5 Biggest Unanswered Questions Lingering After The Batman

Matt Reeves’ The Batman is finally here, but at the end there are several lingering and unanswered questions — let’s discuss these five unanswered The Batman questions.

The Batman is has finally hit theatres, Matt Reeves offering us a melancholic and tragic, but perhaps most importantly: fresh, unique-to-his-auteur-sensibilities vision on the Caped Crusader and the divide between The Batman and the man who puts on the cowl — Bruce Wayne. With that said, the following article, and the questions (and answers) explored beyond this point will have MASSIVE spoilers for The Batman.

This is your final warning, if you have not seen the film: go watch it, it’s awesome. But if you don’t care about spoilers or have seen the film, you are welcome to keep reading.

WARNING: The Batman SPOILERS Ahead

Let’s get started with a big one that is raised in the very final moments of the film:

1. Who put the Joker in prison?

After Batman saves the city, we see Riddler realizing his failure as he witnesses the news coverage from his cell in Arkham. It’s here that a seemingly friendly voice from the cell next to his starts chatting to him, claiming to be his friend. Barry Keoghan as the Joker makes his debut, obscured by bars to keep the final look in the sequel a secret, perfectly eerie and off-putting as per Greig Fraser’s beautiful cinematography. Who placed the Joker inside Arkham is the question.

Well, it’s easy, and even logical, to assume it was Batman; but thanks to an interview with Matt Reeves, we can pretty much take this one to the bank as Reeves revealed an interesting exchange between Batman and Joker from a deleted scene, in the middle of the movie; where the dark knight seeks Joker’s aid to try and understand the Riddler, as Joker inquires if Batman believes he gets off on it, Batman just replies: “Don’t you?”.

This absolutely confirms they know each other, so it is safe to assume Batman, during his first two years of crime fighting, ran into the biggest rogue in his gallery before the Riddler, locking him up in Arkham where the clown prince of crime is sure to be playing his chips wisely in a way only he can; and maybe, just maybe Joker is not the only one of the rogues that now holds a grudge against the caped crusader.

2. Is Riddler Thomas Elliot?

Paul Dano’s Riddler comes across frighteningly, being a creepily realistic portrayal of a deeply disturbed, broken individual that eventually becomes deeply psychotic. The film answers many questions about this character, but one is left in the year. Once the Riddler is caught at the diner, he has two IDs with him, one has the name “Edward” but neither has the name “Nigma”. Reeves never confirms what his real identity is after this, suggesting neither fake ID really mattered; raising the question of who is this man?

We need to go back to the clue left for Bruce Wayne, after which we see Batman and Gordon heading to Gotham Orphanage where they find the reel of Thomas Wayne and his lies. In the screen we see flashes of articles about Martha Wayne’s family (which we’ll talk about in the next point) but we see an interesting name pop up: Edward Elliott.

Matt Reeves is a smart enough storyteller that wouldn’t just let a random name pop up without a reason; this can very well be a clue at Riddler’s true identity being Thomas Elliott, which could make him Bruce Wayne’s lost half brother; even the name “Hush” comes up at one point. This one does not even feel like any of the other attack, Riddler is exposing Thomas Wayne, but attacking Bruce, who as a political Gotham figure, hasn’t done anything “wrong”. This is the one attack that feels personal, feel like it’s generated by emotion, so Reeves could very well be giving us clues already about the route he is taking with these characters in his trilogy.

3. Martha Wayne was an Arkham, what does that change?

Another big reveal that comes up as Batman and Gordon witness the Thomas Wayne reel playing at the Gotham Orphanage; said reel includes revelations about Martha Wayne’s dark past dealing with mental illness, a truth that Thomas Wayne fought to keep hidden from the rest of Gotham Society, but the important reveal here is the big change to her family name: Arkham.

An institution so integral to the world of Batman, and now his own mother and therefore his past are deeply, personally connected not the character himself, but more importantly to the possible ways this entire trilogy may unfold. This big change again is not an accident by Matt Reeves, the man has talked repeatedly about where he aims to take this trilogy, and The Batman is a perfect story to start planting those seeds to eventually pay off in subsequent films.

