A connection between two villains is fun takeaway from the film and a thrilling callback for fans of the comics.
WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for The Batman, now playing in theatres.
The Batman is the newest film iteration of the caped crusader and features The Riddler as its primary antagonist. In the newest rendition featuring Rob Pattinson as the titular Batman and Paul Dano as The Riddler, the Dark Knight is back and darker than ever before as he races to save a grittier Gotham from certain doom. However, there’s a connection to the Dark Knight Trilogy by Christopher Nolan and Batman: Hush by Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee that may have been missed within all of The Batman’s action-packed sequences and storytelling.
Taking a trip down memory lane, Batman Begins utilized the likes of Scarecrow as a main villain in the film that aimed to produce fear in the hearts of Gotham. However, as audiences later learn, the mastermind behind the plan was actually Bruce’s former mentor, Ra’s al Ghul. Ra’s al Ghul went by the name Henri Ducard while training Bruce and after Bruce refused to kill a man, Bruce left Ra’s for dead, though the man he left for dead was just a decoy. In the Nolan films, The Lazarus Pit doesn’t technically exist, but “The Pit” does. Either way, Ra’s al Ghul shows up to terrorize Gotham and is very much alive.
These points are important to note as The Batman plays across screens. In the film, Batman has only been Gotham’s protector for two years. He’s still fresh and green as the Dark Knight, but his deductive reasoning and detective skills shine through in the dark, atmospheric cinematic experience that recreates Gotham at its gruesome peak. As Batman tries to find The Riddler, he finds that he’s also a high stakes target as Bruce Wayne in his game of cat and mouse. However, when The Riddler is captured and put in Arkham, he reveals that he’s known Batman’s secret identity all along. In a haunting voice, The Riddler says his name over and over again to taunt him. Batman, perturbed, doesn’t understand how The Riddler figured out who he really is.
However, there could be a simple explanation as to why The Riddler knows Batman is Bruce Wayne. In Batman: Hush, there’s a connection between Ra’s al Ghul and The Riddler. In the comic, The Riddler goes to The Lazarus Pit to cure himself of brain cancer where he has an epiphany that Bruce Wayne is Batman. He enlists the help of Thomas Elliott, who has a vendetta against the Wayne family due to his attempt to murder his parents to collect an inheritance. Thomas blamed Bruce’s father for saving his mom. He helps The Riddler cause delusions to various characters and has them act in peculiar ways before it’s revealed to Batman that The Riddler is behind the chaos in Gotham. The Riddler then tells Batman that he knows he’s Bruce, though, in the comic, Bruce is unfazed for the most part. This is mostly because Batman tells the Riddler that he won’t tell anyone his secret identity due to his obsession with riddles and that Batman has the power to turn him over to Ra’s al Ghul for using his pit.
Ra’s al Ghul and The Riddler are bonded by death, or at least, The Lazarus Pit. Though, it shouldn’t be expected that they will ever work together in the future as there’s not exactly love lost between them. However, The Batman features this awesome easter egg between Ra’s al Ghul and The Riddler connecting it with Batman: Hush and the Nolan trilogy. It’s a fun takeaway from the film and a thrilling callback for fans of the comics.
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