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00:00Riddle me this, riddle me that. Who's afraid of the big black pat?
00:07Welcome to WatchMojo, and in this installment of Versus, we're pitting the Batman Forever Riddler against the one in the Batman.
00:17For this video, we're looking at Jim Carrey's and Paul Dano's versions of the Riddler, and seeing which one is the cleverest interpretation.
00:26If you haven't seen the new film yet, beware of heavy spoilers.
00:31Which one do you like better? Leave your answer in the comments.
00:36Round 1. Backstory and Motivation
00:39As different as they are, both versions of the Riddler have varying ties to Bruce Wayne.
00:46In Batman Forever, we first meet Edward Nygma as a researcher at Wayne Enterprises.
00:51Mr. Oh, Bruce Wayne.
00:56No, that's my name. And you are?
00:59Nygma. Edward. Edward Nygma, you hired me personally.
01:04Nygma idolizes Bruce, and pitches to him a device that can beam television directly into a person's head.
01:11Apprehensive of the implications, however, Bruce rejects the idea, personally offending Nygma and sending him into a tailspin.
01:19You were supposed to understand.
01:27I'll make you understand.
01:30After murdering his boss Stickley, Nygma adopts the Riddler persona.
01:35In a bid to get revenge on Bruce, he starts Nygma Tech, and mass-produces his technology with what he calls the Box,
01:43which he intends to use to become both richer and smarter than Bruce.
01:47You will help me steal production capital so I can put a box on every TV in town and become Gotham's cleverest carbon-based life form!
01:58In The Batman, Edward Nashton is revealed to have been an orphan at the center Thomas Wayne sought to renovate during his mayoral election campaign.
02:06I'm just here to unmask the truth about this cesspool we call a city.
02:12When Thomas was murdered due to his own shady dealings, Nashton and the other orphans were largely forgotten.
02:18Nashton thus harbored resentment towards Bruce Wayne, an orphan with all the resources in the world.
02:25Years later, Nashton resorts to exposing Gotham's elite under the guise of the Riddler.
02:30If you are justice, please do not lie.
02:39What is the price for your blind eyes?
02:45He targets corrupt individuals in positions of power, brutally murdering them before revealing their secrets.
02:52Becoming aware of Bruce's identity as Batman, he uses the dual persona to influence the investigation in the direction he desires.
03:00You're a part of this too.
03:04How am I part of this?
03:07You'll see.
03:08The answer to this riddle is a no-brainer.
03:11While Nygma's jilted employee incentive can be fun in its own right,
03:16Nashton's origin is more grounded in backstory and somewhat sympathetic.
03:21Winner, The Batman.
03:25Round 2. Costume.
03:28What's a good Batman villain without a decent set of threads?
03:32After brainstorming a series of underwhelming personas,
03:36Batman Forever's Edward Nygma settles on the Riddler,
03:39and takes inspiration from the animatronic dummy among his collectibles.
03:43Who the hell are you?
03:46Just a friend.
03:48But you can call me...
03:50The Riddler.
03:52Relatively more in keeping with the comic counterpart's attire,
03:55relatively being the keyword,
03:57Nygma wears an emerald green form-fitting suit adorned with black question marks.
04:02In a bizarre effort to conceal his identity,
04:05he also wears a matching eye mask and bowler hat,
04:09the latter of which covers his new red dew.
04:11He also carries a gold, high-tech cane shaped in the form of a question mark.
04:16Like the jacket?
04:18It keeps me safe when I'm jogging at night.
04:22For his final confrontation with Batman, however,
04:25Riddler opts for a sparkling silver get-up.
04:28And it is certainly something else.
04:30Was that over the top?
04:32I can never tell.
04:33In keeping with the movie's tone,
04:37the Riddler in the Batman goes for a much simpler look.
04:40You came.
04:42I've been trying to reach you.
04:44Though he is in all green,
04:46the color is much more muted and secondary,
04:49doing a much better job at keeping who he is under wraps.
