The Batman ending concludes the first story with Matt Reeves and Robert Pattinson Batman’s entire new universe, but the Dark Knight’s journey is far from over. The long-awaited film introduced the new Bruce Wayne / The Batman on the big screen after it was originally set as an episode of The Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and Ben Affleck’s Justice League. Things changed in 2017, and The Batman became the origin of a new, different, but still new universe.
Seemingly set for the modern-day, The Batman follows Bruce Wayne in his second year of fighting crime as the Caped Crusader of Gotham City. With Alfred Pennyworth as his mentor and colleague, The Batman tries to solve the mystery of The Riddler’s murder and find out how it all relates to his parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne.
Indeed, as he is new to the job and has never dealt with criminals like Riddler, Penguin, and Falcone before, Batman is a little out of his depth. He is still learning, and everything that has happened has changed him forever.
The Batman: Movie Synopsis
On Halloween, Gotham City mayor Don Mitchell Jr. was killed by a murderous killer who calls himself Riddler. Billionaire Bruce Wayne, who has worked for two years as security guard Batman, is investigating with the Gotham City Police Department (GCPD). Lieutenant James Gordon finds out that Riddler had left Batman a message, but commissioner Pete Savage criticizes him for allowing a security guard to enter the scene and forcing Batman to leave. Riddler kills Savage and leaves another message for Batman.
The Batman and Gordon found out that Riddler had left a thumbs up in Mitchell’s car; which contains photos of Mitchell and a woman, Annika, at the Iceberg Lounge, a nightclub run by mobster Carmine Falcone’s lieutenant penguin. Batman asks Penguin, who admits he doesn’t know me but realizes that Selina Kyle, who lives with his girlfriend Annika, works there as a waitress.
He follows Selina to ask Annika, but she disappears. Batman sends Selina back to the Iceberg Lounge to search for answers. Through Selina, Batman discovers that Savage was paying Falcone, as well as regional attorney Gil Colson. Selina closes the connection when Batman pressures her about her relationship with Falcone.
Riddler kidnaps Colson, puts a timely bomb around his neck, and sends him to disrupt Mitchell’s funeral. When Batman arrives at the scene, Riddler calls him on Colson’s phone and threatens to detonate a bomb if Colson can’t answer three riddles. Batman helps Colson answer the first two, but Colson refuses to answer the third — a whistleblower who provided the GCPD with information that led to the historic drug-induced drug paralysis that ended Sal Maroni’s surgery — and he dies.
The Batman and Gordon found out that the report might have been Penguin and tracked him down in the drug business. They found that Maroni’s performance had not really ended and that many GCPD officials were involved. Selina unknowingly exposes them when she arrives to steal money. As the Penguin flees, Selina finds Annika’s body in the trunk of a car. Batman snaps a Penguin after chasing him in a Batmobile but discovers that he was not telling him.
Batman and Gordon follow in Riddler’s footsteps to the ruins of Bruce Thomas and Martha’s parents’ home. They found out that Riddler is a resident of an orphanage and is angry with the Wayne family. Bomb and Bruce’s caretaker, Alfred Pennyworth, were hospitalized after they opened a bomb that had been written to Bruce.
Riddler then leaked evidence that Thomas, who had been running for mayor when he was assassinated, hired Falcone to assassinate a journalist for threatening to disclose embarrassing details about Martha’s mental illness. Bruce, who grew up believing that his father was a good man, is now facing Alfred. Alfred confirms that Thomas asked Falcone to intimidate the journalist, but decided to turn Falcone over to the police after hearing about the murder; he thinks Falcone killed Thomas and Martha to prevent this.
Selina tells Batman that Falcone is her neglectful father. She finds out that Annika was killed because Mitchell told her that Falcone was a spy, and decided to kill him. Batman and Gordon arrive at the Iceberg Lounge in time to stop and arrest Falcone, but Riddler shoots him in a nearby building. Presented as forensics financier Edward Nashton, Riddler has been detained at Arkham Regional Hospital.
Nashton says he was jealous of the compassion Bruce received after the murder of his parents while he was being ignored, and he wanted to work with Batman and become a bodyguard like the same secret. Batman angrily refused Nashton. Searching his residence, Batman discovers that Nashton has planted car bombs around Gotham and has developed an online following that plans to assassinate mayor-elect Bella Reál.
Bombs destroy breakwaters around Gotham and flood the city. A shelter was set up inside the inner courtyard, where Nashton supporters shot Reál but were stopped by Batman and Selina. Afterward, Nashton becomes friends with another prisoner, while Selina looks at Gotham in addition to saving money and leaving. Batman supports restorative efforts and vows to promote hope in Gotham.
The Real Riddler’s Plan In The Batman: Ending Explained
One of the biggest twists in The Batman is the reason for The Riddler’s assassination. He appeared to be following corrupt politicians and police, but the reason for their corruption was not disclosed until later. Batman pushes the story that Riddler is just like the Dark Knight, but instead of both being vigilant and wanting to do good, they represent two sides of the coin – orphans seeking revenge on Gotham, each doing their own kind of justice.
The definition of the Riddler program is basically linked to Thomas Wayne and his goal of rebuilding Gotham. As a child, Edward Nashton was orphaned and grew up poor, eventually becoming an accountant when he grew up. It was through his work that he discovered what was happening with Renewal, a city infrastructure reconstruction project put in place by the Wayne family.
After Thomas’ death, the program fell into disrepair, but instead of completely disbanding, Carmine Falcone took the money. The king of crime took advantage of the opportunity; he used his knowledge of his rival’s drug business to arrest Salvatore Maroni, and then used the money to establish a puppet empire in Gotham City, in support of everyone who became famous for Gotham’s massive drug abuse.
Since Renewal was intended to benefit Edward, he retaliated against people who indirectly harmed him, becoming The Riddler’s fight against injustice. His last victim would be Bruce Wayne, another orphan he thought had received undue attention following the deaths of Thomas and Martha. People quickly forgot about the Revitalization program and focused entirely on Bruce Wayne, the boy who lost his parents tragically; and all the other orphans in the city continued to suffer.
In Riddler’s eyes, Bruce was responsible for the collapse of Renewal, while Falcone and everyone else represented the domino effect. The last episode of Riddler’s retaliation was to demolish Gotham’s walls and flood the city, thus forcing a “real change” – to wash away corruption and start anew; true renewal.
Who Killed Batman’s Parents?
The murders of Thomas and Martha Wayne have always been the focus of Batman’s story, but Batman takes a different approach. The film does not focus on the fact that their deaths prompted him to become a caretaker, nor does it depict their actual death. Instead, the mystery of who killed them (and who ordered their execution) becomes a reality as Riddler’s mystery unfolds.
Generally, Joe Chill is the man who kills Bruce Wayne’s parents in comedy and in many stories, as in Batman Begins. But in The Batman, Wayne’s murder could be explained by two people: Carmine Falcone and Salvatore Maroni.
Both men were Gotham’s chief executives, but Falcone had a close relationship with Thomas Wayne. So when Thomas came to Falcone and asked him to take care of the journalist, Falcone had the journalist killed and he may have used that information to impersonate Thomas.
According to the theory, it is possible that Maroni killed Thomas Wayne (and Martha) in order to prevent Falcone from taking control of the Waynes; However, because Thomas threatened to go to the police, it is also possible that Falcone killed Bruce’s parents in order to escape prison time.
In the end, the mystery is not solved in the film, but it makes sense that Falcone killed Waynes; the fact that he devised a plan to control Gotham’s nobles after removing Maroni from the equation shows that he is a man of power and knowledge to make it work – and he is not afraid to get his hands dirty from time to time.
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