Paul Dano is Edward Nashton aka "The Riddler"

[Erik Lensherr]

So Riddler turns himself in and faces possibly life in prison just to mess with people's minds?

Reminds me of Gerard Butler in "Law Abiding Citizen", who lets himself be arrested and then systematically kills everyone from being in prison with a very sophisticated plan.

 

[Eddie Dean]

Or what about a little guy called... The Joker?

 

[Mindreaper21]

This Riddler seems a LOT like John Doe. Day of Judegment, sins of the father, see you in hell etc.. Riddler is this self righteous narcissistic serial killer on a mission to expose and purge the city of corruption and bring about Gotham’s “Armageddon” in a sense. He admires Batman’s brutality against the criminals and invites him to be an ally if Batman proves worthy enough. Though I believe that once Batman rejects Riddler’s offer, Riddler sees him as part of the problem.

His motives could be somewhat of a combination of Zero Year and Earth One. If Riddler truly is “the match to a powder keg”, then it’s possible that his actions sets off a chain reaction that affects the lives of future villains. Kind of like disturbing an ant bed. Though Riddler would twist things so much that people begin to blame Batman as the one to bring about these villains.

 

[Mindreaper21]

Riddler: Bruce, you’re the son I never had
Bruce: but…you’re like a year older than me
Riddler: Give your old man a hug!

 

[JubJub86]

So Riddler turns himself in and faces possibly life in prison just to mess with people's minds?

Good one, Riddler.

I mean, assuming he hasn't already got a pretty good plan for escape. We know he's got goons, and who knows what's going to pan out with this flooding stuff.

Either that or he's simply the same as Bruce with his "I don't care what happens to me" dealio. So long as the corruption of the city to its core gets out there, he doesn't give much of a ****. Guy doesn't strike me as so much the attention-wh*re he usually gets depicted as, this version of it really seems like a guy with a grudge and a goal. Could be a bit of a duality at play here with the lack of self-preservation, Bats and Riddler alike.

 

[WatchProtect]

I feel like this may be obvious but anyone else think Riddler uses body doubles

 

[Mindreaper21]

Definitely. Like the guy Batman is beating the living hell out of is definitely a decoy. That scene is also connected with the huge explosion earlier in the trailer.

 

[Hunter Rider]

 

[JubJub86]

Kinky.

 

[Razor Crest]

He looks unhappy being locked up

 

[Art Vandelay]

I still can't tell where he is. It looks like it may be a cell, but the walls look like they're made of metal, and I wonder if that's a material used in prison cells? I think it could be we're seeing him in the back of a prison van.

 

[GothamCity]

He looks unhappy being locked up

View attachment 50384

View attachment 50385

Is this Bruce?

 

[Eddie Dean]

Dano for sure

 

[Mindreaper21]

People should definitely start being honest.

 

[Gothamsknight]

Paul Dano sounds so brutal and terrifying. I just know he's gonna deliver one of the most memorable villains for a CBM in a long time. Possibly since Bane!

 

[Captain Tired]

You seem to always wilfully forget Phoenix.

 

[Gothamsknight]

You seem to always wilfully forget Phoenix.

Phoenix was amazing, but he was sort of the protagonist in his own movie, rather than a villain if you ask me. Obviously his actions are nothing anybody approves of, but he wasn't the villain of the story in the traditional sense. He also didn't turn into The Joker until like the last like 20 minutes or so.

 

[Luke995]

I'll be honest: my first reaction to Wayne's photos with baby Nashton on the background was quite... Meh.
I mean, it seemed too horror clichè to me and a little ridicolous.

A creepy and silly little man who tries to be scary.

Then I thought that THAT'S exactly what the Riddler is, in effect.
In comics he feels himself a criminal mastermind and he basically he is very cleaver, but at the same time he is a narcisistic and pathetic man.

So, after the first impression, I change my mind.

BUT...
You need to find a balance between his Jigsaw/John Doe horrorific behaviour and his being a creepy boy.
If you make him too scary he could be ridicolous and annoying.
If you make him too silly you can't take him seriously as a menace.

I think Dano is the perfect actor to find this balance: you just have to see his There Will Be Blood and Prisoners performances to see how he is good to play psycothic and scary man who the audience finds disagreeable and wants the hero to beat the **** out from him.

And that's ok.

The problem would be in the atmosphere and the plot of the movie, especially from the backstory.

I know that we are in a marketing phase where you need to emphasize horror traits of the villain, but I really hope that in the final movie Reeves will be able to find that balance and to have in his hand a plot which has a backstory not too exhagerrated on Wayne's corruption and Nashton's wish of vengeance, but that is sober enough to be emotionally moving.

 

[Deck Rickard]

You seem to always wilfully forget Phoenix.

Indeed, Phoenix was awesome. Sophie Turner should have gotten an Oscar!

 

[Mindreaper21]

It still blows my mind that this guy is hiding under that mask. Paul’s energy is so intense. People really don’t know what’s coming. I can’t wait to see more.

 

[AndyTrevino]

He looks so creepy.

 

[Gothamsknight]

He looks so creepy.
View attachment 51636

View attachment 51637

This look has already become iconic to me.

Also, I do like how Paul Dano mentioned that even though he sort of feels like the real life Zodiac killer, he's still The Riddler, so there will be more to him than what we expect.

 

[PepS]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm so happy that they got Dano for this instead of Jonah Hill. Hill's a fantastic actor, but Dano just screams Riddler.

 

[Mindreaper21]

Dano as Riddler reminds me of the horror Icons like Michael, Freddy and Jason in a way, because Dano allows the outfit to tell him how to build this monster. He’s not approaching Riddler as a mere Frankenstein of a character with a combination of this and that. His performance is going to feel so eerily natural.

 

[shauner111]

Dano as Riddler reminds me of the horror Icons like Michael, Freddy and Jason in a way, because Dano allows the outfit to tell him how to build this monster. He’s not approaching Riddler as a mere Frankenstein of a character with a combination of this and that. His performance is going to feel so eerily natural.

The movie is like a murder mystery with a slasher villain as the main antagonist. There's a lot of early John Carpenter vibes between the Riddler and the intention of the batmobile in this.