Paul Dano’s Edward Nashton has been positioned as a formidable foe for Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne to contend with in The Batman, even if fans can’t quite seem to agree on how they feel about the iconic villain’s stripped-back aesthetic and serial killer influences.
However, it would be incredibly jarring and ill-fitting were Matt Reeves to hew closer to the character’s comic book origins, given that the latest reboot for the Caped Crusader is set in a dark, dingy, tangible, and hugely atmospheric version of Gotham City that’s heavily rooted in reality.
This Riddler has absolutely nothing in common with Jim Carrey’s scenery-chewing whirlwind of eccentric energy we saw in Batman Forever, which is what makes the trailer edit you can see below all the more jarring.
You’ve got to admit that it’s pretty well done, even if everything about Carrey’s hammy performance is the antithesis of what Reeves and his team are aiming for. If Tommy Lee Jones refused to sanction his buffoonery in real life, then we can only imagine what Pattinson’s brooding Dark Knight would make of Joel Schumacher’s wildly over the top Edward Nygma.
