![]() Riddler and John Doe both had a ticking clock for their exploits. ![]() The Timetables and Methods Jim Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) investigates one of Riddler's crime scenes in 'The Batman' One, Riddler, just happened to actually be lashing out at actual, more tangible corruption while the other was a religious zealot, killing and maiming those he believed to have done such grievous wrongs that they deserved to die. In both cases, these killers were out to expose what they perceived as corruption and perversion. You might even argue that, until the final, nihilistic and ghastly step of Nashton’s plan - the flooding of Gotham and the rifle assault on its citizens - Riddler had more successfully targeted those truly pulling the strings in the criminal underworld in a few days than Batman had in a couple of years. John Doe targeted those he felt were “guilty” and a blight on humanity (they were, in some manner, indulging in one of the seven deadly sins Doe was shining a spotlight on), while Nashton was actually going after true-to-life criminals, even if they’d hidden their crimes from the public up until now. He too sought fame for his work, though he was also more than happy to eventually admit to that. And while he didn’t take extra steps to fall off the grid like John Doe, he used his underdog status and “nobody”ness to his advantage, allowing him to strike out against Gotham’s corruption and remain undetected. In Seven, John Doe was a nobody who sought glory through his “work.” Though he also purposefully designed himself to be anonymous – cutting off his fingerprints and changing his name to John Doe – Kevin Spacey’s maniac was called out on his BS by Detectives Mills ( Brad Pitt) and Somerset ( Morgan Freeman) for taking pleasure in his wickedness and also wanting to achieve a specific type of notoriety for his deadly deeds.Įdward Nashton, AKA Riddler, felt invisible and neglected his whole life. Here’s one last Spoiler Warning for you if you haven’t seen The Batman! Feeling Invisible Paul Dano in 'The Batman' Here’s a look at some of the key ways 1995’s Seven provided the brutal background radiation for The Batman, giving us a wretched Riddler and a nerve-shattering “bat and mouse” game of hero and villain. In fact, there are several aspects of The Batman that seemed to pull from the creepiest and ickiest parts of Seven, which is why the film plays as horrifically as it does during key moments. But the villain Riddler embodies the most is “ John Doe” from David Fincher’s Seven (or Se7en if you’re so inclined to write it that way). Riddler, played by Paul Dano in the film, also feels like an effective amalgam of other notorious evil-doers – from the real life Zodiac Killer (someone Reeves has noted was an influence) to the fictional Jigsaw from the Saw horror franchise. Reeves pulled from many different sources of inspiration for The Batman, from his love of film noir to iconic Batman comic stories like Year One and The Long Halloween, delivering unto us a big screen Bats who’s the most detective-driven live-action version of the character yet. Warning: FULL SPOILERS for The Batman (and Seven) follow…ĭirector Matt Reeves’ dark and captivating take on Batman has become a massive hit, giving us an intensely obsessed version of the Caped Crusader, one who has very little interest at all in existing as Bruce Wayne.
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