Warning: Full spoilers follow for The Batman. Do you want to know if the movie has a post credits scene? We’ll tell you right here: It doesn’t. But there is one little thing after all the credits roll that diehard fans might want to stay for, so scroll down for that if you want the details.
The Batman is face-punching his way back into theaters, launching a whole new movie timeline for the Caped Crusader. And this one is dark, violent, gritty as hell, and somehow still rated PG-13. Directed by Matt Reeves, this take on the World’s Greatest Detective sets up a whole new status quo for Gotham City.
So where did the first Robert Pattinson Batman movie take us, and how did it end? We’re here to run down the whole thing for you, as well as where we think this is all headed. Let’s break down The Batman’s plot, ending, and post credits (or lack thereof)!
The Batman takes place during the second year of Bruce Wayne’s (Pattinson) career as the title crimefighter. During the course of the movie, Batman finds himself up against the Riddler, who is modeled here as a Zodiac-style serial killer and played by Paul Dano. A dark mirror of Batman, he’s out for vengeance just like the Caped Crusader. As far as he’s concerned, Gotham let him down his whole life and he even thinks of Batman as being on his side until the very end.
An orphan just like Bruce, he unleashes his rage on the city, methodically taking out powerful Gotham City figures like the mayor, the district attorney, and the police commissioner. Along the way, a deeper conspiracy is revealed that implicates Batman’s long-dead parents as well.
It turns out that Thomas and Martha Wayne had deep ties to John Turturro’s crime boss Carmine Falcone, and that they share some of the responsibility for Gotham’s current state. Martha, who came from the Arkham family before she married Thomas, struggled with mental illness, and when Thomas decided to run for mayor an effort was made to keep Martha’s issues out of the public eye and away from one particularly nosy reporter, Edward Elliot. This led to a deal with the devil, as it were, between Thomas and Falcone that would have irreparable consequences on Thomas, Martha, and Bruce. Thomas and Martha themselves would be killed shortly thereafter, and young Bruce, well… you know where he went from there.
As Riddler’s plan to bring the corruption of Gotham’s elite to light reaches its crescendo, a final battle takes place involving a bunch of Riddler acolytes (the real Riddler is already behind bars in Arkham at this point). As part of his plan, the psycho blows out Gotham’s seawall, flooding the whole city, and Batman must battle the faux Riddlers who are targeting civilians in the Gotham Square Garden arena, where new mayor Bella Reál has just been elected. (Busy night!)
Batman defeats these Riddlers, despite taking a shotgun blast to the chest at point-blank range (Bat armor and some kind of adrenaline shot -- or is it Venom!? -- help keep him going), and leads the group of survivors out of the arena. The Riddler is mourning the dismantling of his plan back in Arkham, when a friendly prisoner in the cell next to his strikes up a conversation. Yep, it’s Barry Keoghan as the Joker in a cameo! Director Matt Reeves confirmed this to IGN, so you can get all the details on the character at that link.
As far as the flooding of Gotham goes, here Riddler is potentially setting up a version of No Man’s Land, a storyline we’ve seen before. Batman and Catwoman help evacuate most of Gotham’s civilians from the Gotham Square Garden arena where the climax of the film takes place, but as the movie ends what’s left is a largely self-contained city where all of the craziness it’s known for is trapped inside -- where it will only fester and become more of a problem that this newish Batman has to deal with.
The Batman comics introduced the No Man’s Land concept back in 1999, which cut the city off from the world thanks to a massive earthquake. In 2013, Batman: Zero Year also included elements of a wrecked and isolated Gotham as a young Batman rallies to save what’s left of the city. And 2011’s Arkham City video game explored this idea too, thanks to Hugo Strange’s machinations where Batman was trapped on the island with his greatest foes. And let’s not forget Tom Hardy’s Bane basically did the same thing in 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises, cutting Gotham off from the rest of the world and holding it hostage.
As The Batman ends, Batman and Zoe Kravitz’s Catwoman go their separate ways (for now). Her Selina Kyle has satisfied her arc for this film by confronting her biological father, Carmine Falcone, and trying to kill him at least (but the Riddler finishes the job), and so she’s heading to the DC Comics city of Bludhaven when we last see her. As the Bat and the Cat part ways, Batman is left to figure out how to help his city and give them hope after the havoc Riddler just wrought on it.
