The Batman Easter Eggs (SPOILERS)

Many comic book fans would agree that Marvel seems to have found the winning formula for bringing their characters to the big screen while DC has taken a different, perhaps more adventurous approach, albeit one that’s produced mixed results. One thing is for sure though, if you bring Batman to the big screen fans will follow. With the release of Matt Reeve’s The Batman this weekend, fans flocked to theaters to see what the Caped Crusader would be up to this time. So far, the reaction has been almost universally positive, with most fans in our recent “What Did You Think of The Batman” article saying it ranks with the best of the Bat-franchise. Director Matt Reeves obviously has a rich appreciating of Batman’s comic lore, and he stuffed the film to the brim with all sorts of references to Batman’s past. Let’s find out what Batman Easter Eggs we spotted.

Warning! There will be spoilers. You have been warned!!!

T​he Long Halloween

T​he film opens on Halloween night. In it, we see that Gotham is out celebrating the holiday, and kids are dressed up ready to get candy. The story begins the film with the murder of Gotham Mayor Don Mitchell Jr. This brings back memories of the classic Batman story The Long Halloween. In the story, a mysterious killer starts on Halloween and then kills another Falcone mob family member on each major holiday thereafter. For a time it’s thought that The Riddler could be the culprit until he is confronted by the Holiday Killer but is left alive. The holiday? April Fools of course.

S​al Maroni

M​ayor Mitchell seems proud of the fact that mobster Sal Maroni was brought down during his tenure. He has a framed newspaper with the headline on his wall. Throughout the film, Sal Maroni is name-dropped a lot as a major player in the drug game in Gotham before he was taken down. In Batman lore, Maroni has been around since 1942 and is famous for creating another villain. What he is most known for is being the gangster that threw acid into the face of Harvey Dent causing him to have a psychotic break. This would cause him to create a split personality and become the Batman foe Two-Face.

S​hakespeare Bust

D​uring a scene at the penthouse in Wayne tower we see Alfred reading a newspaper while having his breakfast. On a shelf nearby is a bust of the classic playwright William Shakespeare. Longtime fans will get this Batman Easter Egg right away. In the 1966 Batman TV show, a bust of Shakespeare would be the key to opening the entrance to the Batcave. Adam West and Burt Ward would lift the head to reveal a button. One press and the bookcase would slide open revealing the Batpoles.

T​he Riddler Cards

T​hroughout the film The Riddler leaves cards for Batman. At first, we think it’s to taunt him into catching him. Later we learn that the Riddler’s twisted view believes that he and the Batman are working together, and he has left him instructions. If you pay close attention to the pictures on the cards, there’re references to other Batman villains. On the first card, there is an owl. This references The Court Of Owls. They are a secret society that has run Gotham from the shadows since it was built. We also see a bald doctor with glasses which references twisted evil psychologist Hugo Strange, a floral design with a redheaded woman is a nod to Poison Ivy, and a ventriloquist’s dummy represents a mobster that uses a wooden dummy named Scarface. Could this be Batman Easter Eggs of what is to come for this new Dark Knight?

H​ush!

D​uring one of the videos that The Riddler releases online he pays out the corruption that has plagued Gotham over the years. Here we learn that Thomas Wayne, who was running for mayor at the time, had asked Carmine Falcone to lean on a reporter that was digging up dirt on Martha Wayne. The mob boss went ahead and had the reporter killed. The reporter’s name was Edward Elliott. After this the word HUSH! flashes across the screen. In the comics, Bruce Wayne’s boyhood friend Tommy Elliott would become a villain named Hush. He was jealous of Bruce and his family and set out to destroy their legacy. His father though was a doctor and not a reporter.

M​artha Arkham

D​uring the same video we learn that Bruce’s mom had the maiden name of Arkham. In most Batman continuity she was actually Martha Kane. In the series Batman Earth One by Geoff Johns he changed Martha’s heritage. The film takes a lot from the Earth One series like The Riddler’s name Edward Nashton, Alfred’s past as Thomas Wayne’s head of security, and The Riddler being more of a Batman-obsessed serial killer than a riddle loving thief. We see here that Martha spent time in an asylum. This might explain her son’s obsession with dressing up like a bat and going out to roam the streets at night.

Z​orro

I​n the film we see Jim Gordon having an alliance with Batman to help clean up Gotham. As the only cop on the force that Batman can trust, they often get flack from the rest of the police force. When Gordon brings him to one of the crime scenes one of the cops asks what he and Zorro are up to. This is a nod to Batman’s origin. When his parents were killed they had just left the theater after seeing the 1940 film The Mask Of Zorro.

Z​ero Year

T​owards the end of the film we learn that The Riddler’s ultimate plan wasn’t to just kill the corrupt officials in Gotham but to flood the city itself. He plants bombs along the city’s seawalls and when they explode the city is devastated by the floodwaters. While it is a great final act of the film, it’s actually from a Batman comic. In the Scott Snyder written story arc Zero Year, we see the Riddler flood the city in the same way. Batman is still early on in his career in the flashback story and has to rely on using different means to get around the flooded city.

F​alcone Claw Marks

O​ne of the central figures in the film is Carmine Falcone. He’s a mob boss that has taken control of Gotham by installing friends in all the higher offices in the city. They claim he’s actually been the mayor for the last twenty years by running things behind the scenes. There is the belief that he is actually Selena Kyle’s father which was taken straight out of the comics.

For a while, it’s left vague if he actually was or not, but they finally confirmed it a few years ago. He has had three slashes on the side of his face for a long period after an altercation with Kyle’s alter ego Catwoman. She clawed the side of his face and left the gnarly-looking scars. In this film we see the moment this happens as he is choking her during their final confrontation. She reaches up and scratches the side of his face leaving three long scratch marks on his cheek. A small but very identifiable Batman Easter Egg for comic readers.

B​ludhaven

S​elena decides to leave Gotham at the end of the film, ending any sort of budding romance with Batman behind. He asks where she plans on going. She states that Bludhaven might be her next destination. This seems to be a popular spot after leaving Batman behind. The first character to carry the Robin moniker Dick Grayson relocated to Bludhaven after he split from his partnership with Batman. He dropped the Robin name and took up the alter ego of Nightwing. Bludhaven became his home turf, and he even became a police officer for a time, so he could fight crime on two fronts.

W​hat Batman Easter Eggs did you find? Let us know in the comments below.