Warning: Spoilers ahead The BatmanThe Batman Ending wraps up the first story in Matt Reeves and Robert Pattinson’s new Batman universe, but the Dark Knight’s journey is far from over. The long-awaited DC movie introduces a new Bruce Wayne/Batman to the big screen after originally being set up as a spinoff of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice And Justice League For Ben Affleck. This changed in 2017, and The Batman Became the beginning of a new, separate universe, which expanded in 2024 with The penguin.
set in the present day, The Batman Follows Bruce Wayne in his second year of crime fighting as Gotham City’s Caped Crusader. With Alfred Pennyworth as his confidant and ally, Batman tries to solve the mystery behind the Riddler’s murder and figuring out how it all connects to his parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne. Of course, being relatively new to the job and not having faced off against formidable DC villains like Riddler, Penguin and Falcone before, Batman is caught out of his depth. He is still learning, and the overall experience changes him forever.
much of The BatmanThe end is dedicated to laying the foundation for the future of the hero, as well as the future of Gotham’s police and criminal underworld. It’s all pretty simple, with little that isn’t resolved on a macro level. However, there are several smaller stories unfolding within The Batmans ending that could complicate Bruce Wayne’s next adventure in The Batman: Part II.
The real plan of the Riddler in the Batman and connection to Thomas Wayne
What Edward Nashton is actually trying to achieve for Gotham
One of the biggest twists in The Batman is the reason behind the Riddler’s murders. He seems to be going after corrupt politicians and policemen, but the reasoning for them being corrupt is not revealed until later. The Batman Pushes the narrative that Riddler is just like the Dark Knight, But instead of both of them being vigilantes looking to do good, they represent two sides of a coin – orphans seeking revenge against Gotham, with each one executing their own form of justice.
Matt Reeves revealed to the NY Times That he built their dynamic as a love story, in the Riddler’s warm perception. He doesn’t just strive to be Batman, there’s an element of obsession there:
“In this scene [where Batman interrogates the Riddler]That’s what we talked about. I said, this is a break. You go there expecting love. He inspired you, and then, when it turns out that’s not the case, you’re devastated. And when you realize he’s not as smart as you thought, you finally have power again.”
The explanation for the Riddler’s plan is fundamentally tied to Thomas Wayne and his goal to rebuild Gotham. As a child, Edward Nashton was orphaned and grew up poor, eventually becoming an accountant when he became an adult. It was because of his work that he discovered what happened to Renewal, the city’s infrastructure rebuilding plan that was put in place by the Wayne family.
After Thomas’ death, the plan fell by the wayside, but rather than being dissolved entirely, the money ended up being snatched up by Carmine Falcone. The criminal took advantage of the opportunity; He used his knowledge of his rival’s drug business to arrest Sal Maroni, and then used the money to install a puppet regime in Gotham City, providing everyone who became famous for Gotham’s biggest drug bust.
Why the Riddler targeted Bruce Wayne
Since renewal was meant to benefit Edward, he took revenge against the people who rankled him indirectly, and became the Riddler to combat injustice. His final victim would be Bruce Wayne, another orphan he thought received undeserved attention After Thomas and Martha’s death. People quickly forgot about the renewal plan and focused entirely on Bruce Wayne, a boy who tragically lost his parents; Meanwhile, all the other orphans in the city continued to suffer.
In Riddler’s eyes, Bruce was the catalyst for Renewal’s downfall, while Falcone and everyone else represented the domino effect. The final piece in Riddler’s revenge was destroying the walls of Gotham and flooding the city, thereby forcing “real change” – washing away the corruption and starting over; A true renewal.
The Riddler Gon’s Connection to Batman
The harsh reality of Batman’s chosen name
The point of Batman having an effect on Gotham – whether good or bad – comes to fruition in the film’s denouement, especially after Jim Gordon restrains him from killing one of the Riddler’s guns on top of the jumbotron. When the goon is unmasked, he looks at Batman and says, “I am revenge.” His face may not seem too familiar, but heIt’s the same guy Bruce Wayne encounters at the funeral earlier in the film, the one who expressed dissatisfaction with Gotham’s officials.
