'Riddle Me This?': Four Riddlers Matt Reeves And Paul Dano Could Pull From For 'The Batman'

Now that the Riddler has been found for “The Batman,” it’s time to take a look at some versions and stories from which director Matt Reeves and actor Paul Dano could draw inspiration.

“The War of Jokes and Riddles”

Edward Nygma has been one of Batman’s longest lasting villains. However, this storyline revealed the dark knight once came close to ending the life of the quizzical baddie.

“The War of Jokes and Riddles” saw a recently engaged Batman reveal to his fiancé, Catwoman, that came close to killing once in his career. It then flashes back to Batman’s second year on the streets as Gotham is embroiled in a gang war between the Joker and the Riddler. The war came about after Riddler approached Joker, who somehow lost his smile, with an offer to team up and kill Batman to make Joker smile again. Joker responded by shooting Riddler in the stomach, sparking the war between them.

The Riddler on display in this storyline serves as a modern and younger version of the classic villain. He is as calculating and manipulative as ever, with it being revealed he purposely ruined the life and killed the son of Kite-Man all to make Joker smile again.

Given that Reeves’ film seems to be focusing on a younger Batman, this story may serve as groundwork.

Telltale Games’ “Batman: The Enemy Within”

The sequel to “Batman: The Telltale Series” kicked off in a big way by the apparent re-emergence of Riddler in Gotham City. This version of Nygma is significantly older than Batman as it’s revealed he was active when Thomas Wayne was the controlling force in Gotham City. He even refers to himself as “Gotham’s original costumed villain.”

He also leads a group referred to as “The Pact,” consisting of Mr. Freeze, Harley Quinn, Bane and Telltale’s Joker, referred to as “John Doe,” all looking for revenge against Amanda Waller and a government group known as The Agency.

While Dano is nearly as old as Riddler is in this Telltale game, this version of Riddler is presented as someone who is more dangerous and prepared than other versions. He is even capable of standing toe-to-toe with Batman physically, which is something most of other versions of Riddler are incapable of doing. It could also serve as an easy way to justify the number of villains rumored to be appearing in Reeves’ film and tie it back to the greater DC Films shared universe via Amanda Waller.

“Batman: Arkham” Series

Another game series in which Riddler plays a prominent role is the “Batman: Arkham” franchise. First “appearing” in “Batman: Arkham Asylum,” Riddler challenges Batman to solve his riddles and locate the Riddler trophies he has hidden across Arkham Asylum while Batman battles Joker. It ends with Batman tracking his radio signal and sending Gotham police to arrest him.

The series repeats this formula in “Arkham City” and “Arkham Knight,” though the latter two end with Batman confronting Riddler face-to-face.

This version of Riddler also places and emphasis on his ingenuity, with the latter games featuring world traps and puzzles that need to be solved to save people in danger. The traps draw a visual influence from the “Saw” franchise, all appearing haphazardly thrown together, but still extremely dangerous.

Dano and Reeves could draw on that ingenuity to challenge Batman in creative ways not yet seen on film or TV. They could also play on the extreme narcissism on display by this version of Riddler as he is singularly driven to prove he is smarter than Batman in every way. One way this manifests is his denial that Bruce Wayne is Batman after Scarecrow exposes Batman’s identity in the climax of “Arkham Knight.”

“Batman: Zero Year”

When DC relaunched its comic lines with the New 52, it gave the publisher the opportunity to refresh the heroes and villains pasts. “Batman: Zero Year” was that story for Batman, where readers learned Riddler was the first masked villain he ever battled.

This version of Riddler is first known as Edward Nashton and was a former employee of Wayne Enterprises. He became disgusted with the apparent dumbing down of Gotham City, putting into place a plan that would flood Gotham and create a utopia of intelligence. He would change his name to Nygma and adopt the alias of Riddler.

What makes this version stand out is this Riddler actively succeeds for much of the story. He is able to take control of Gotham and works to enact his plan, besting Batman on multiple occasions. Batman is able to bring him down eventually and Riddler’s efforts lead to the creation of other famous Batman villains.

Since Reeves’ version of Batman is going to be considered younger, this story could tell a similar story of how Batman goes from battling organized crime to supervillains, much like 2008’s “The Dark Knight.” However, “Zero Year” basis could still allow for the use of villains like Penguin, who is rumored to appear in Reeves’ film, since he is a major player in the organized crime scene.