Does The Riddler Know Bruce Wayne Is The Batman?

It wasn’t a secret that the Riddler was going to be the enemy of Batman in The Batman. However, during the course of the movie, it became clear that he was targeting the caped crusader and seemingly knew how to shit him in the right spots. And when they met in person during the interrogation scene, it seemed as if the Riddler was aware of who he was talking to. So, does the Riddler know that Bruce Wayne is Batman?

The Riddler does not know that Bruce Wayne is Batman. At first, he thought that the Riddler knew his secret identity when the villain was talking about Bruce Wayne and how he carries the sins of his father. However, when the Riddler referred to Bruce as “him” instead of “you,” Batman looked relieved.

There was a moment in the movie wherein it became sort of implied that the Riddler knew who Batman was because he was targeting him specifically. However, in the interrogation scene, it became clear that the Riddler did not know who was under the mask the entire time. And this is where we talk about how Riddler made the fatal error during the interrogation scene.

Did The Riddler Know Who Bruce Wayne Is In The Batman?

When The Batman was announced, it was soon made known to the public that the main enemy of the movie was the Riddler. And throughout the entire movie, it was actually clear that Batman was chasing the Riddler the entire time because he was solving the villain’s different clues to get to the bottom of what he wanted to achieve.

However, Batman and the Gotham police eventually caught the Riddler and imprisoned the villain. That is where one of the best parts of the film happened, as Batman interrogated the Riddler to get to the bottom of what the Riddler wanted when he was wreaking havoc throughout Gotham almost the entire movie.

During the interrogation scene, the Riddler revealed that what he wanted all along was to expose the corruption behind Gotham. And during the interrogation and throughout most of the early part of the film, it was actually implied that the Riddler knew who was under the mask that Batman was wearing because the villain was specifically targeting the masked hero.

It was also during the interrogation when the Riddler told Batman that he wanted to cleanse Gotham of its corruption. He was a victim of the corrupt circumstances of the city because the Riddler was once one of the children that lived in the orphanage that Thomas Wayne supported. When Thomas Wayne announced that he was going to donate a billion dollars to the orphanage, things looked like they would turn out quite nicely for the Riddler and the other kids.

However, the donation never happened because the Waynes died. As a result of the Waynes’ death, the corrupt city officials and the crime bosses of the city used the billion dollars that the Wayne family set aside for the orphanage. But instead of donating it, they used it as a means to fund their illegal activities, such as when they are bribing people. This was something that the Riddler found out when he ended up working as an accountant.

Going back, during that interrogation scene, the Riddler actually blamed everything on Thomas Wayne and was now targeting Bruce because he “carried the sins of his father.” And such sins included not only the sham donation but also the dealings that Thomas had with crime boss Carmine Falcone.

So, considering that the Riddler was targeting Batman throughout the entire movie, does that mean that he knew that he was Bruce Wayne all along?

Despite how the movie wanted us to believe that the Riddler knew who was behind the mask, he does not know who Batman is. This was implied when he was talking about Bruce Wayne and decided to refer to the billionaire with “he” while the Riddler was talking to Batman. He could have used “you” if he knew that the one behind the mask was Bruce.

It was at this moment when Bruce decided to feel more relaxed because that was when he found out that the Riddler did not know who he was. On top of that, the Riddler even went as far as to try to recruit Batman as the person he wanted to fight corruption with.

So, if Riddler hated Bruce Wayne and wanted to kill him, he wouldn’t have attempted to recruit Batman to try to kill the very same person under the mask. As such, it is safe to say that the Riddler does not know who Batman is.

Who Knows That Bruce Wayne Is The Batman?

By the end of the movie, we can assume that the only person who knows that Batman is Bruce Wayne is Alfred. That’s because the longtime butler of the Wayne family was the one who was looking after Batman the entire time before and after his daily routine of cleaning up the streets of Gotham.

Meanwhile, we also know that there is another woman who is closely working with both Bruce and Alfred, and that woman was the very same person who told Bruce what had happened to the butler when he was targeted by the Riddler. She may know who Batman is, but it was never confirmed nor implied that she was aware of Bruce Wayne’s alter ego.

Will The Riddler Find Out Who Batman Is?

One of the most interesting things about the future of The Batman is that it has already been confirmed that the next villain will be Hush, who was revealed in a video that you can download after answering the riddles in the website given at the post-credit scene of the movie.

In the comics, Hush ended up working with Riddler because the green-suited villain found out that Bruce Wayne is actually Batman. That means that if The Batman 2 will introduce Hush as the next villain, it might be possible that the Riddler will eventually find out who the caped crusader is.

However, that is only true if and only if The Batman will be faithful to the character of Hush, who specifically attacked Batman because he knew that he was Bruce Wayne. And Hush’s character, which is actually Thomas Elliot, had a grudge that he wanted to settle with the Wayne family.

So, all that considered, we may see the Riddler learning about Batman’s secret identity in the next movie. How he does it will be something that we need to watch out for because Matt Reeves may or may not stay faithful to the events of the Batman: Huish comic book story.