04:52The Riddler wears a considerably baggy coat,
04:55which also allows him to carry more equipment as he goes about his crimes.
04:59Patched onto it is a white question mark,
05:02carrying over the character's primary insignia.
05:05To hide his face, he wears a military cold-weather mask.
05:09Though there is thematically no military connection with the character,
05:13his glasses poking through are reportedly meant to evoke the Zodiac Killer,
05:18which is an apt comparison.
05:20As subtle and appropriate as the new-look Riddler's new look is,
05:24we cannot shy away from the loud personality exhibited by the 1995 costume.
05:32Winner, Batman Forever.
05:37Round 3, Master Plan.
05:39Remember the plan.
05:41Seize and capture.
05:43The Riddler easily being one of the most cunning villains in the rogues' gallery,
05:47it wouldn't be a Batman movie without him concocting a meticulous mystery
05:51for the world's greatest detective to solve.
05:53After fully becoming the Riddler,
05:55Nygma partners with Two-Face,
05:57who harbors hatred for Batman,
05:59even though they don't yet know he's Bruce Wayne.
06:02I will help you solve the greatest riddle of all.
06:05The mother of all riddles.
06:09Who is Batman?
06:12Together, they use Nygma's device to feed off the intelligence of the masses.
06:17At a launch party,
06:18Nygma manages to goad Bruce into using the machine,
06:21revealing his identity as Batman.
06:24Riddle me this.
06:26What kind of a man has bats on the brain?
06:33Go ahead.
06:35You can see.
06:37Riddler and Two-Face then infiltrate and destroy much of the Batcave at Wayne Manor,
06:41but leave Bruce alive to fulfill their ultimate goal.
06:44After kidnapping Bruce's love interest, Dr. Chase Meridian,
06:48they lure Batman and Robin to their hideout,
06:50capturing the latter.
06:52Riddler tries to get Batman to choose between Meridian and Robin,
06:56but Batman uses his love of riddles against him,
06:59destroying the machine and warping Riddler's mind.
07:02The Riddler's plan in The Batman, on the other hand,
07:16is much more intricate and thought out.
07:18The Riddler is asking for you.
07:21The killer left this for the Batman.
07:23Why is he writing to you?
07:24He kicks things off Halloween night by murdering Mayor Mitchell,
07:28decrying the lies fed to the people of Gotham.
07:30He then starts leading Batman on a series of clues
07:33that will lead him to the real mayor of Gotham,
07:36crime lord Carmine Falcone.
07:38In addition to murdering police commissioner Savage and D.A. Coulson,
07:42Riddler orchestrates Batman's apprehension of Falcone.
07:45This gives Riddler a clear shot,
07:48as he's able to snipe Falcone dead from his hideout.
07:51How am I apart of this?
07:54Oh, you're really not as smart as I thought you were.
07:58This, of course, leads to Riddler's capture.
08:03But he's already set up a grand finale,
08:06whereby a series of car bombs destroy Gotham's breakwaters,
08:10flooding the city,
08:11before setting his followers upon the mayor-elect's victory party.
08:14While both plans incorporate Batman in a major way,
08:26Riddler's plan in Batman Forever feels more improvisational,
08:30whereas the one in the Batman is mapped out to a T.
08:33We're giving this one to the 2022 movie.
08:36Winner, the Batman.
08:38Round 4. Performance.
08:43Obviously, these two Riddlers are very different.
08:46And the performances given by their respective actors are also very different.
08:51Intruder alert! Intruder alert!
08:56Shut up!
08:57Seeing the meteoric rise Jim Carrey was on in the mid-90s,
09:02he seemed like the perfect choice to play an eccentric Batman villain in a Joel Schumacher movie.
09:06Though many stalwart Bat-fans may not take to Schumacher's colorful and wacky interpretation of the material,
09:12there's no doubt that Carrey's performance fits right in with the movie's tone.
09:16Very few people are both a summer and a winter, but...
09:20You pull it off nicely.
09:25What's the point, big boy?
09:26Has anybody ever told you you have a serious impulse control problem?
