In ‘The Batman’ Ending, Did Paul Dano’s Riddler Really Meet [SPOILER]?
Matt Reeves’ The Batman released in theaters for fans to finally see the Robert Pattinson Batman, Zoë Kravitz Catwoman, and Jeffrey Wright Commissioner Gordon. Fans also saw classic Batman villains, the Penguin (Colin Ferrell) and the Riddler (Paul Dano). However, the Riddler encountered another DC Comics villain in Arkham Asylum, played by Barry Keoghan during The Batman ending. And Reeves confirmed him to be one of the most famous comic book villains ever created.
[WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS FOR MATT REEVES’ ‘THE BATMAN’ AHEAD]
The Riddler landed in an Arkham Asylum cell next to an iconic Batman villain
[WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS FOR MATT REEVES’ ‘THE BATMAN’ AHEAD]
The Bruce Wayne, aka Batman, has one of the most recognizable rogues galleries in comics. Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Bane, Scarecrow, Two-Face, Killer Croc, and dozens more have all fought the bat.
Matt Reeves plucked the Riddler for the next DC Extended Universe movie to battle Pattinson’s Dark Knight. Paul Dano’s Riddler proved a terrifyingly realistic portrayal of what a real-life supervillain could look like, also taping into harrowing stories of people like the Zodiac Killer.
However, during The Batman ending, when it seemed like the hero won, the Paul Dano Riddler had one more scene in Arkham Asylum, renamed as a hospital.
His fellow cellmate then congratulated the Riddler on his plan, saying, “One day you’re on top, the next you’re a clown. Let me tell you, there are worse things to be.”
DC Comics and Batman fans needed very little else to know the Riddler likely talked to the Clown Prince of Crime, the Joker.
In ‘The Batman’ ending, did the Paul Dano Riddler really meet the Joker played by Barry Keoghan?
While Barry Keoghan received credit as “Unseen Arkham Prisoner,” the Eternals actor gives a high-pitched cackle, an iconic part of the Joker.
The actor has very little screentime to make an impression. He appeared for around a minute, and most of his face remained obscured. However, fans caught the wild hair and an unstable look in his eye behind the Arkham cell door.
“He is fantastic,” USA Today reported director Matt Reeves saying of Keoghan.
They also reported that Matt Reeves had a “very cool” The Batman deleted scene “where Batman, unsettled by Riddler addressing his ciphers and puzzles to the hero personally, wants to get into a serial killer’s mind. So he goes to Arkham to profile Joker, ‘like something out of Manhunter, and it’s clear that Batman put him there. ’”
Matt Reeves revealed ‘The Batman’ ending after the Paul Dano Riddler scene with Joker is ‘more poignant’
Reeves did not want the Paul Dano Riddler meeting Keoghan’s Joker to be just another Easter egg. He stressed that Joker would play a central role in The Batman sequel.
“The conversation between Joker and Riddler’ weirdly changed the stakes’ for the very next scene with Batman and Selina Kyle (Zoë Kravitz), aka Catwoman, in The Batman finale, where she’s heading out of town for good and wants Batman to come along,” USA Today reported.
“When she says, ‘You know, this place is never going to change,’ you’ve just seen it’s never going to change,” Reeves said. “And it actually made that scene more poignant.”
The Batman ending caught fans off guard with Dano’s Riddler meeting the Joker. However, it only makes them more excited at seeing what comes next for Pattinson’s Dark Knight.
