Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” was quite the experience. A 3-hour long epic through the eyes of one of comic books’ most iconic heroes. One thing that we loved about this fresh new noir take on the Batman universe was its grounded approach to characters like the Riddler and Penguin. Don’t get us wrong, Jim Carrey and Danny DeVito gave entertaining performances. Though, it came at the expense of the essence of Gotham’s black soul. Here, though, we get to see the city in all its filthy, crime-infested glory. As much as the Bat tries to lift it from the muck and mire, the evil in the streets never seem to sleep. Which is exactly what we saw at the end of the film.
In spite of the Dark Knight’s victory, the war is far from over. New players are about to enter the battlefield and old enemies may yet haunt the Bat. Oh, and in case any of you were wondering, no there isn’t any post-credits scene to be found within “The Batman”. With that out of the way, here’s a breakdown of everything you need to know about the ending of “The Batman” and the future films to come! It goes without saying: spoilers ahead.
Gotham Divided
To say that Batman pulled out a flawless win against the serial-killer/terrorist the Riddler is kind of a stretch. Ultimately, the Riddler did manage to destroy a good part of Gotham by blowing up the seawalls surrounding the city. Sure the Riddler is behind bars and his followers failed to commit a mass shooting within the stadium housing flood victims but Gotham is still worse for wear. That being said, there is a newfound respect for the Batman as we see him helping victims of the flood and even comforting them in their darkest hours. Bruce has learned a valuable lesson, he has to become more than just a symbol of fear. He must be their hope.
The war to save Gotham is now more desperate than ever. In light of the horrific flooding that has left many areas of Gotham cut off from law enforcement, Batman predicts crime will only skyrocket from there. He also states that this power vacuum left in the wake of crimelord Carmine Falcone’s death will lead to new players in Gotham’s underworld. We then see Penguin looking over a flooded city. The scene seems to imply that the sequel will see Batman dealing with new mob bosses rising up to fill Falcone’s shoes. One thing we know for sure is that Penguin will be using this opportunity to seize power. Could we also be seeing other crimelords like Black Mask and Two-Face battling for Gotham as well? We’ll just have to wait and see.
The Riddler Teaming Up with the Joker?
With Batman managing to save Gotham’s Mayor, Bella Real and his plan foiled, the Riddler is seen wailing and weeping in Arkham Asylum. He laments how it all could have been so perfect but then we hear a voice from another cell talking to him. He tells the Riddler to cheer up and he should be proud of what he’s done. The Riddler eventually asks the prisoner for his identity, only to be meet with a riddle: the less you have of it, the more valuable it becomes. The Riddler responds with the answer “friend” before the prisoner proceeds to laugh his head off in his cell. Soon, the Riddler joins him in cackling too.
The scene seems to be strongly implying that the unseen Arkham prisoner to be none other than the Joker himself. Based on the credits, we can confirm that the voice of the unseen prisoner is that of actor Barry Keoghan’s, who played Druig in Marvel’s “The Eternals”. Interestingly enough, Keoghan’s brother stated in a deleted tweet that Barry Keoghan would be playing the Joker in Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” film. This all could be a massive misdirection with Reeves but until proven otherwise, Barry Keoghan is essentially the Joker of Reeves’ new Batman universe.
Catwoman and Bludhaven
The final scenes in the film sees Catwoman and Batman parting ways. She tells him that the both of them could run away together and move to the city of Bludhaven. She then deduces that he’ll never leave Gotham behind and that his heart will always belong to the city. The both of them ride off together but finally going in different directions. The end. Well, we were certainly hoping that Selina Kyle would stick around to help Batman clean Gotham but we’re pretty sure this isn’t the last we’ll see of her. What’s even more interesting is her mention of the city of Bludhaven.
In the comics, Batman’s first Robin, Dick Grayson moves out of Gotham to patrol a city of his own. He moves into Bludhaven and becomes its protector and saviour, Nightwing. The idea of Nightwing appearing in Matt Reeves’ Batman universe anytime soon is definitely a pipe dream. However, we could see Bruce adopt a new orphan boy in the sequel, one possibly named Dick Grayson. Perhaps, one whose parents died in Gotham’s flooding. Anything’s possible right?
Who Killed the Waynes?
When all is said and done, there’s one nagging, lingering question we still have: Who killed Thomas and Martha Wayne?! Seriously Matt, you’re killing us here. Far from the idyllic couple seen in so many versions of Bruce Wayne’s cinematic origin story, Thomas and Martha had skeletons in their closets here. The biggest one being Thomas’ request of a favour from crimelord Carmine Falcone to deal with a nosy reporter who threatened to expose Martha’s previous mental health issues. Unfortunately, he didn’t know that Carmine would have the reporter murdered in cold blood.
The night Thomas decided to report himself in to the authorities, both him and his wife were shot dead. So it’s settled then, Carmine Falcone hired someone to kill Waynes, right? Well, not exactly. Before Falcone rose to power, he answered to his previous boss, Salvatore Maroni who also wanted the Waynes killed because of their close relationship to Carmine. An alliance between Falcone’s muscle and the Waynes’ money would be able to challenge his power in Gotham, so he had them killed…according to Carmine’s account. Then there’s Alfred’s theory that it could have been just some random mugger who shot them in an alleyway. Reeves’ deliberate decision to leave this question open is a brilliant one! Perhaps we’ll get our answer to the question in Reeves’ next film.
Be sure to check out our review of “The Batman” and to catch the film in theatres this March!
