The gritty world of "The Batman" is filled with intrigue and corruption. But as the credits roll,
there is a lot left unresolved. Keep watching to learn the biggest unanswered
questions from "The Batman."
Perhaps the biggest tease for Batman's future clash with villainy is the mysterious character
sitting in the cell right next to the Riddler at the end of the film. He offers the Riddler
friendship or an alliance in an effort to stage a "comeback" story for the people of Gotham.
At first glance, it seems like the figure might be some kind of revamped take on Two-Face.
His hair is unkempt and it appears that his face may be disfigured, at least on the one side that
the audience is allowed to see. Furthermore, Batman fans will recognize that Carmine
Falcone's operations were busted wide open by law enforcement prior to the events of the film. In
Jeph Loeb's "The Long Halloween," it's Falcone's legal woes and his rivalry with Sal Maroni that
result in Harvey Dent being splashed with acid by a mobster during his testimony in court.
This could have already occurred prior to "The Batman," especially since Gil Colson is the D.A.,
and there is no mention of Harvey Dent. However, that cackle isn't necessarily
something Two-Face is known for. In fact, it's far more reminiscent of the Joker.
"Just an old friend, who's dying to do me a favor.”
[cackling]
The Riddler is very thorough when he goes combing through the history books of Gotham City
in an attempt to eliminate every bit of corruption he can find. The Riddler's mission becomes clear:
kill a corrupt official, then destroy their reputation by outing their dirty deeds on the
nightly news. During his vigilante crusade, he targets the Wayne family. Among his newspaper
clippings is one that highlights a seeming partnership between Thomas Wayne and crime
boss Carmine Falcone. And in that stack, one headline can be seen referencing Edward Elliot.
The Riddler clearly has his eye on the Wayne and Arkham families who helped establish Gotham City.
However, Edward Elliot was also a wealthy aristocrat who played a fundamental role in
modernizing the city. In the comics, he's an ancestor of Thomas Elliot,
who was Bruce Wayne's friend when they were kids. He later turned to a life of crime, adopting the
moniker of Hush and using his talents and medical expertise to wage war against Bruce. Underneath it
all, Thomas was envious of Bruce's life despite the tragedy that he suffered in Crime Alley as
a young boy. This villain's nefarious deeds are ultimately very personal for Batman as a result.
Now that we know the Elliot family exists within the Gotham City of "The Batman," there's always a
chance that Hush could take center stage.
The Riddler highlighted two of Gotham's most elite families:
the Waynes and the Arkhams. During the Riddler's crusade against the corrupt powers in Gotham,
he discusses Thomas Wayne's culpability for working with the mob and associating with
the likes of Carmine Falcone. Even though the Riddler brings up the two families,
he really only focuses on the Waynes and their closeted collaboration with organized crime.
"You're a part of this too." "How am I a part of this?"
"You'll see." The Arkham family is
never discussed in great detail. Is the Arkham family still active in Gotham? Or is the famous
holding asylum that bears their family name the only real claim to fame? Clearly, the Riddler
didn't attack anyone within the Arkham family. That could be because their lineage is no more,
or because the living Arkham family members are squeaky clean. Perhaps Batman's next foe will
teach us more about what happened to the Arkhams.
The Riddler made his capture rather easy. Clearly, he had an endgame in mind that the Gotham police
department wasn't privy to. And neither was Batman, despite the Riddler's attempts to
enlighten him. When we see the Riddler sitting on the opposite side of hardened glass talking
to Batman about his plan, viewers can see clearly that he has an "Arkham State Hospital" suit on.
Why is the facility not referred to as Arkham Asylum? Will the State Hospital
undergo changes after a new surge in high-profile villains make their way into
police custody after being captured by Batman? In the film "Joker," Joaquin Phoenix's version of
the character is seen standing outside of Arkham State Hospital as well. Perhaps this is also the
version of Arkham we see in "The Batman."
Alfred Pennyworth is the closest Bruce Wayne has to a family.
In most iterations of the character, he is a faithful butler who served the family
for many years. He helped care for Bruce following the tragic death of his parents.
In "The Batman," Alfred receives the wrath of the Riddler by mistake as a mail bomb detonates.
The lethal package was actually meant for Bruce. Fortunately, Alfred manages to survive,
although he's hospitalized in critical condition. Later, Alfred reveals that he was the one who
taught Bruce to fight. As evidenced during the fight sequences seen in "The Batman,"
those lessons must have included a whole lot more than simply how to throw a punch.
If Batman's combat prowess is any indication, Alfred is a formidable fighter.
Bruce's confidant also tries to help him come to terms with feelings of guilt over
his parents' deaths. He reminds the crime fighter that he was a young boy at the time.
Alfred explains that he was the one responsible for protecting them. Does that mean Alfred
acts more like a bodyguard than a butler? In the Earth One comic book storyline, Alfred is
a battle-hardened fighter who trained Bruce in all that he knows. As a former member of the S.A.S.,
Alfred likely knew a thing or two about combat and survival. Perhaps the Alfred we see in "The
Batman" shares a similar backstory.
Make no mistake, Batman can take a beating. That's in no small part thanks to his apparently stellar
armor, although we don't really know exactly why Batman's suit is so good at repelling damage.
There's obviously a heavy degree of Kevlar involved. Batman takes several bullets
throughout the film, including a shotgun blast directly to the chest, and he somehow manages
to walk away every time. That raises the question, what is Batman's armor made of?
Kevlar can only do so much. It's pretty clear that Bruce has some top-of-the-line gear. For example,
he wears a pair of contacts that work as spy cameras capable of recording everything he sees.
