What Happened To Riddler At The End Of The Batman?

The Batman is the newest DC movie to hit the theaters as we got to learn more about a younger version of Batman who is still trying to find himself while acting as the city’s vengeance against crime. That said, the Riddler was the villain that he chased throughout the entire movie as the villain was leaving behind clues for the hero to solve. But what happened to the Riddler at the end of The Batman?

At the end of The Batman, the Riddler was caught, but he had already ordered his minions or acolytes to carry out his ultimate goal of destroying the city. The climax happened all while he was in his cell. Then, at Arkham, he was seen talking with an unseen prisoner who is actually the Joker.

It is interesting to note that the Riddler’s story is far from over, considering that he is alive and was seen talking to a familiar villain at the end of the movie. Of course, there is also the fact that the post-credit scene sets up the next villain, who the Riddler has worked with in the comics. With all that said, let’s look at what happened to the Riddler at the end of The Batman.

What Was Riddler’s Goal In The Batman?

It isn’t a secret that the entire The Batman movie focuses on Batman and Gordon chasing after the Riddler, who leaves behind clues regarding what he will do next. In a manner of speaking, it was a game for the Riddler, who had a plan in mind all along because he seemingly knew what to do the entire time as he remained elusive even to the greatest detectives Gotham has to offer.

However, when Batman and Gordon were able to find his whereabouts, it looked like things were a bit too easy when the police caught the Riddler, who didn’t even resist the arrest. He was taken to a holding cell to be interrogated, but the police couldn’t get anything from him. It wasn’t until Batman came to interrogate him one on one that the Riddler spoke.

The Riddler told Batman about the circumstances behind his life as he grew up in an orphanage that was severely cash-strapped to the point that 30 children had to live in one room, where rats were chewing at them every single night. He even said that some babies couldn’t last the winter in that orphanage due to how they didn’t have enough funds to keep everyone warm.

In that regard, it was also revealed that this was the very same orphanage that Thomas Wayne promised to donate a billion dollars to, but such a donation never happened because he ended up dying just a week after announcing his mayoral bid and his plans of funding the orphanage. And it was only when the Riddler became an accountant that he found out what happened to the very same fund that was supposed to go to his orphanage.

The Riddler discovered that the very same fund was what was used and abused by the crime lords and corrupt officials of the city to fund their different activities. This leads the Riddler to come up with his plan of killing everyone involved in Gotham’s corrupt activities. The list included the Falcone crime group, the Gotham police, the mayor, the district attorney, and even Bruce Wayne himself. 

He blamed all of them for his childhood trauma and went on to believe that every rich person and the people in power in Gotham were corrupt individuals that needed to be cleaned out of this world. The Riddle wanted them dead in his crusade for his own brand of justice, and that was when he planned to kill the newly-elected mayor. He even went as far as to recruit Batman to kill Bruce Wayne and to become the real spirit of vengeance that would kill every corrupt individual in the city.

That was when the Riddler revealed that, through his internet app and some messaging groups on social media, he was able to convince other people to join his cause. Those people stationed around Gotham as his acolytes and went on to kill innocent people, such as the newly-elected mayor herself. 

And the cream of the crop was the fact that he had his men place strategic bombs in Gotham’s levee so that the entire city would end up getting flooded by the ocean. He actually wanted to get caught by the police not only to distract them from what was happening but also to convince Batman to join his cause.

What Happened To Riddler At The End Of The Batman?

After Batman declined the Riddler’s offer and went on to stop the acolytes or henchmen from killing the mayor and a few other innocent people who became targeted victims of the Riddler’s personal vendetta against the rich and powerful of Gotham, the villain was taken to a cell in Arkham.

Even though Gotham still ended up getting flooded, the Riddler was sad because not all of his plans came to fruition. That was when an unseen prisoner in Arkham began talking to him to try to cheer him up. The two shared a huge burst of laughter at the end of the scene, as it became clearer and clearer who this unseen prisoner was.

It was then revealed that this unseen prisoner was actually the Joker, who was played by Barry Keoghan. This announcement came after people had been speculating for months that Keoghan was going to be playing the iconic Batman villain.

In an attempt to silence the rumors, Matt Reeves even credited Keoghan as a GCPD officer and shot scenes that involved this very same police officer. However, the cat is now out of the bag, and the Joker will be making an appearance in future installments of the Batman.

Will We See Riddler Again In The Batman 2?

One of the things that people should know is the fact that the post-credit scene of The Batman has a URL that will take you to a website that will allow you to download a video if you manage to answer all of the riddles correctly.

The video reveals that the next movie in this rebooted The Batman series will feature Hush as quite possibly the main villain. And this is where it gets interesting because those who follow the comics would know that Hush and Riddler worked together.

In Batman: Hush, Thomas Elliot, a childhood friend of Bruce, actually found out through the Riddler that his friend was Batman. And this forced him to go on a personal revenge mission against Bruce Wayne because he had a longstanding grudge against the Wayne family.

That said, it was through the Riddler that he found out who Batman is. While the Riddler in The Batman doesn’t know who is behind the mask, it is interesting to note that he did mention a certain someone named Elliot, who was the reporter that blackmailed Thomas Wayne many years ago.

The same reporter got killed by the Falcone family when Thomas approached them for help. And this becomes interesting because this Elliot reporter might be related to the Thomas Elliot that would be playing Hush in the next movie. Where the Riddler fits in, all that is still up in the air, but it is possible that he will be in the next movie because it seems like the story between him and Batman isn’t over yet.