Matt Reeves’ The Batman adheres to all the fan-favorite traditions of the Bat mythos, but the filmmaker has a delightfully fresh take on each of the iconic DC Comics characters. Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne is a brooding insomniac who barely exists as himself and spends most of his time under the cowl. Jeffrey Wright’s Jim Gordon is a grizzled “buddy cop” sidekick. Andy Serkis’ Alfred Pennyworth doesn’t agree with Bruce’s vigilante crusade.
Within The Batman’s gargantuan three-hour runtime, Reeves introduces fans to an all-new incarnation of three beloved villains from the Bat’s rogues’ gallery: the Penguin, the Riddler, and Catwoman. Each of these villains is radically reinvented with a grounded, realistic approach to their familiar characterization. There’s also a surprise appearance by a new Joker.
Zoë Kravitz’s Catwoman Isn’t A Villain At All
The most obvious way that The Batman subverts Catwoman’s usual characterization is that she isn’t a villain in this movie. Her goal is to kill somebody, but her target is a sadistic crime lord (Carmine Falcone) and her motivation is sympathetic (he murdered her mother and her roommate).
In The Batman, Selina Kyle is more of an antihero than a straightforward villain who works alongside the main antagonist and double-crosses the Dark Knight. Her feelings for the Bat are real. This romantic dynamic is a nod to Jane Fonda’s Oscar-winning role opposite Donald Sutherland in the neo-noir classic Klute.
Paul Dano’s Riddler Is More Like The Zodiac Killer
The Riddler depicted in The Batman is nothing like the character from the comics – but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. He still dresses in green and leaves riddles at the scenes of his crimes for the Batman to decipher, but he’s closer to a horror villain like John Doe or the Jigsaw Killer than the Riddler that fans recognize from the source material.
As Jim Carrey’s controversial turn in Batman Forever proved, a comics-accurate Riddler isn’t always the best way to go. Paul Dano’s Riddler was inspired more by the real-world Zodiac Killer (who similarly left a trail of riddles and ciphers) than any version of Edward Nigma, Nygma, or Nashton from the comics.
Colin Farrell’s Penguin Is A Low-Level Mobster
Traditionally, the Penguin is depicted as the criminal overlord of Gotham. He’s the capo presiding over the city’s entire seedy underbelly. He’s the Don Corleone of Gotham. But in The Batman, Colin Farrell’s Penguin has yet to rise to this lucrative underworld position.
At the end of the movie, he’s seen claiming the late Carmine Falcone’s office (and, presumably, his prestigious job title) in the Iceberg Lounge. In the upcoming Penguin spin-off series on HBO Max, described as Scarface meets The Long Good Friday, Oswald Cobblepot will begin to climb the power ladder.
John Turturro’s Carmine Falcone Is Implied To Have Killed The Waynes
In the Penguin’s place, at the beginning of The Batman, Carmine Falcone is the infamous Gotham gangster in charge of the city’s biggest crime syndicate. When the Riddler releases a homemade doc about the “sins” of Thomas Wayne, Bruce makes a rare appearance as himself to confront Falcone about it. The Riddler alleges that Bruce’s father paid Falcone to kill a journalist. After Falcone confirms this to be true, Bruce confronts Alfred (right as he’s awakening from his coma) to get to the truth.
Alfred insists that Thomas didn’t want Falcone to kill the reporter and ended up dead when he tried to come clean to the cops. The language is a little ambiguous, but it’s heavily implied that in this Batman universe, Falcone had the Waynes killed.
The Riddler Is A Terrorist With An Agenda
The Batman’s Riddler shares a few key similarities with The Dark Knight’s Joker: they’re both sadistic killers, they both keep Gothamites living in fear, they both amass a cult following, they both send their homemade torture videos to the press, and they both represent the contemporary fear of terrorism.
In The Batman, the Riddler doesn’t just toy with Batman’s mind for fun. He’s on an anti-corruption crusade to wipe out Gotham’s crooked politicians and expose their lies. This gives his signature riddles and ciphers a real purpose.
Oswald Cobblepot Hates His “Penguin” Nickname
Like the rest of Batman’s branded baddies, the Penguin usually embraces his nickname. He has an army of penguins and feels honored to be included in their ranks. In The Batman, the “Penguin” moniker is used as an insult.
This version of Oswald Cobblepot doesn’t like being called the Penguin; he’d rather be called “Oz.” Like Tony Montana’s “Scarface” alter ego, the name “Penguin” points out his physical imperfections.
Catwoman Is Vulnerable
Zoë Kravitz gives arguably the greatest Catwoman performance yet in The Batman. This version of the character isn’t a one-dimensional archetype; she’s a vulnerable, well-rounded human being.
This Selina Kyle isn’t the callous, cold-hearted femme fatale from the comics. When she hears a voicemail of her roommate being murdered, she’s affected by it. She’s fierce, fearless, and a badass fighter, but she’s also vulnerable.
Barry Keoghan’s Joker Is Already In Arkham Asylum
A recently released deleted scene showed Barry Keoghan’s Arkham-imprisoned Joker in more detail and revealed that he has a past with Pattinson’s Batman: “Our first anniversary is coming up.” From Jack Nicholson to Heath Ledger, previous incarnations of the Joker have introduced the character prior to tangling with Batman. In Reeves’ The Batman universe, Pattinson’s Dark Knight has already fought Keoghan’s Joker and won.
Jared Leto’s Joker had an unseen history with Ben Affleck’s Batman (including the murder of Robin), but that was established to round out the larger DC Extended Universe and Leto’s Joker was introduced outside the Bat’s solo franchise in his own ensemble spin-off.
The Riddler Has An Army Of Online Followers
After the Riddler turns himself in and G.C.P.D. locks him in Arkham Asylum, the Bat realizes that his problems are just beginning. On the Riddler’s computer, Batman finds a darknet chatroom full of Riddler followers with their own murder weapons, winter combat masks, and dime-store glasses frames.
In the big finale, Batman has to fight a bunch of bad guys who look just like the Riddler, all while the actual Riddler sits in an Arkham jail cell.
Selina Kyle Is Carmine Falcone’s Daughter
Throughout the first half of The Batman, the Dark Knight keeps asking Catwoman why she wants to kill Falcone and she keeps dodging the question. Eventually, she tells him, “Because he’s my father!” Falcone fathered Selina, abandoned her, and later killed her mother so, naturally, she wants retribution.
This paternal plot twist is a reference to the harrowing revelation about Noah Cross in the groundbreaking neo-noir Chinatown. But Chinatown’s “bad dad” twist is much, much darker than The Batman’s.