While there’s no actual end credits scene in The Batman, there is technically something to stick around for, though your mileage may vary. The Riddler’s website URL, which has been used in the marketing of the film, pops up onscreen at the very end of the credits (in Riddler green of course): www.rataalada.com
Maybe there’s something more hidden there, but without a high-tech Bat-computer to analyze it, that’s all we got. Obviously Riddler is still alive but locked up in Arkham, but maybe now that the movie is out that website will start to tease more information about this Bat-universe’s world…
As for Easter Eggs in The Batman, here’s what we found:
Wayne Tower is located on Kane Street… as in Bob Kane, co-creator of Batman.
Batman and Robin famously accessed their secret Batcave entrance with a Shakespeare statue in the iconic 1960s series, and there was a Shakespeare statue in plain view in this version of Bruce’s home at Wayne Tower. No confirmation, though, on whether or not there’s a button hidden inside of it.
If it was weird to see Dory (Sandra Dickinson), the older woman in the Wayne household, answer the phone instead of Alfred, it may be because it's been done before too. Remember Aunt Harriet from the '60s show? When Bruce and Dick were always giving her super sketchy explanations of how they spent their time? We don’t know that the character in The Batman was a nod to Aunt Harriet but we hope Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne has some good excuses chambered and ready to go in case she asks.
There’s a big reference to the Hush storyline from the comics, as a newspaper refers to a reporter who was murdered to cover up the whole Thomas Wayne/Falcone connection. The reporter’s name was Edward Elliot, which could possibly make him Tommy Elliot’s father -- Tommy in the comics was Hush!
There’s also a teeny-tiny callout that could be a reference to the Court of Owls from the comics. There’s an owl on one of the notes Riddler leaves behind. If Riddler is so clued into the buried secrets of Gotham’s elite, chances are good he’s aware of the Owls. Are they secretly working in shadows even deeper and darker than anything this Batman has lurked in at this point?
Catwoman gives Carmine Falcone a nasty scratch to remember her by (until he gets murdered, anyway). That scratch is a reference to the scar Falcone has in the comics. Also a gift from Catwoman, the comics scar first appeared in Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s Batman: Year One, and again in Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s Batman: The Long Halloween.
Is Batman a Venom junkie? As mentioned earlier, near the end of the film when the fighting is going nuts, Batman takes a bunch of gunfire to his body armor and almost goes down, but before he does he injects himself with a bright, glowing green substance he pulled out of his utility belt. Could it be Venom, the compound known for turning Bane into a hulked-out badass? Or just DayGlo adrenaline?
Bludhaven, where Catwoman says she’s likely headed, is supposed to be pretty close to Gotham in the comics -- in terms of both its geography as well as its crime problem. Nightwing, a.k.a. Dick Grayson, a.k.a. Grown-Up Robin, makes Bludhaven his base of operations at one point in the comics (and one of the usernames that pops up in the Riddler’s online chat is “Bloodhaven the band”).
Speaking of Robins, Jay Lycurgo, who plays Tim Drake in HBO Max’s Titans, gets a front-row seat to watching Batman beat on his fellow clown-faced gang members early in the movie.
There’s also a reference to the Safdie brothers’ film Good Time, which also starred Robert Pattinson. Matt Reeves credits Good Time as the movie that made him think of the actor as Bruce Wayne.
Faclone makes a Zorro reference after Batman apprehends him. Of course, Zorro was one of the influences on Bob Kane when he co-created Batman. And in some versions of Batman’s origin story, the Waynes went to the movies to see The Mark of Zorro the night they were killed.
Martha Wayne being an Arkham goes back to the Earth One graphic novels. It’s one of the main twists of Batman’s origin in that universe.
So what did you think of The Batman and how it ended? Do you wish there were actual post credits scenes? Let’s discuss in the comments!
Continue reading...
The Batman is face-punching his way back into theaters, launching a whole new movie timeline for the Caped Crusader. And this one is dark, violent, gritty as hell, and somehow still rated PG-13. Directed by Matt Reeves, this take on the World’s Greatest Detective sets up a whole new status quo for Gotham City.