09:33He's given a run for his money by an energy-matching Tommy Lee Jones' Two-Face,
09:37who infamously disliked Carrey during production.
09:40But trying to top Carrey's comedic timing is always going to be a fool's errand.
09:46You sunk my battleship!
09:49Who, me?
09:52His Riddler is zany, witty, and more than a little batty.
09:56And even when the movie itself falls short in places,
09:59we can always count on Carrey to keep us laughing.
10:02Edward, please.
10:04Who is Batman?
10:07I!
10:09Batman!
10:10Paul Dano, on the other hand, goes for a much more reserved approach.
10:18We don't see as much of his Riddler despite the Batman's longer running time,
10:23but Dano makes sure he has our attention whenever he's on screen.
10:27Though the Riddler's voice modifier in his broadcasts seeks to mask his identity,
10:31Dano's performance shines through regardless in cadence and intensity.
10:35Though he's usually cool and collected,
10:38this makes the moments when he lashes out resonate more,
10:42further emphasizing the unhinged nature of his character.
10:45This is especially true in the scene wherein Batman interrogates a maskless Nashton,
10:51as the latter withholds one more trick up his sleeve.
10:54I've been trying to reach you.
10:57What have you done?
10:58Paul Dano is undeniably captivating in The Batman,
11:02but when it comes to scene-stealing performances,
11:05Jim Carrey's gonna win every time.
11:08Winner, Batman Forever.
11:10The difference?
11:11Showmanship.
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11:28Round 5.
11:29Riddles.
11:30Yes, the Riddler's favorite pastime is going to be what settles this verses once and for all.
11:35If you look at the numbers on my face, you won't find 13 anyplace.
11:41That's hideous.
11:42What does it mean?
11:44It's a riddle.
11:45Numbers on my face.
11:4713.
11:481 through 12.
11:50The answer is a clock.
11:52Clearly the more theatrical of the two,
11:54Edward Nygma carries this over to his riddles,
11:56going to great lengths not only to cut out magazine words ransom style,
12:01but also to create pop-up and interactive cards to go along with them.
12:06Ah, tear one off and scratch my head.
12:09Once was red as black instead.
12:14A match.
12:15The riddles themselves vary in degrees of difficulty,
12:19with the clock clue being fairly obvious,
12:21and the match one a little more of a thinker.
12:24However, the answers to the riddles themselves are arbitrary,
12:29as the real riddle lies in the numbers appearing in each.
12:32When push comes to shove,
12:34Bruce and Alfred are able to transpose each into a letter,
12:38until they reveal the Riddler's identity.
12:40It's honestly a bit of a stretch,
12:59but we guess we should also question who named him E. Nygma in the first place.
13:03Edward Nashton's Riddler, on the other hand,
13:06doesn't need to be ornate with his designs to intimidate.
13:08He merely picks out some particularly creepy greeting cards,
13:12and scrawls upon them with his unsettlingly simple handwriting.
13:16Let's play a game.
13:17Just me and you.
13:19The riddles themselves are meant to condemn his victims and their corruption,
13:24using clever wordplay.
13:26But buried within are a series of clues that lead Batman to uncover Riddler's origin,
13:31and the next step of his master plan.
13:33It can be cruel, poetic, or blind.
13:37But when it's denied, it's your violence you may find.
13:44Justice.
13:45The answer's justice.
13:47While Batman is right in thinking this will lead him to the Riddler,
13:50he unwittingly also plays into his hand by getting Carmine Falcone killed.
13:54It's black.
13:57And blue.
13:59And dead.
14:00All over.
14:03Healed.
14:04This is honestly a tough call.
14:07However,
14:07Nashton's riddles are a bit more effective and logical in the grand scheme of things,
14:12as he's also able to tell a story with his twisted point of view.
14:16This round goes to the Riddler from The Batman.
14:20Winner,
14:20The Batman.
14:24You came.
14:25I've been trying to reach you.
14:28With a score of 3-2,
14:31The Batman wins this installment of Versus.
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