Riddle me this: What kind of villain goes around in a leather mask?
In a leaked promotional calendar (in Spanish), fans of the upcoming revamped Batman film got their hunches confirmed on the new look of the classic villain the Riddler. Yes, this master of questions, which will be portrayed by actor Paul Dano, doesn’t look anything like the versions that came before it. It’s not like the iconic one from the “Batman: The Animated Series” nor the zany one played by Jim Carrey in “Batman Forever” nor the grittier one from the “Arkham” video game franchise.
Dano’s Riddler for the upcoming Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” reboot, as the leaked calendar confirms, wears a grotesque leather mask with eyeglasses under it, which many fans say is a look inspired by the real-life serial criminal known as the Zodiac Killer. This infamous figure was active in the San Francisco Bay Area in the ‘60s and ‘70s, and was portrayed in police sketches as a masked person wearing eyeglasses.
This new Riddler look seems to indicate the different direction Reeves’ “The Batman” will take. Whatever that direction is, fans are hoping to be taken for a ride with the Dark Knight, to be played by Robert Pattinson, when the film premieres sometime in 2022.