So where did the first Robert Pattinson Batman movie take us, and how did it end? We’re here to run down the whole thing for you, as well as where we think this is all headed. Let’s break down The Batman’s plot, ending, and post credits (or lack thereof)!
The Batman Ending Explained
The Batman takes place during the second year of Bruce Wayne’s (Pattinson) career as the title crimefighter. During the course of the movie, Batman finds himself up against the Riddler, who is modeled here as a Zodiac-style serial killer and played by Paul Dano. A dark mirror of Batman, he’s out for vengeance just like the Caped Crusader. As far as he’s concerned, Gotham let him down his whole life and he even thinks of Batman as being on his side until the very end.
An orphan just like Bruce, he unleashes his rage on the city, methodically taking out powerful Gotham City figures like the mayor, the district attorney, and the police commissioner. Along the way, a deeper conspiracy is revealed that implicates Batman’s long-dead parents as well.
It turns out that Thomas and Martha Wayne had deep ties to John Turturro’s crime boss Carmine Falcone, and that they share some of the responsibility for Gotham’s current state. Martha, who came from the Arkham family before she married Thomas, struggled with mental illness, and when Thomas decided to run for mayor an effort was made to keep Martha’s issues out of the public eye and away from one particularly nosy reporter, Edward Elliot. This led to a deal with the devil, as it were, between Thomas and Falcone that would have irreparable consequences on Thomas, Martha, and Bruce. Thomas and Martha themselves would be killed shortly thereafter, and young Bruce, well… you know where he went from there.
As Riddler’s plan to bring the corruption of Gotham’s elite to light reaches its crescendo, a final battle takes place involving a bunch of Riddler acolytes (the real Riddler is already behind bars in Arkham at this point). As part of his plan, the psycho blows out Gotham’s seawall, flooding the whole city, and Batman must battle the faux Riddlers who are targeting civilians in the Gotham Square Garden arena, where new mayor Bella Reál has just been elected. (Busy night!)
Batman defeats these Riddlers, despite taking a shotgun blast to the chest at point-blank range (Bat armor and some kind of adrenaline shot -- or is it Venom!? -- help keep him going), and leads the group of survivors out of the arena. The Riddler is mourning the dismantling of his plan back in Arkham, when a friendly prisoner in the cell next to his strikes up a conversation. Yep, it’s Barry Keoghan as the Joker in a cameo! Director Matt Reeves confirmed this to IGN, so you can get all the details on the character at that link.
As far as the flooding of Gotham goes, here Riddler is potentially setting up a version of No Man’s Land, a storyline we’ve seen before. Batman and Catwoman help evacuate most of Gotham’s civilians from the Gotham Square Garden arena where the climax of the film takes place, but as the movie ends what’s left is a largely self-contained city where all of the craziness it’s known for is trapped inside -- where it will only fester and become more of a problem that this newish Batman has to deal with.
The Batman comics introduced the No Man’s Land concept back in 1999, which cut the city off from the world thanks to a massive earthquake. In 2013, Batman: Zero Year also included elements of a wrecked and isolated Gotham as a young Batman rallies to save what’s left of the city. And 2011’s Arkham City video game explored this idea too, thanks to Hugo Strange’s machinations where Batman was trapped on the island with his greatest foes. And let’s not forget Tom Hardy’s Bane basically did the same thing in 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises, cutting Gotham off from the rest of the world and holding it hostage.
As The Batman ends, Batman and Zoe Kravitz’s Catwoman go their separate ways (for now). Her Selina Kyle has satisfied her arc for this film by confronting her biological father, Carmine Falcone, and trying to kill him at least (but the Riddler finishes the job), and so she’s heading to the DC Comics city of Bludhaven when we last see her. As the Bat and the Cat part ways, Batman is left to figure out how to help his city and give them hope after the havoc Riddler just wrought on it.
Is There a Post Credit Scene in The Batman?
