Cast This: The Riddler

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

It's been nearly seven years since the last standalone Batman film, Christopher Nolan's THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, but the Caped Crusader will soon be taking center stage once again as Matt Reeves (WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES) is set to write and direct THE BATMAN, which he has teased will finally do justice to the character's description as the World's Greatest Detective.

It's very much a point of view-driven, noir Batman tale. It's told very squarely on his shoulders, and I hope it's going to be a story that will be thrilling but also emotional. It's more Batman in his detective mode than we've seen in the films. The comics have a history of that. He's supposed to be the world's greatest detective, and that's not necessarily been a part of what the movies have been. I'd love this to be one where when we go on that journey of tracking down the criminals and trying to solve a crime, it's going to allow his character to have an arc so that he can go through a transformation.

Naturally, if you're going to show off your detective skills, you need a worthy foe to go up against, and Matt Reeves has said that there will be a Rogues Gallery in THE BATMAN, implying that Bruce Wayne may find himself going up against several villains. There were rumours that Penguin would be one of those villains, but the villain who I'm the most anxious to see make his big-screen return is The Riddler.

The Riddler is a criminal mastermind in Gotham City who leaves various puzzles and riddles behind as clues at the scenes of his crimes. Like many of Batman's villains, The Riddler, aka Edward Nygma, doesn't possess any superhuman abilities beyond an incredible intelligence which at times can rival Batman's own. He's also quite adept at engineering complicated death-traps and weapons.

The last time The Riddler graced the silver screen was in Joel Schumacher's BATMAN FOREVER where he was portrayed by Jim Carrey, who naturally gave the character an over-the-top comedic personality. It fit with the style of the film at the time, but I would imagine that Matt Reeves would go in a very different direction. There were rumblings that Warner Bros. wanted Christopher Nolan to include Riddler as the main antagonist in THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (with Leonardo DiCaprio suggested to play the role), but Nolan went with Bane (Tom Hardy) instead. By the time THE BATMAN hits theaters on June 25, 2021, it will have been have over twenty-five years since The Riddler's last big-screen appearance. Definitely time for a return. Now, which actor would be the best pick to play the man in the green-suit? I'll toss out a few suggestions to get you started. Eddie Redmayne (FANTASTIC BEASTS:THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD) has the sort of quiet intelligence which I believe would be a good fit for the Riddler, plus, I'd love to see him go full villain and redeem his JUPITER ASCENDING performance. Sam Rockwell (JOJO RABBIT) is one of my all-time favourite actors, and considering that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has already squandered him, Warner Bros. should scoop him up and give us the Riddler we all deserve. I was tempted to use Andy Serkis for my final suggestion, who Matt Reeves is certainly familiar with after both DAWN FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES and WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES, but I've already suggested him for the role of the Penguin in a previous installment of Cast This. So I'll go with another actor who Matt Reeves already has some experience with, Woody Harrelson (VENOM).

Remember, you're free to suggest anyone in the comments, so let your inner casting director run wild!

Previously on Cast This, you were asked to fill the role of Solid Snake from Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear video-game series. A feature film adapation has been in development for some time and is currently in the hands of Jordan Vogt-Roberts (KONG: SKULL ISLAND) and you had plenty of great suggestions for the leading role, including Karl Urban (STAR TREK BEYOND), Henry Golding (CRAZY RICH ASIANS), and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Game of Thrones).