Upon news of a confirmed sequel to Matt Reeves' The Batman, fans have been clambering to know whether or not actor Paul Dano will be returning to his iconic role, The Riddler, in the sequel. The good news is people are keeping tabs on him, and asked about the future of his role in The Batman universe.
So, does this mean we will be seeing more of Dano’s Riddler character in the future? An "Ave Maria" encore perhaps?
Paul Dano made an appearance at the 2022 San Diego Comic-Con to promote Riddler: Year One, a comic book series the actor co-authored with Stevan Subic. The series will be a six-issue bimonthly limited series detailing Edward Nashton’s villain origin story. It sounds like Paul Dano is open to it! When IGN asked him about the potential for a return The Batman actor said:
I've been spending the past year writing this comic [Riddler: Year One] because I loved so much our film, Gotham, Batman, all of it - so you know, if they call me, I'll show up, yeah! It'd be pretty fun to get in there with another good actor like Barry.
Spoiler Alert! Paul Dano is referencing the Riddler’s ending interaction with another Arkham Asylum inmate, played by Barry Keoghan, at the tail end of The Batman. If you've seen the movie, you may already know the inmate is rumored to be the Joker. The interaction seems to be setting up the Joker character as the main villain in a future The Batman sequel. However, I’m not sure I’m ready to let go just yet.
It's going to be very hard to top what Paul Dano did in The Batman. I personally feel he may have been the most committed Riddler actor yet. Not only did he write a detailed origin story for his character, the actor also wrapped himself in plastic wrap for one of The Riddler’s costume choices in the opening scene of the movie. Paul Dano previously spoke about the costume's importance to his process as an actor, allowing him to embody the role.
Hopefully, director Matt Reeves will call Paul Dano soon! Honestly, even if different villains are explored in The Batman 2, there is still potential for the Prisoners actor to reprise his role in other projects, such as the Colin Farrell-produced Penguin series on HBO Max currently in development.
Even if ends up being a long time before we get to see Paul Dano terrorizing Gotham with his riddles, puzzles, and clues, we can see Paul Dano in Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans. In it, the actor will be portraying the legendary director’s fictional father, in what should be another juicy role.
In the meantime, you can revisit Paul Dano and The Riddler in The Batman, which is currently streaming exclusively for those with an HBO Max subscription.
