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The Batmanhas finally hit theaters after being five eld in the making , and Matt Reeves and Robert Pattinson ’s first endeavor with this rendition of the Dark Knight has allow Gotham City in dire pass . The time to come and soul of the city are unsealed , with the brooding superhero himself getting introspective about how the Batman is going to have to evolve for the rice beer of the city , as well as the villainous power grabs that will be sure to pursue .
The ending of the movie is open - ended in this regard , but there are some solid picks from the DC superhero ’s vast catalog of comical book of account mythos for where the inevitable subsequence could take fans . On top of the potential storylines themselves , the reference on the horizon for Reeves ' blossoming Bat - poesy could be clues as well .
No Man’s Land
Though it will in all likelihood do as the foundation for the continuation toThe Batman , it was also a partial influencefor its third act . The aforementioned culmination soliloquy from Bruce Wayne ’s journal is a yarn over a Gotham City in tatters , flood , and dismantled beyond belief . The odyssey - level chronicle arcNo Man ’s Landused a similar plot of land twist for its assumption , with the urban center reeling from the aftermath of a devastating seism .
As a solvent , the United States federal government deem the leveled metropolis a quarantined " no human race ’s land " geographical zone . Only Batman , Gordon , and the extended Bat - family are unforced to aid and , naturally , several of Batman ’s colored rapscallion ' gallery members come out of the carpentry to carve out territory from this outlaw urban hobo camp . With Reeves ' Gotham now effectively under warriorlike law , this seems like the potential landscape for this world in the sequel . Given the spectacular camera pan to Colin Farrell ’s Penguin leave out the destruction – and his greenlit HBO Max TV show – this seems like an inevitability .
Hush
It was surely one of the most fun Easter ballock for longtime fan of the superhero , butThe Batman ’s reference to the supervillain Hush – and the comic book spark of the same name by extension – could end up meaning much more than that . The villain ’s alter ego , Thomas Elliot , was the main opposer for theiconic 2000s Batman story arcHush , and was a childhood friend of Bruce leading a string of cryptic killings in the present tense .
It was n’t merely a targeted attempt against Batman , but the fling suggested to the World ’s Greatest Detective that this was a bloody vendetta against Wayne specifically . In the motion picture , the Riddler reveals that a crooked journalist on Salvatore Maroni ’s payroll named Edward Elliot tried to display Thomas and Martha Wayne ’s secret of the latter wrestle with genial illness in Arkham State Hospital . While Carmine Falcone had Elliot murdered , working Tommy into the sequel as his vindictive son reads like a potent premise for Hush ’s integration into the franchise .
Heart Of Ice (Batman: The Animated Series)
Matt Reeves’sThe Batmanis in an elaborate way grounded and realistic ( or as much as a superhero can be ) , but he ’s toldColliderthat he ’d be concerned in tackling a grounded rendition of the iconic Mr. Freeze too . Though it is n’t a comic Scripture , the " Heart of Ice " episode ofBatman : The Animated Seriesis quintessential character reference material for when it comes to telling a great report involving Mr. Freeze in a major capacity .
The ' 90s cartoon was critically herald for how it strike an prodigious balance of dewy-eyed resource and realistic , darker themes in Batman ’s world , and it ’s also what reclaimed Mr. Freeze as a compelling supervillain . It told a new origin for Victor Fries in a sympathetic twinkle , as though his present methods are reprehensible , he ’s also the intersection of corporate depravity . pick aside and analyzing themes like these are baked into Reeves ' Batman universe , making this an excellent inspiration for a lively - action mechanism Mr. Freeze .
The Killing Joke
As far stories with the Joker as a major build go , The Killing Jokeby Alan Moore and Brian Bolland is arguablythe most influential Batman comicever . It was the fundament for both Christopher Nolan’sThe Dark Knightand Todd Phillips’Joker , serving as a roadmap for how to compose a new live - action rendition of the notorious Clown Prince of Crime . Though he was n’t the antagonist forThe Batman , once the Riddler was in conclusion dig , it was revealed that Barry Keoghan was portraying this population ’s looping of the Joker .
Reeves has said in an consultation withVarietythat this was n’t a guaranty that the scoundrel would asterisk in the sequel , but he could at least be in the lineup . In the same consultation , Reeves also reveal that this version was born with a innate disease throw him a perpetual grimace akin to the 1928 silent movieThe Man Who Laughs– from which the villain was initially inspired by– and already has an established history with the World ’s Greatest Detective himself . Should he feature in a sequel , the chronology ofThe Killing Jokecould be a pattern for the dynamic between his take on Batman and Joker .
The War Of Jokes And Riddles
Writer Tom King’sBatmanrunduring DC’sRebirthera was a motley bag , butThe War of Jokes and Riddlesarc was one of the high tip . After hearing Selina Kyle ’s response to his union proposition , Bruce Wayne separate a cautionary flashback tale during his second year of donning the cape and cowl .
The fib is centered around the Joker and the Riddler amassing their USA in a gruesome street war over who has the right to wreak down the Dark Knight once and for all . After rooter have seen the Joker manipulate Nashton from between their electric cell in Arkham State Hospital and the sequel seemingly crawling towards aNo Man ’s Land - like circumstance , it would n’t be farfetched to see the two gaolbreak out , finally have a falling out , and be let at large under Gotham ’s martial law decree .
Zero Year
Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo ’s political campaign onBatmanduringThe New 52days of DC Comics were one of the most consistently well - written footrace on the part . And on top of being one of thebest Batman comic book arcs of the last tenner , it similarly inspired elements ofThe Batman ’s climax . The floor arc is a rebooted origin news report for the Dark Knight that pits the Riddler as one of his first major threats , where the first half goal in the baddie flooding Gotham City and facing a perpetual brownout .
It ’s what helps Riddler force the urban center to control under his unique brand of martial law . While Edward Nashton is thwarted ( mostly ) by the ending of the flick , his fit with Barry Keoghan ’s Joker suggests this might not be the last time fans see more of Paul Dano ’s take on the cryptic supervillain . A sequel could meld elements ofNo Man ’s Landwith a small - scale revival of the Riddler after an Arkham breakout .
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