Hot on the heels of talks between Warner Bros. and Jonah Hill for Matt Reeves’ The Batman breaking down, Paul Dano (Escape at Dannemora) has begun negotiations to step in and star as one of Batman’s most well-known foes, The Riddler.
Introduced in 1948 in the pages of Detective Comics, Edward Nygma aka The Riddler is a criminal mastermind who is obsessed with riddles, often committing crimes in the form of a riddle for Batman to solve. In modern comics, this comes from a drive to prove himself the smartest person in Gotham City and outwit Batman. His crimes have ranged from simple bank robberies to murder to holding all of Gotham City hostage. Some interpretations, such as the Batman: Arkham video games series, have seen him as a Saw-like killer creating elaborate death traps for Batman and others he deems unworthy of their intellect.
In live action, Riddler was most famously portrayed by Frank Gorshin in the 1966 Batman series and Jim Carrey in Batman Forever. He also featured heavily in the recent Fox TV series Gotham, where he was played by Cory Michael Smith.
If Dano and WB reach a deal, he will star alongside Robert Pattinson as Batman and Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman. Jeffrey Wright is also in talks to star as Commissioner Gordon.
What do you make of Paul Dano for the role of The Riddler? Are you a fan of the casting? Let us know in the comments below or on our social channels @FlickeringMyth…