The genius who says he is “revenge” is a condemnation of Batman’s crusade in Gotham, along with a testament to the city’s evil. At the beginning of the movie, Batman was fighting a clown gang, presumably one inspired by Joker, and now another thug has attached himself to Riddler, the city’s latest supervillain. Matt Reeves broke the scene from Batman to hear his own catchphrase reflected back at him:
“When I looked at the comics and “Batman: The Animated Series,” Kevin Conroy’s speech on “I Am Vengeance. I am the night,” something about that really connected to me. He does this to get back in what happened to me him, so he is striking out, but that revenge is not enough, and this is the message of the whole movie let People know that somewhere in all that darkness, that was his arc.
The thing is, as it becomes clear throughout the rest of the film, Batman hasn’t stopped people from becoming criminals because he hasn’t accomplished anything that would combat the reason they turn to crime in the first place. And In an act of terror against the people of Gotham, the goon fought for his own revengeTherefore he is appropriating Batman’s words.
Barry Keoghan’s New Joker explained
The most scarred Joker in DC’s live action history?
A new Batman universe means a new Joker – it’s inevitable. luckily, The Batman Introduces Joker but also holds back enough to keep viewers’ interests piqued until a sequel arrives. In this version, Joker is in Arkham and he already has a clown gang, which means he has his first reign of terror off screen.
In the comics (as well as other mediums), Joker is often imprisoned in Arkham after his bouts with Batman, which may be the case in The Batman Movie, though It is unclear if Joker and Batman have fought in this universe. Regardless, The Batman Promises more of Joker ahead, potentially in league with the Riddler too. When the two of them meet, Joker offers his new, fellow inmate a riddle, “The less of them you have, the more one is worth.” The answer is a friend, thus hinting at their future together as part of Batman’s rogues gallery.
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the batmans Joker is played by Barry Keoghan, an actor many viewers recognize from his recent stint as Druig in Marvel’s. Eternal. He also appeared in The Green Knight, The killing of a sacred deerAnd DunkirkAmong other films and shows. While his face is mostly hidden in the scene, viewers see bits of Joker’s scars, offering a glimpse of the Joker look The Batmans universe is going for.
moreover, Joker’s laugh is less of a crack or cackle and doesn’t have a crescendo to it; Rather, it is a hyena-like laugh that remains consistent. Combining the various pieces of information, audiences can deduce what Joker will be like when he appears in full, perhaps in The Batman 2.
The Penguin’s Gotham Dream is setting up its own spin-off
Oz Cobb is on a mission to take Gotham’s criminal power for himself
Although his past with Carmine Falcone and Sal Maroni is not detailed in the film, it is not necessary to the plot or to the burgeoning Gotham universe. The penguinReleased on HBO in 2024, focuses on Oz’s relationship with Gotham’s most powerful criminals, and his own aspirations for power. The BatmanIt ends up setting that story up, like Penguin’s actions and the mayor’s voiceover heavily hinted that the villain would become a new crime lord and fill the power vacuum left by Falcone. Crime has to exist in Gotham for it to be Batman, after all.
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The penguin Shares something with DC Comics history Batman: No man’s landIn which Gotham suffers from a cataclysmic earthquake that leaves the city in ruins. As in the comic, Penguin’s spinoff depicts what becomes of Gotham’s criminal underworld in the aftermath of disaster. There will be the same shift in power, and the same opportunistic criminals wanting to take advantage.
Catwoman leaves for Bludhaven (Nightwing’s city)
Could we see Batman’s most famous sidekick?
