The Batman Trailer Breakdown: 20 Things You Must See

17. The Riddler Is Incarcerated - But For How Long?

The Batman 3
Warner Bros. Pictures

The marketing for The Batman is deliberately obscuring Riddler's face. Assuming that the above shot is actually the Riddler, and not someone else.

This could be Reeves' way of sticking to that old mantra "the less you see the monster, the scarier it is", which was effectively employed by David Fincher in Se7en - a movie that Reeves is clearly inspired by here.

This scene likely follows on from Riddler's earlier capture, meaning that this one-on-one time with Batman could be part of his master plan (the line "I've been trying to reach you" supports this idea). Maybe he's trying to frame Batman for an explosion inside the GCPD, since the very next shot shows a massive explosion.

The Batman explosion
Warner Bros. Pictures

Either way, there are definite shades of The Dark Knight's interrogation scene here - even down to Batman angrily lashing out.

Lastly, here's a crazy thought: what if this prisoner is the Joker? What if Reeves is being a slimy bugger and fooling us all with this Riddler stuff? What if that's why we don't see the prisoner's face? Probably not, but we're just putting it out there on the off-chance we're right.

Contributor
Contributor

Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.