The Batman Villain Paul Dano Reveals He Was More of an X-Men Kid

The Batman arrived in theaters this past weekend, bringing to life a record-breaking and surprising new take on the mythos of DC Comics. The Matt Reeves-helmed saga pays tribute to the source material in some pretty compelling ways, and the cast has cited their pretty specific knowledge of the comics to match. Among them is Paul Dano, who portrays Edward Nashton / The Riddler in the film, and who has gone viral for expressing his love for certain elements of Batman. During a recent appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, Dano spoke about his experience with comics — and revealed that, as a kid, he was actually much more of a fan of Marvel’s X-Men.

“It’s the best bit of homework,” Dano said of reading comics. “And my character has a particular fascination with the Batman in the film, so I just devoured Batman comics the whole time we were shooting. It was just a way to sort of keep it in my system. But yeah, going back to being a kid, I used to collect some comics. I was — I was more of an X-Men kid, but now I’m a Batman superfan. Really, I am. I love it.”

“I have to say that being a part of that culture, it’s not something I anticipated liking,” Dano continued. “I feel like I’m kind of a shy person. But I love the Batman fans, and I’ve loved sharing this film with them, including the comic-book world. That’s been really fun.”

While Marvel’s merry mutants are still a ways away from heading back to the big screen, Dano’s tenure as The Riddler has been earning a lot of attention from fans. As the actor revealed to ComicBook.com at the film’s red carpet premiere, he had a unique approach to the ordeal.

“Rob [Pattinson] and that suit and the image of Batman had a special place on my wall for most of that shoot,” Dano revealed. “Bruce Wayne a very different feeling. So from my point of view, pretty, pretty big difference.”

“Well, Matt Reeves and I initially spoke about hero and villain and the two sides of trauma,” Dano echoed. “Because Batman is born of trauma from his parents death and he’s still wrestling with that, especially in this film, I think. And so maybe as The Riddler in this film, so that’s the kind of core emotional seed from which everything else grows and I think that’s how you can find your way in. Then, unfortunately, it goes where it goes.”

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