Similar to The Dark Knight Rises In which Catwoman asks Batman to leave with her and he refuses (though eventually retiring with her), Catwoman heads off in her own direction in The Batman Ending after asking Batman to leave Gotham behind. Her departure is not the most intriguing part of the scene, because she can always come back in The Batman 2 Should the story require you. Rather, it is the fact that She names Blodhaven as the city she is going to. In the comics, Bludhaven is where Dick Grayson goes when he strikes out on his own and becomes Nightwing, leaving behind his identity as Robin and Batman’s sidekick.
It’s unlikely that Nightwing still exists because he would need to be Robin first, and Bruce Wayne has only been Batman for two years. Considering the film ends on a hopeful note, with Batman opening up to the people of Gotham and stepping into the light, not to mention Bruce Wayne coming to terms with Alfred Pennyworth and his family, it’s possible The Batman 2 Can meet a young Dick Grayson. The seeds are planted for history to happen. Catwoman mentioning Bludhaven is just an easy way to get the storyline at the forefront of fans’ minds, because it’s not like Bludhaven couldn’t exist without Nightwing.
Of course, the question is, what if, in the Batman universe, Nightwing already exists separately from Batman? The Batman Including some bits of information that changed the Batman mythos (Catwoman being Falcone’ daughter, for one), so it wouldn’t be far-fetched for Nightwing to have a new origin. After all, if the Court of Owls story does happen in The Batman 2Nightwing should be a part of it, given his ties to the group in the comics.
What the Batman’s final shot means
Why Batman Stays in Gotham
What stops Batman from leaving with Catwoman is he saw the Batsignal up in the sky. It may not have been the final deciding factor, but it represented an acknowledgment of his crusade, which Catwoman fully understood. It’s what they part about once they leave the cemetery, and Batman looks back at her through his bike’s side mirror. She helped him change without knowing. She was partly responsible for opening him up and helping him see the error of his ways.
At this point in history, he is no longer “vengeful”; He is something more, something better, and she was one of the many people who pushed him in that direction. But in the next moment – In the final shot of The Batman – He fully dedicates himself to being a new Batman to Gotham City. Rather than looking at Riddler’s actions as a fundamental failure on his part, he sees it merely as a consequence that needs to be rectified.
The final scene in which he sees Catwoman disappear into the mist and then looks forward is reminiscent of The Dark KnightThe ending, in which Batman disappears into the night on a bike. However, instead of disappearing for a few years like Christian Bale’s Batman, Robert Pattinson’s Batman prepares to continue his journey. This scene is a promise of more to come, similar to Batman beginsEnding when Batman flies off the GCPD roof.
How Batman sets up a sequel and what Matt Reeves said
What’s next for Robert Pattinson’s bat?
The most interesting prospect for The Batman: Part II is the idea of ​​Gotham falling apart, before its inevitable rebuilding. As well as the destruction of the flood, the criminal underworld is destabilized, the penguin will seemingly rise, and the doors are open for a new breed of masked supervillains. The Riddler established the power of symbolism, just as Batman did, and without the order of organized crime, figures like the Joker become more likely.
Matt Reeves spoke to the NYT about how the ending leaves Gotham, and what might come next:
“We left the world in a very special place at the end of the story. Corruption has had such a stranglehold on Gotham for so long. The events of this film would create the first glimmer of hope that the city has had in 20 years .at least, but also break the power vacuum.
Interestingly, Reeves later talked about the sequel, which could dig more into Gotham’s dark heart of corruption. Could this herald the arrival of the Court of Owls?
“There is another mystery [in The Batman: Part II] Which will dig into the epic story of deeper corruption and it goes to places he can’t even anticipate at first. The seeds of where this goes are all in the first movie, and it expands in a way that will show you aspects of the character you never got to see.
Who killed Batman’s parents?
All signs point to one of Batman’s villains
Thomas and Martha Wayne’s murders have always been a focal point of Batman’s origin story, however The Batman Take a different approach. The film does not dwell on the fact that their death inspired him to become a vigilante, and also shows their death. Instead, the mystery behind who killed them (and who ordered their murders) becomes a subplot as the Riddler’s puzzle unfolds. Typically, Joe Chill is the person who kills Bruce Wayne’s parents in the comics and most stories, as in Batman begins. But in The BatmanThe Wayne murders can be attributed to two men: Carmine Falcone and Salvatore Maroni.
