The Batman: Arkham series is one of the best video game franchises to ever exist, it is everything that an avid Batman fan wants. Fighting thugs, stealthily knocking out enemies and just being able to say “I am Batman” is enough for a lot of people.
The whole Batman: Arkham series is an absolute treat to play, with its gameplay, story, and characters, but the game franchise does one thing right which a lot of other Batman movies and shows don’t, and that is getting the villains right.
In the DC Batman universe, the villains of the masked vigilante are one of the most crucial elements of the hero, which builds our protagonist’s character and garners some popularity of their own (ahem-joker-ahem). The Batman Arkham games did justice to one such villain, who was featured in the latest Batman movie from 2022 ‘The Batman’ by Matt Reeves, and that is The Riddler.
The Riddler a.k.a Edward Nigma is one of the most flashy and stalker-level obsessive villains in the DC Batman universe. Other than being flashy, obsessive, and an absolute narcissist, he is also the cleverest and smartest among all the Batman villains. Even going head-to-head with the Dark Knight himself in intellect.
In the Arkham series, the Riddler is an annoying villain who makes Batman solve puzzles and insults him while he talks to the hero through a TV screen, and this is exactly how the Riddler should be. He should be a narcissistic jerk who thinks he can outwit Batman by challenging him, and The Batman movie gets the villain completely wrong.
The Batman absolutely butchered the Riddler’s character, making him dark, gritty, and scary, adding a horror element to the Riddler which he clearly does not possess. The movie makes the Riddler a knock-off version of The Zodiac Killer with the morphed voice, ciphered riddles, and even the costume is slapped on with a green question mark.
The premise of the movie is that the Riddler is kind of molded in an almost Zodiac Killer sort of mode, and is killing very prominent figures in Gotham,
Even the director of the movie, Matt Reeves confirmed in a conversation with MovieMaker that The Riddler was inspired by The Zodiac Killer.
The Riddler is one of the most iconic villains in the DC Batman universe, known for his intellectual mind games and puzzles. While The Batman does a decent job in accurately representing other characters such as Penguin, who is another iconic villain in Gotham, it falls short in its portrayal of the Riddler.
On the other hand, The Arkham series almost honors the villain by being faithful to the comics. His dialogue, personality, and obsession with proving his superiority to the Dark Knight, make him one of the most authentic adaptations of the character.
Although all adaptations have different creative liberties towards the characters they are portraying, Matt Reeves’ The Batman truly missed an opportunity to capture the essence of the iconic Riddler to its full extent.
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