Image via DC Comics
1.
The Batman debuted in theaters on March 4. It is a dark film–not only thematically, but visually as well. Everything is covered in shadow and darkness, and when you see color, it’s washed out and fleeting.
The visual style is a tribute to classic film noir: that hardboiled genre with long shadows, furtive glances, and gritty dialogue about lowlife gangsters and their untrustworthy dames. In this movie, Batman is less a classic action hero and more a brooding detective, who blurs the line between what makes a good cop and what makes a bad one. This is a young Batman who doesn’t yet have his moral compass–just an instinctual desire to “clean up the streets” and do more good than harm. He may not always do good. He may occasionally do harm. But he’s trying to be better, which makes him compelling.
Here are 17 references and Easter eggs you might have missed in The Batman, plus the end credits scene. Let us know in the comments if we missed any major ones.
2.Comic influences
Director Matt Reeves took inspiration from several famous Batman comic storylines. Batman: Year One (1987), written by comic legend Frank Miller, charts Batman’s first year as the Caped Crusader and establishes his allyship with James Gordon. The Long Halloween (1996-1997) pits Batman, Gordon, and Harvey Dent against Carmine Falcone and the mysterious Holiday serial killer. Ego: A Psychotic Slide into the Heart of Darkness (2000) is a more personal character study that pits the Batman and Bruce Wayne personas against one another in a debate of morality and purpose.
3.Nirvana
One of the recurring songs in The Batman, especially during the sad scenes, is “Something in the Way” by ‘90s grunge band Nirvana. It’s the last official track on their second album, Nevermind.
4.
The movie opens with Riddler spying on the mayor’s family with a pair of binoculars. It recalls Hitchcock’s 1954 voyeuristic thriller Rear Window, as well as the Buffalo Bill stalking scenes in The Silence of the Lambs (1991).
5."Ave Maria"
Many of the Riddler scenes are juxtaposed to Franz Schubert’s 1825 song “Ave Maria,” which translates from Latin to “Hail Mary.” It illustrates the character’s contradictions; the Riddler is committing terrible acts, but he sees them as cleansing Gotham City of its hypocrisy and moral rot.
6."I am Vengeance."
Batman delivers one of his most iconic lines in this movie, and in a cruel irony, it is later repeated back to him by one of his adversaries. It was made most famous in Batman: The Animated Series (1992), where the full line is, ““I am vengeance, I am the night, I am Batman!”
It shows that Batman is still in the early stages of his crime-fighting career; he is motivated by his darker impulses over justice or righteousness.
7.
It’s become a running joke in the comics that Batman has a tendency to sneak up on allies when he makes his entrance, and then ghost them while they’re in the middle of talking to him. True to form, Batman does this several times throughout the film to both Gordon and Catwoman.
8.
Penguin’s club, The Iceberg Lounge, is his hangout spot in nearly every movie, TV show, comic, and video game. In The Batman, it’s a seedy nightclub with depraved, red lighting.
9.Flaming Batmobile
The new Batmobile has flames coming out the back of it. Nearly every Batmobile has this quirk, beginning with the Batmobile in the 1966 Adam West television series.
10.
While being arrested, Falcone makes reference to Oswald Cobblepot’s “gimp” leg, which gives him the trademark “waddle” that the crime lord is known for. Most recently on the TV show Gotham (2014), actor Robin Lord Taylor placed a particular emphasis upon his limp while portraying a younger version of Oswald Cobblepot.
11.
In all iterations, Batman has a strict no-kill/no-guns policy, which he reiterates to Gordon while they’re on a stakeout together. Gordon quips back, while pointing his gun, “Yeah man. That’s your thing.”
12.Nighthawks
This shot, of the police moving in to arrest The Riddler, is a homage to the 1942 oil painting Nighthawks by Edward Hopper.
13.
Batman will eventually claim the mantle “World’s Greatest Detective,” but he’s not there yet. He is unsuccessful at preventing most of the Riddler’s crimes, often figuring out the solution after it’s already too late. It’s important to remember that this is a young Batman, who is still developing his moral code and crime-solving skills. When he prevents the mass killing at the very end of the film, it awakens his inner responsibility to protect people over settling personal issues.
14.Gotham Square Garden
The end battle occurs in the rafters of Gotham Square Garden, a clear reference to New York City’s Madison Square Garden. In the comics, New York City was the inspiration for Gotham City, similar to how Chicago was the inspiration for Superman’s Metropolis.
15.
At the end of the movie, right when Batman seems like he’s too hurt and tired to continue, he activates a green vial on his costume, which gives him a final boost of adrenaline. Some viewers have taken this as a reference to Venom, the chemical compound that gives Bane his super-strength and enhances his feelings of aggression. If Reeves makes another Batman film, maybe he can explore this further, especially if Batman becomes dependent or addicted to taking the drug.
16.Proto-Joker
At the end of the film, while The Riddler is sitting in Arkham, he strikes up a conversation with the man in the cell next to him. The man has a high-pitched cackle, and he tells Riddler, “One day, you’re on top. The next? You’re a clown.”
This is an early version of the Joker played by Barry Kheogan, although Reeves has said that there’s no guarantee that Joker will appear in a future film.
17.Maybe Bludhaven?
At the end of the movie, Selina says she might go to Bludhaven. In the comics, Bludhaven is a city in New Jersey that’s the home base for Nightwing (Dick Grayson, the first Robin). It was later destroyed in a nuclear explosion.
18.
After the end credits roll, we see a green Riddle question mark followed by a web address: www.rataalada.com. If you go to the site you get a cypher coded message, plus a percentage meter that’s slowly counting up.
According to the sleuths on Reddit, the coded message reads: “You think I’m finished, but perhaps you don’t know the full truth. Every ending is a new beginning. Something is coming.”