Both men are Gotham’s biggest crime bosses, however Falcone has a closer relationship with Thomas Wayne. So when Thomas came to Falcone and asked him to take care of a reporter, Falcone had the reporter killed and presumably would have used the information to blackmail Thomas. Depending on the perspective, it is possible that Maroni had Thomas Wayne (and Martha) killed in order to prevent Falcone from controlling the Waynes; However, because Thomas threatened to go to the police, it is also possible that Falcone killed Bruce’s parents so that he could avoid potential prison time.
Ultimately, the mystery is unresolved in the film, however It stands to reason that Falcone had the Waynes killed; The fact that he schemed to control Gotham’s elites after taking Maroni out of the equation shows that he’s someone with the power and knowledge to make it work—and he’s not afraid to get his own hands dirty from time to time.
The Riddler’s post-credits message explains
What happens when you follow the link?
The Batman Eschews a traditional post-credits scene in favor of a final message from the Riddler. at the end of The Batman Credits, a message is on the screen telling the audience “Being,” but before the screen goes black, an image flashes for a brief moment. It can be hard to catch what the message says, but this is Riddler’s website from earlier in the film: Rata Alada. It is A fun website that allows viewers to try their hand at three riddlesWith a reward, if all the riddles are correct.
The puzzles and rewards have been changed several times, so it is possible that they may change again. Interestingly, this isn’t the first time a Batman project has done something like this. Back in 1966, a Los Angeles radio station worked with 20th Century Fox to run a promotion that rewarded someone with lunch on the studio’s lot with Batman and Robin themselves if the person correctly guessed the Batphone’s number.
The Batman’s real meaning explained
Vengeance is more than a cool superhero name
throughout The BatmanBruce Wayne seeks revenge for his parents’ murder as well as for the general corruption of Gotham City, but history flips it on him. Batman has rules – he doesn’t use guns and he doesn’t kill – but overall, that’s all that really separates him from the Riddler, who also fancies himself a vigilante seeking revenge.
Like Bruce, Edward Nashton was an orphan, but although he was forced to live in an underfunded orphanage where babies died every winter, Bruce Wayne grew up wealthy in Wayne Tower. And to top it off, Bruce does nothing to help the city, which Gotham’s new mayor accuses him of quite rightly. For most of the film, The underlying theme is revenge, as both Batman and Riddler seek revenge against the city that wronged them. – But they were unhappy in other ways.
For Bruce, Gotham and its corrupt politicians, cops and criminals had to pay for his parents’ murder – and whether that was his true intention. Or not, Bruce sought to fulfill his father’s legacy because Thomas could not – while Riddler wanted the same people to pay for failing him, personally, yet He was made an orphan – not before, as it was for Bruce.
The overwhelming sense of futility that they both felt as orphans drove them to become who they are. The Batman. But because of Riddler’s actions and accusations against Bruce Wayne as a person, Batman turns from revenge to hope. This is why he physically and metaphorically reaches out to Gotham’s mayor in the arena – not only to save and protect her, but also to be a guiding light for the people of Gotham, a true beacon of hope.
At the beginning of the movie, the Batsignal instills fear in criminals, and while this is still the case at the end, it now has an impact on everyone else as well. Batman truly had an effect on the city that his parents could be proud of. And when the credits roll, there is a deep acceptance of renewal.
Bruce Wayne is transformed from a recluse hiding behind a mask – his true face – to someone who can become the man his father wanted him to be (and someone who would no longer avoid the people who are close to him); And Batman is transformed from a symbol of fear and revenge to a symbol of faith and hope. In the end, it all comes down to renewal for Gotham, Bruce Wayne and Batman.
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