The Batman: Riddler Easter Egg Teases a Major Batman Villain

Warning: this story contains spoilers for The Batman, now playing in theaters. Riddle me this: who's the whispered about villain hiding in The Batman? Plotting a puzzle to unmask the truth about Gotham City, sadistic serial killer The Riddler (Paul Dano) targets the elite and the corrupt. When Riddler's trail of cryptic clues sends the Dark Knight detective on an investigation into the underworld, Batman (Robert Pattinson) questions his family's legacy. 20 years after a criminal murders mayoral candidate Thomas Wayne (Luke Roberts) and his wife Martha (Stella Stocker) in front of their young son, Riddler's game threatens to expose the truth about the Waynes — and Gotham.

Batman's investigation leads to the search for a "rat" — an informant — and a riddle where the answer is "URL." A rough translation of "you are the winged rat" brings up an encrypted webpage with the URL www.rataalada.com, where Riddler challenges Batman to solve riddles and unlock the next clue. 

Play the Riddler's game on the interactive website and provide three correct answers to his riddles ("confusion," "mask," and "renewal"), and you'll unlock a password-protected .zip file (password: "promise") containing a video file played in the film. In the video named Thomas_Wayne_Lies.mp4, Riddler defaces a 20-year-old Wayne campaign ad with the word "HUSH!" 

In the comics, Hush is a disguised villain working with the Riddler, mastermind of the "Hush" plot to sabotage Bruce Wayne's life in Batman: Hush. The new villain is revealed as Dr. Thomas "Tommy" Elliot, Bruce's childhood friend. In The Batman, Thomas Wayne's secret involves hush money and an investigative reporter named Edward Elliot. It's during this revelation that the word "HUSH!" appears in a quick flash across the screen. 

Reeves has had talks with Warner Bros. about returning for a sequel to The Batman, which launches a rebooted Batverse set to expand with HBO Max spinoffs Gotham PD and Penguin. 

ComicBook CRAM Presents The Batman: 

• Back Issues: Batman Becomes DC's Greatest Detective With a Vengeance
• Behind The Bat: The DC Comics That Inspired The Batman
• Back Issues: Catwoman Steals (and Becomes) the Heart of the DC Universe
• Back Issues: Penguin's Storied History With the Batman Takes Flight
  
• The Bat and the Cat: The History of Batman and Catwoman's Romance
  
• Back Issues: The Riddler's Most Puzzling Plots Solved by Batman

Starring Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Zoë Kravitz as Selina Kyle/Catwoman, Paul Dano as Edward Nashton/the Riddler, Jeffrey Wright as GCPD's James Gordon, John Turturro as Carmine Falcone, Peter Sarsgaard as Gotham D.A. Gil Colson, Jayme Lawson as mayoral candidate Bella Reál, Andy Serkis as Alfred, and Colin Farrell as Oswald "Penguin" Cobblepot, The Batman is now playing exclusively in theaters.