Matt Reeves’ The Batman isn’t the type of movie that is bursting with Easter Eggs, or laying the groundwork for future movies with references hidden in backgrounds. Yes, there was that deleted Joker scene which would have more firmly established the tense relationship between Robert Pattinson’s Dark Knight and Barry Keoghan’s maniacal clown. But Reeves wasn’t overly concerned with teasing sequels. Still, now that The Batman is available on HBO Max, some fans are going line by line and frame by frame to look for clues… and they found one that Reeves confirmed to be true.
The following is going to get into spoiler territory for The Batman, so bail out now if you don’t yet know how The Batman ends.
When Batman (Robert Pattinson) finally brings Carmine Falcone (John Turturro) to justice and drags him “into the light,” the Caped Crusader actually aids The Riddler (Paul Dano) in his ultimate plan. You see, we learn in that moment that Riddler was perched in an apartment opposite Falcone’s Iceberg Lounge, ready to assassinate the crime lord. So, in an earlier scene in the film, when Matt Reeves gives us an establishing shot of the club on the street, one fan spotted Paul Dano in a window facing the club’s front door, and Reeves confirmed the actor’s placement.
Indeed, I can confirm. 100% https://t.co/bryYms9t0xApril 18, 2022
That’s cool. It’s not essential. And it’s definitely not a thing that Matt Reeves wanted fans to be able to spot the first time through a viewing of The Batman, because a man in an apartment window wouldn’t mean anything nefarious at that point of the overall movie. But it speaks to the level of detail that Reeves worked into his first Batman movie, and is a big part of the reason why we make the argument The Batman does things better than Christopher Nolan’s Batman movies did. Not to knock on Nolan’s trilogy. Reeves’ movie is just different, and preferred by some.
One immediate benefit of The Batman when it comes to world building is that the storylines will not be limited to the big screen. In between any planned movies centered around Robert Pattinson’s Bat, HBO Max plans to develop new shows set in Reeves’ Gotham, including one that will focus on Arkham Asylum, home of Riddler and Joker. That might replace the previously announced shows that were going to focus on the Gotham Police Department in the years prior to Batman showing up, and a show built around Colin Farrell’s Penguin. We also found hints in The Batman that suggest the arrival of two classic villains who could be utilized in a show or a sequel. We shall see.
There’s no official word on development for a sequel to Matt Reeves’ The Batman, but DC has plenty of stories in the hopper, including Jason Momoa’s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, a Shazam! Sequel, Dwayne Johnson’s arrival as Black Adam, and plans for a Wonder Woman 3. Stay up to date on all of the upcoming DC movies using our handy guide, which we update often.