This drastic change to Bruce’s ancestry makes things interesting moving forward in more ways than one: the most interesting of which we will talk about in our final point, but another one is how it can guide Bruce as he steps out from behind the guise of the Bat and starts helping the city as a Wayne, or will the city even accept him with the truths about Thomas and his past sins as well as his relationship with Falcone coming out?

It is interesting how Reeves leaves this dangling thread waiting to pay off in the film, here’s hoping he continues to explore “the sins of the father” as Bruce tries to embrace his newly regained humanity.

4. Is Bruce’s green adrenaline injection going to become Bane’s Venom?

In the heat of the final battle, we get a desperate Batman taking the fight to a group of Riddler’s followers, as the enigmatic sociopath has trapped the people of Gotham in a single location after his flooding of the city, setting them up as lambs for slaughter.

Batman at his most brutal gets the help of Catwoman in this fight for the people of Gotham, but after being shot at close range with a rifle Bruce is sent s into shock, leaving Selina to be overpowered by one of the goons, and he starts choking her. It’s here we find another big takeaway; Bruce sees Selina in her predicament but cannot get up.

He suddenly goes to his utility belt, taking out a flask of green liquid, which Batman injects into himself, sending him into a fit of rage, brutally plummeting the Riddler goon with violently stiff punches to the face, so much that Bruce seems overcome with rage, it is not until Gordon pulls on his shoulder to snap him out of this state that Bruce stops. For those who don’t know, in the comics Bane gets his superhuman strength from a green liquid called venom, and whenever Bane takes it to get stronger his rage also gets stronger, and he grows more uncontrollable.

Like we’ve established in this list, Matt Reeves does not include anything in his story by accident, so once more we may well be seeing another seed sown here for a future introduction of a Bane into this Gotham universe. It could be a very interesting take on the character to see that something Bruce created as a desperate measure for himself eventually comes back to haunt him as it creates one of his biggest foes.

Related: 50+ Of The Most Chilling The Batman Quotes

5. Was Riddler a puppet… of the Court of Owls?

You must’ve seen this coming. Ever since the first DC Fandome 2020 trailer for The Batman came out eagle-eyed fans have been speculating about the possible involvement of The Court of Owls in this new version of the dark knight. Matt Reeves himself has mentioned them as a very important part of Batman’s mythos, and we clearly see ciphers in Riddler’s letters to the Batman that are at the very least inspired by the coded wording the Court uses in the comics.

This film’s big theme is “unmasking the truth” and the Riddler does so, it’s not just fun & games about some riddles for only the Batman to figure out for himself. Riddler’s whole scheme is an attack at the very foundations of Gotham as a functional society, something that is not usually his intent. Like we’ve also established, Riddler also makes at least one very emotionally charged attack on Bruce Wayne, that reveals way more about his family’s history, than it does to any of Riddler’s other victims in this film.

We never find out how Riddler knew all of this, how he came upon such key pieces of information regarding Gotham’s Elite’s deepest and darkest secret; but we do establish how much of a deeply broken individual Riddler is, he exposes his tough, demented upbringing to Bruce, even implying he may know who he is under the cowl. So, what if someone set the Riddler off on the Batman and the city?

I believe the Court of Owls used Riddler to make their mark on Gotham, attack its foundations so it may be destroyed as their intent is to rebuild it from the rubble, that has always been the Court’s intentions, as they call themselves the “True rulers of Gotham”. Reeves focuses a lot on Gotham as a city, its political corruptness, and how its characters are so intrinsically connected to its history, whether they realize it or not.

The Court would certainly make for a formidable foe to Batman, and a very original nemesis in film even more so; it would also make sense for Reeves to be slowly unveiling them throughout several movies as he builds his Gotham and the relationship Batman has with the city, its people and his rogues before the hidden enemy shows *their* face.

Those are the 5 biggest lingering questions I had as I left The Batman. Exciting questions, that now allow for a ton of conversation and discussion moving forward. What do you think? Agree, disagree? Did you have any other questions?

NEXT: The Batman Is Everything DC Fans Are Looking For

About The Batman

Batman ventures into Gotham City’s underworld when a sadistic killer leaves behind a trail of cryptic clues. As the evidence begins to lead closer to home and the scale of the perpetrator’s plans become clear, he must forge new relationships, unmask the culprit and bring justice to the abuse of power and corruption that has long plagued the metropolis.

The Batman hits theaters on March 4th.