#i can imagine a reality where thanks to joker’s influence eddy does turn into a suited up mofo with a silly cane

[saipng]

Oh the riddler didn't figure out Batman's identity in the movie. Sure it looked like that at first, but once he starts going "but we didn't get Bruce Wayne :/" it becomes clear to Batman that not only does Riddler think they're a team, he also thinks they together failed at getting Bruce, meaning he doesn't know Batman and Bruce are the same person. He also didn't outsmart Batman - sure he thinks he did (because. He's the riddler ofc he'd think he's smarter than everyone else) but he didn't. The reason why Bruce missed the last clue wasn't because he isn't smarter than Edward ( he very much is, especially when it comes to emotional intelligence which Edward is lacking entirely) but it's because he was too emotional/too scared of being unveiled as Bruce and too scared of "facing his dark mirror" that he didn't stop to think things through, and also because he had gaps in knowledge due to his privilege (not knowing what a carpeting tool is). Once this Bruce gets a better grip on his emotions he won't make mistakes like that again. Also this riddler is very much selfish, imo it's very clear that his whole "justice" thing is what he convinced himself is the reason for his actions when it's actually petty revenge for his trauma as well as wanting to be seen/getting attention - I mean why else live-stream what he does if it's not for attention's sake. (they also released the pages of his journal, and imo that one makes quite clear he's doing it for personal reasons, mostly for getting back at the system for what it did to him (and the other orphans) and for feeling invisible, and not for true justice, as well as because of his compulsions) .. anyways lmao sorry for the long ask just wanted to share how I interpreted what they did with the character but your points are totally valid as well ofc!!

hello and first of THANK YOU for a huge ask i am literally always down to discuss batman and im obsessed with your take because it’s so different from mine.

the only thing i can answer definitively to this is that i will need to rewatch the movie again to see if i can see where you’re coming from - especially the secret identity part since riddler literally sat there going ‘i know who you are. bruce wayne. bruceee wayneee. bruuuce waaaayne. brrrrruceee wayyyyyyne.’

so if i misinterpreted that part, i definitely need to see it another time

the part about riddler outsmarting him though - i don’t know, it sounds a bit like justification to me. not saying it’s not valid, your take has really good points and i’d agree entirely IF, like i said before, we were talking about batman vigilante career month 3. then i’d understand this carelessness, this underdeveloped instinct when he doesn’t think twice why someone as smart as riddler would give himself up so easily, the overlooking evidence specifically placed to get his attention. but this is batman year 2 and two years is a goddamn long time to be going out every night into the streets of gotham.

i SUPPOSE i’m being somewhat unfair though, considering riddler is basically the first major supervillain in gotham (the mobsters don’t really count). bruce never had to deal with anything like that before, so he doesn’t know what to expect - but that just makes me think that he should be even more careful than usual and think twice before every action taken. argh, this is frustrating, i’m spinning myself in circles here. will need to think more

and the thing with the livestream makes sense (no matter how much i passionately hate that twitch is becoming a new staple of society in movies), he craves attention and recognition, sure, and he wants vengeance on the ones who wronged him - but the thing that bothers me is that in almost every other media, riddler always wants to prove himself the smartest, not the most just. his intellect always comes first, and anything else is secondary. it would make sense if he like. made all his victims solve puzzles before murdering them (like he did with the DA, giving them a chance to prove they’re just as smart (which he is sure they won’t cuz he’s the smartest most specialist boy in the world)). that would give him a chance to prove himself better than them, to have that sense of superiority and power.

and now i’m imagining a riddler that kidnaps his victims using elaborate traps, placing them in devices a la saw, doing the whole riddle me this shebang, asking them questions about corruption and dirty laundry, all while streaming all of this tortureporn to thousands of people online. and when the victims would finally not be able to answer the final question, the contraption goes off and the person is dead. the whole ‘leaving the clues for batman’ thing would come after, when he sets up the crime scene and leaves it for the police to discover. imo, THAT would coincide with riddler’s MO much better - him exposing the sins of the city’s elite while simultaneously proving himself smarter over and over again.

i just want my classy suited up eddy with his stupid question mark cane doing a little dance when he performs, so confident in himself and his genius, only to be crushed by batman’s galaxy brain and sent to arkham shaking and mewling like a newborn kitten

and not like. a dude who lives in his mom’s basement streaming on twitch to his 500 subs in his silly little ski mask that he wears his glasses over

#long post #the batman #the batman 2022 #thank you anon this really made me thunk my thuts #i think i just. really miss the performance yknow? #to be fair this movie does a whole lot better to shave away with the gritty realism that other iterations were hellbent on #it’s still pretty gritty but in an entertaining way and you can tell that it doesn’t take itself too seriously #but i do feel that they went a little too far with the riddler reinterpretation #i will be nice and give them the benefit of doubt cuz of the scene with the joker #i can imagine a reality where thanks to joker’s influence eddy does turn into a suited up mofo with a silly cane #that becomes obsessed with defeating batman and turns up the theatrics to an 11 #we’ll just have to see i guess #and hey. maybe my opinion will change after a rewatch who knows #anyway #thanks! this was fun #anonymous #answered