Matt Reeves' The Batman made a statement during DC FanDome by providing fans with various surprises, ultimately capped off by the film's first trailer. Even though Reeves and the rest of the crew shot only 25% of footage, the trailer was still jam-packed with reveals.
Just like any other trailer, fans have been hard at work when it comes to dissecting every major detail that was shown. The footage highlights Robert Pattinson's unique take of the Dark Knight persona while also laying the groundwork for the iconic characters that will be joining him such as Zoe Kravitz' Catwoman, Jeffrey Wright's Jim Gordon, and a potential glimpse at the film's main villain, Paul Dano's Riddler.
Throughout the trailer, there were a lot of clues and mysterious symbols that Riddler left behind for Batman to decipher. It remains to be seen how all of this plays out in the film, but an eagle-eyed fan may have uncovered an integral answer to the mystery.
RUMOR
Twitter user Drew Lane revealed that he might've solved the mystery code that the film's villain, The Riddler, has been leaving behind during the trailer of The Batman:
So hyped for Matt Reeve’s Batman Movie, I decided to solve The Riddler’s code. #TheBatman pic.twitter.com/vsxVxucedv
— Drew Lane (@TheMasterD101) August 23, 2020
Meanwhile, the fan shared how he cracked the code, and it involves some pretty good analysis.
I first analyzed the different symbols and found the ones that were reoccurring throughout the code. From here, I had two thought processes. I had a feeling that The Riddler may use the word "Batman" so I solved the first part as Batman.
— Drew Lane (@TheMasterD101) August 23, 2020
This didn't work because the symbols that I substituted with letters in the first phrase didn't line up with the same symbols in the second one. So I went to my next thought process, which was replacing the matching symbols in the first phrase with "E" since it is the most used
— Drew Lane (@TheMasterD101) August 23, 2020
letter in the English language. Then the matching consecutive letters in the second phrase I replaced with a double "L", because it is the most commonly used consecutive letters in the English language. Then I used the riddle on the right side of the card and the substituted
— Drew Lane (@TheMasterD101) August 23, 2020
letters to figure out the rest. The answer to the riddle is "He Lies Still". This is a double entendre, because he is literally lying still due to death and also continues to lie after death.
— Drew Lane (@TheMasterD101) August 23, 2020
WHAT THIS MEANS
From the get-go, Reeves has already confirmed that The Batman will dive into the detective skill set of the hero, and the film's trailer gave an emphasis on that aspect upfront. As evidenced by the meticulous breakdown of the fan, it seems that this approach has also made fans a detective of their own.
It remains to be seen how "He Lies Still" will factor into the overall narrative, but it drives home the point that The Riddler seems to have a personal vendetta against the Caped Crusader. A blink-and-you'll-miss-it glimpse at the card that was given by the Riddler to the Batman mentioned that the former is a "secret friend" to the latter.
It will be very interesting to find out if the Riddler knows the true identity of the hero, or he could just be playing mind games with Gotham's protector. Still, with majority of the film has yet to be shot, it's a safe bet that more details will emerge soon about the motivation of the Riddler behind the killings in Gotham and hatred to Batman.