While there’s no actual end credits scene in The Batman, there is technically something to stick around for, though your mileage may vary. The Riddler’s website URL, which has been used in the marketing of the film, pops up onscreen at the very end of the credits (in Riddler green of course): www.rataalada.com
Maybe there’s something more hidden there, but without a high-tech Bat-computer to analyze it, that’s all we got. Obviously Riddler is still alive but locked up in Arkham, but maybe now that the movie is out that website will start to tease more information about this Bat-universe’s world…
The Batman (2022) Easter Eggs
As for Easter Eggs in The Batman, here’s what we found:
Wayne Tower is located on Kane Street… as in Bob Kane, co-creator of Batman.
Batman and Robin famously accessed their secret Batcave entrance with a Shakespeare statue in the iconic 1960s series, and there was a Shakespeare statue in plain view in this version of Bruce’s home at Wayne Tower. No confirmation, though, on whether or not there’s a button hidden inside of it.
If it was weird to see Dory (Sandra Dickinson), the older woman in the Wayne household, answer the phone instead of Alfred, it may be because it's been done before too. Remember Aunt Harriet from the '60s show? When Bruce and Dick were always giving her super sketchy explanations of how they spent their time? We don’t know that the character in The Batman was a nod to Aunt Harriet but we hope Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne has some good excuses chambered and ready to go in case she asks.
There’s a big reference to the Hush storyline from the comics, as a newspaper refers to a reporter who was murdered to cover up the whole Thomas Wayne/Falcone connection. The reporter’s name was Edward Elliot, which could possibly make him Tommy Elliot’s father -- Tommy in the comics was Hush!
There’s also a teeny-tiny callout that could be a reference to the Court of Owls from the comics. There’s an owl on one of the notes Riddler leaves behind. If Riddler is so clued into the buried secrets of Gotham’s elite, chances are good he’s aware of the Owls. Are they secretly working in shadows even deeper and darker than anything this Batman has lurked in at this point?
Catwoman gives Carmine Falcone a nasty scratch to remember her by (until he gets murdered, anyway). That scratch is a reference to the scar Falcone has in the comics. Also a gift from Catwoman, the comics scar first appeared in Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s Batman: Year One, and again in Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s Batman: The Long Halloween.
Is Batman a Venom junkie? As mentioned earlier, near the end of the film when the fighting is going nuts, Batman takes a bunch of gunfire to his body armor and almost goes down, but before he does he injects himself with a bright, glowing green substance he pulled out of his utility belt. Could it be Venom, the compound known for turning Bane into a hulked-out badass? Or just DayGlo adrenaline?
More on The Batman
- The Long Road to Perfecting Batman in Video Games
- Catwoman's Evolution From Villain to Batman's Greatest Love
- Ranking the Movie Bat-Suits
- How to Watch The Batman and Everything We Know About the Film
- A History of Corruption in Gotham City
- Ranking the Greatest Movie Bat-Gadgets of All Time
- Every Time Batman's Parents Have Died On Screen
- The Quest for the Perfect Batman Actor
- The Batman Review
Bludhaven, where Catwoman says she’s likely headed, is supposed to be pretty close to Gotham in the comics -- in terms of both its geography as well as its crime problem. Nightwing, a.k.a. Dick Grayson, a.k.a. Grown-Up Robin, makes Bludhaven his base of operations at one point in the comics (and one of the usernames that pops up in the Riddler’s online chat is “Bloodhaven the band”).
Speaking of Robins, Jay Lycurgo, who plays Tim Drake in HBO Max’s Titans, gets a front-row seat to watching Batman beat on his fellow clown-faced gang members early in the movie.
There’s also a reference to the Safdie brothers’ film Good Time, which also starred Robert Pattinson. Matt Reeves credits Good Time as the movie that made him think of the actor as Bruce Wayne.
Faclone makes a Zorro reference after Batman apprehends him. Of course, Zorro was one of the influences on Bob Kane when he co-created Batman. And in some versions of Batman’s origin story, the Waynes went to the movies to see The Mark of Zorro the night they were killed.
Martha Wayne being an Arkham goes back to the Earth One graphic novels. It’s one of the main twists of Batman’s origin in that universe.
So what did you think of The Batman and how it ended? Do you wish there were actual post credits scenes? Let’s discuss in the comments!
Continue reading...