations and wins at award shows. Now, another Batman series has been kicked off with Matt Reeves' The Batman garnering similar critical success to its predecessor. Although only the first film in Reeves' series has come out, The Batman 2 and 3 are presumably coming down the line, as The Batman left a lot of things to be explored in the subsequent films. Considering that it isn't part of the DCEU, The Batman (much like The Dark Knight trilogy) has to set up its own universe from the ground up - and the film spent a lot of time doing so.
The Batman featured two of Gotham's most famous villains, the Riddler and the Penguin, but the film set up several potential antagonists for future films. The Batman sets up a ton of characters, as the series will encompass the movies alongside several HBO Max shows. While these teases and undeniably exciting, they just weren't as good as The Dark Knight's, as Nolan's films set up future events in a subtle way that Reeves just couldn't match.
DC Villains Teased In The Batman
The Batman set up several DC villains, although some of these teases were more blatant than others. The most obvious of these was the Joker, who can be seen talking to Riddler in a nearby Arkham cell at the end of the film. This time, Joker is played by Barry Keoghan, with the character showing off his signature laugh and making a reference to clowns. A deleted scene even shows an extended conversation between Batman and Joker, revealing his new look for this series. The other villain that The Batman sets up is Hush, which can be seen when going to the website revealed after the credits, rataalada.com. The website expands on the story of a reporter with the last name Elliot that was silenced by Falcone after investigating Thomas Wayne, paralleling the story of Thomas Elliot, aka Hush. The Batman's website even has "Hush!" appear in big letters, hammering in the tease.
On top of those two, The Batman also leaves clues regarding other future villains. Batman's green strength serum is very similar to the serum that Bane uses to gain his strength. The film kills off Gotham's District Attorney, leaving the door open for Harvey Dent (aka Two-Face) to make his debut. The Batman even sets up the Court of Owls, with Batman's journey involving him unraveling the corruption of Gotham's elite. The Batman sets up villains left and right throughout the film, and while this can be done well, one person did it even better: Christopher Nolan.
Why Nolan's Villain Teases Were Better (& More Subtle)
The Dark Knight trilogy does tease villains, but it does it in a much better way than The Batman. This can be most clearly seen in the way that both narratives worked to set up the Joker. Batman Begins ends with Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) telling Batman about a new criminal who uses Joker cards as a calling card, with Batman promising to look into it. The Batman has a scene where the Riddler talks to the Joker, with Joker laughing and talking about clowns. A deleted scene was later released as promotional material, showing Batman talking to the Joker, revealing how the character looks, acts, and more.
While both films had the same end goal in mind, Batman Begins did it in a far more subtle way than The Batman. All Batman Begins had to do was show off a single Joker card at the very end of the film, preparing audiences for what was to come next. The Batman, however, chose to have an extended conversation with the Joker, and if it wasn't clear enough, the Joker even mentions clowns. The Batman changes what Christopher Nolan first accomplished be removing the traces of subtlety or nuance in Nolan's version. Having such a blatant tease does get the idea across, but it also distracts from the film, making audiences think about what's to come rather than what is currently happening.
The Batman also takes another page from Christopher Nolan's book, but once again does it worse. Before the release of The Dark Knight, Warner Bros. put on a complex alternate reality game that involved props, clues, secret messages, and more. As the fanbase worked together, more hints about the film were revealed, with the ARG acting as a massive marketing campaign for the film's villains, Joker and Two-Face. The Batman's rataalada website tried something similar but only made users answer a few riddles before revealing the Hush tease. While The Dark Knight's ARG was only a part of the marketing, slowly giving away hints about the film, The Batman's website was literally the film's post-credits scene. In almost every way, Christopher Nolan teased villains in a better and far more subtle way than The Batman did.
The Batman's Villain Teases Represent How Superhero Movies Have Changed
Since The Dark Knight trilogy was released, superhero movies have changed a lot, and The Batman's lack of subtlety is a byproduct of this industry shift. Batman Begins came out in 2005, and throughout its run, it was mostly a self-contained series that was absolutely the product of Christopher Nolan's creative vision. However, since then loads of superhero movies and cinematic universes have come out, with the MCU and the DCEU changing the landscape of superhero films. Even though The Batman isn't part of the DCEU, Warner Bros. feels the push towards sequels, spin-offs, and interconnected universe. Because of this, The Batman feels that it needs to shove in as many villain setups as possible in order to meet the audience's expectations of creating a grand cinematic world. While Batman Begins could tease its sequel's main villain by just showing a playing card, The Batman has to have a scene focused on the Joker, alongside other villain teases, or else it could be considered too small by modern audiences. Superhero movies have changed in some good ways and in some bad ways, but one of the byproducts is making The Batman's villain teases nowhere near as subtle as The Dark Knight trilogy's.