Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Batman.

There are a lot of unwritten rules in Batman movies, and Matt Reeve's The Batman rightly avoided one of the biggest - and worst - villain trends in them. With a complex narrative that valued the detective side of the character, The Batman took the caped crusader back to its origins and created something shut to a perfect reboot. To achieve that difficult mission, The Batman chose the Riddler as the principal villain in a story that also saw Catwoman, Penguin, and Crimson Falcone.

While four Batman villains appeared in the film, information technology is essentially the Riddler who was The Batman's principal antagonist. Catwoman was far from beingness a villain, Penguin was still just a henchman, and Blood-red Falcone played a backside-the-scenes role more on par with his comic book background. Mercifully, however, the Riddler didn't follow some conventional trends found in Batman movies.

The Batman respected many traditions from previous Batman films — having more than one villain in the same story and a Batmobile chase scene — simply correctly avoided the most annoying one: killing off a major villain at the cease of the film. From Jack Nicholson's Joker in Batman to Bane and Talia Al Ghul in The Night Knight Rises, at least one of the major Batman villains has been killed off at the end of each movie. Whether it'southward an unwritten dominion inherited from James Bond movies that took hold in the Batman franchise later on Tim Burton's flick or a uncomplicated coincidence, the fact is that the vast bulk of Batman villains never return for the adjacent movie. In fact, Nolan's Scarecrow was the only Batman villain to appear in more than ane film from the same continuity. The Batman can break this trend ,as information technology left the Riddler alive at the finish of the picture show. Fifty-fifty defeated and with the furnishings of his master programme macerated by Batman, the Riddler didn't meet his cease in any fall or explosion as other previous villains. In a far more interesting story decision, the Riddler was instead taken to Arkham Country Infirmary.

One of the reasons Batman movies before the 2000s always felt very episodic was precisely the absence of recurring villains in the franchise. Not even Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, which for the first time followed the story of the aforementioned Batman for more than 2 films, managed to create something similar the rogue'south gallery. Each villain served a very unique purpose in each installment and was rarely or never referenced in the next film.

When it comes to creating a Batman world that feels real while echoing the comic books, keeping key characters from the hero's mythology alive is essential. Manager Matt Reeves has already expressed interest in creating a Batman shared universe, and keeping the Riddler alive can help. Not just does that ensure that an interesting character and a great actor can return for future sequels, but information technology also helps create the notion that this Gotham City is always alive and that Batman'south rogue'southward gallery can go a thing. The few minutes showed of the Riddler and his new friend in Arkham have already offered a new dynamic in the Dark Knight films and teased some exciting possibilities.

By eschewing the tradition of killing off major villains at the end of the motion picture, The Batman makes sure its universe feels like a living, animate thing. With villains like the Riddler, Joker, and Penguin walking around Gotham City, there volition ever be a new challenge for Robert Pattinson'due south Batman. And these challenges can merely abound more potent with time, leaving audiences to conjecture nigh how and why some Batman villains may render.

Adjacent: The Batman Ending Explained (In Detail)

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Marcelo Leite (132 Manufactures Published)

Marcelo Leite is an Entertainment Author for Screen Rant with years of experience in creative and academic writing. Although his called major was Structure Technology, there is nothing he likes better than writing about the things he loves. Marcelo has a deep understanding of all things popular civilisation, a consequence of growing upwardly watching superhero cartoons all 24-hour interval and learning how to read from comic books. He has moved two times and lived in three different cities to pursue the all-time didactics he could have. Marcelo discovered in movie theater a way to witness a different, more inspiring world than what he knew, and has become an gentleman of the silver screen ever since.

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