At one point in the film, he has to escape the police from inside the precinct. He and Jim
Gordon stage a faux assault and Batman flees to the top of the building, where he leaps from the
roof to glide safely away from danger. He doesn't exactly land gracefully, however. His parachute
catches a bridge and slams his body into a vehicle and the concrete. It's a pretty nasty spill,
and he limps away in a significant amount of pain. However, the whole engagement makes us wonder what
type of armor could possibly protect Batman from colliding at a high speed with concrete and metal.
Fans know well that Batman
prepares for just about any probable scenario. "Where does he get those wonderful toys?"
He often has access to a variety of tools or gadgets that he might need to rely
on in a pinch in order to narrowly avert catastrophe. In the final moments of the film,
Batman is fighting several of the Riddler's followers, who are all armed to the teeth.
One particular baddie knocks the wind out of the Dark Knight with a rather close-range
shotgun blast. Batman is visibly injured and likely suffering from fractured ribs.
Selina Kyle enters the fray to save Batman but quickly finds herself taking heat from
another goon. In an effort to save Selina, Batman pulls out a strange green fluid
and injects himself with it, after which he gets up and pummels his foe in a fit of rage.
Now, what do we know about a green fluid that bolsters physical performance dramatically and
might even cause someone to lose control of their anger? Bane might know the answer
to this question. Because, in the comics, Venom is the name of a drug the back-breaking villain
uses in an attempt to overpower Batman. The question "The Batman" viewers are left asking is:
Was that vial filled with Venom? If so, why would Batman be carrying it?
At the start of "The Batman," the Penguin isn't
quite the high-profile gangster he's known for being throughout his rich history in the comics.
When we first see him, he's still under Carmine Falcone's thumb. Of course, this changes when the
Riddler murders Falcone, creating a power vacuum in Gotham's organized crime structure that the
Penguin is poised to take full advantage of. At the end of the film, we see a shot of the
Penguin contemplatively looking out at Gotham. It's clear that he's about to ascend the ranks
of his criminal empire. So what does the future hold for the Penguin after the credits roll?
Does this position him to be a prime target for Batman in an upcoming sequel? At some point,
we'll be treated to a look at the Penguin prior to the events of "The Batman" with his own spinoff
series on HBO Max. Perhaps the show will shed some light on the character's plans for the future.
Batman's partnership with the GCPD,
and more specifically Jim Gordon, is one of the most famous aspects of the Dark Knight's legacy.
In times of trouble, Police Commissioner Jim Gordon often flips on the Batsignal
summoning the Caped Crusader. But in "The Batman," Jim Gordon is still a lieutenant
and hasn't yet risen to the position of police commissioner. That role belongs to Pete Savage.
Unfortunately for the commissioner, however, his dirty deeds are brought to light by the Riddler.
Rather quickly, the villain releases a snuff film of sorts putting Savage's demise on full display.
With murder and mayhem on the agenda for Gotham, there isn't any time to discuss
replacements for the corrupt commissioner during the events of "The Batman." However,
when the dust settles, perhaps Gordon will be promoted to the job he's most famous for.
It's not a foregone conclusion, though. There are those in the police force who don't condone Jim's
work with Batman. Still, it seems like a safe bet that we'll see Gordon climb the ranks in a sequel,
opening more doors for the blossoming partnership between the Dark Knight
and Gotham's police commissioner.
Coming from an affluent family, Bruce Wayne has always enjoyed the luxuries of Wayne Manor. He
uses his family's private estate as a bunker-like home base for his personal, professional,
and crime fighting operations. However, the mansion is curiously absent from "The Batman."
Instead, Bruce seems to live in a skyscraper looking down upon the city of Gotham.
His "Batcave" appears to be in an abandoned subway tunnel. This raises the question of whether Wayne
Manor exists in Matt Reeves' version of the Batman mythos. At one point, Riddler voices his disdain
for Bruce Wayne as a wealthy orphan who had everything. He claims Bruce "looked down" upon
the less fortunate, suggesting that he might have always lived in the skyscraper in Gotham City.
"Your family has a history of philanthropy, but as far as I can tell, you're not doing anything."
However, if Wayne Manor and the Batcave do exist, perhaps they're undergoing renovations
much like in "The Dark Knight" following Ra's Al Ghul's assault on the Wayne home. There's
also potential for Bruce to build a new home that's strategically placed over a cave he can
utilize for his operations.
The answer to this question varies depending on which version of the Batman story you read,
watch, or hear. In some versions, Thomas and Martha Wayne were simply in the wrong place
at the wrong time. The man named Joe Chill is often referenced in Batman lore as the
thug who gunned down Bruce's parents. Other versions of the story indicate that the mob
played a role in Thomas and Martha's deaths. In "The Batman," Bruce confronts Carmine
Falcone over the deaths of his parents. He learns a hard truth. Carmine claims Thomas Wayne came to
Falcone asking him for his help in dealing with a reporter spreading harmful information about
Martha. Falcone, in a calculated move, had the reporter killed. But as he goes on to tell Bruce,
he's also heard that his rival, Sal Maroni, had Bruce's parents murdered.
Bruce then approaches Alfred with this knowledge, and Alfred claims that Thomas
didn't realize Falcone would help him by actually having the reporter killed.
"You lied to me, Alfred." Burdened with guilt,
he resolved to go to the authorities but was killed that night he planned to do it.
This leads Bruce to believe that it was Falcone who killed his parents.
For his part, Alfred admits that he hoped to find a smoking gun identifying the guilty party,
but was never able to do so. He can't confirm whether Falcone did the deed. With Falcone dead
at the end of "The Batman," we won't hear more from him about it. If another player was involved,
it'll likely play a pivotal role in Bruce's future conflicts with the evil that plagues Gotham.
Check out one of our newest videos right here! Plus, even more Looper videos about "The Batman"
are coming soon. Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.