Paul Dano's Riddler and Colin Farrell's Penguin shine as the villains of The Batman, but which of them is the best villain in the movie?
Warning! SPOILERS for The Batman.
Paul Dano's Riddler and Colin Farrell's Penguin left a lasting impression with their debut in The Batman, but which one is the best villain in the movie? Batman has an immense gallery of iconic foes. From the most grounded villains, such as Two-Face and Black Mask, to the most bizarre, like Man-Bat and Clayface, all of Gotham's famous villains have played a role in Batman's countless storylines throughout the years. But only a select few have been lucky enough to come to life on the big and the small screen multiple times. After multiple reinventions of the Batman mythos, new actors continue to put a new spin on villains like the Riddler and the Penguin.
While Riddler and Penguin are human characters with no superpowers or fanciful technological enhancements, it's rather easy for live-action adaptations to make them look unrealistic. Danny DeVito's Penguin crossed the line into the grotesque, and Jim Carrey's Riddler was so absurd that any iteration of the Joker would have seemed level-headed by his side. In their defense, both of these portrayals would feel extremely out of place in the gritty world of The Batman, but they do fit the tone of their respective movies. This has been the case with other adaptations of the same characters. For instance, Frank Gorshin's Riddler and Burgess Meredith's Penguin were standout villains in the '60s Batman TV show and the 1966 movie, while Cory Michael Smith's Riddler and Robin Lord Taylor's Penguin almost became the protagonists of Gotham due to their captivating personalities and mutual chemistry.
Clearly, expectations were high for The Batman's Riddler and Penguin. Fortunately for viewers, Paul Dano and Colin Farrell explored new facets of the characters with a high level of originality. But who is the better villain between the two? Here's how their roles in The Batman compare.
Warning: Contains spoilers for The Batman.
Without a doubt, Matt Reeves' vision for Gotham City in The Batman is gritty, grounded, and filled with low-level criminals instead of superpowered villains. The Batman's Gotham is more akin to the atmosphere of Seven and Chinatown than that of Tim Burton's Batman. Fittingly, the Riddler and the Penguin don't feel like a pair of comic book villains who were dropped in a realistic setting, but instead like characters who were built from scratch within this world. Instead of taking their trademark features and translating them to live-action, it feels as though the characters themselves built an organic persona that just happened to evolve into the guise of the comic book villains fans know and love.
It would make little sense for Edward Nashton to wear anything similar to a bowler hat, a domino mask, and a cane just for the sake of comic book accuracy. Instead, Riddler's entire attire in The Batman is a reflection of his tactical mind. His mask becomes a symbol of revolution for his followers, and it helps him conceal his identity, as he doesn't want Batman, James Gordon, and the Gotham PD to know it until the right moment. In the case of the Penguin, it makes little sense for him to wear penguin-themed clothes, accessories, and live in a penguin-filled lair, but it does make sense for Gotham's criminals to liken him to a penguin because of his limp, his appearance, and the fact that he's a shady magnate who works at a club called "The Iceberg Lounge".
Both the Riddler and the Penguin feel like real people because criminals just like them have existed in real life. Matt Reeves and Paul Dano clearly took inspiration from the real-life Zodiac Killer to create the Riddler. The Riddler replicates the Zodiac Killer's look down to the glasses, the symbol in his coat, and the ciphers he uses in his riddles. For Colin Farrell's Penguin, Matt Reeves took inspiration from The Godfather's Fredo Corleone, though the Penguin also draws a lot from real-life mafia bosses the likes of Al Capone. Beyond their appearance, The Batman's Riddler and Penguin resemble serial killers and mafia bosses in that they do care about appearances, but they also ditch the comic-book gimmicks for a more practical way to go about criminal activities.
Unlike many comic book movies throughout the years, The Batman doesn't compress the origin, rise, and downfall of its villains within the span of a single movie. Just like The Batman introduces a Dark Knight with only two years' worth of experience under his belt, it also presents rookie versions of the Penguin and the Riddler, who are all only beginning to find their place in the worn-down streets of Gotham. Although the Riddler is clearly the main villain of The Batman, his defeat functions as the event that may lead him to build a long criminal career. Similarly, the death of Carmine Falcone and the near-destruction of Gotham are the events that will probably motivate the Penguin to become a real mob boss, as he has been a pushover with delusions of grandeur up until this point. The Riddler and the Penguin aren't victorious in The Batman by any means, but they have accepted their call to become real Batman villains in the near future.
With everything in place for a real transformation into iconic Batman villains, the Riddler and the Penguin have more than enough time to change and evolve. Riddler's alliance with the Joker at Arkham could signal a psychological transformation into the unhinged villain from the comics, and it wouldn't be surprising to see him adopt a bolder look in future appearances. After all, he will no longer need to hide his face. His knowledge of Batman's secret identity and his association with similarly twisted criminals will probably be bigger weapons than secrecy. After the events of The Batman, there may not be a more terrifying threat for Gotham City than a Riddler on the loose, armed with more confidence and no fear of being sent back to his new home.
As for the Penguin, Oswald Cobblepot has all the freedom to seize control of Gotham's criminal empire. Carmine Falcone already did most of the job for him, anyway. It won't be easy for James Gordon to uproot corruption in the police force by himself, as there will always be someone who's ready to get their hands dirty for a bit of power or money. So, with all the resources and influence needed to shape Gotham's criminal underworld to his image, the Penguin will likely transform into an untouchable heavyweight that will no longer cower at the sight of Batman's Batmobile.
The Riddler and the Penguin are at a similar point in their journey by the end of The Batman, but they're vastly different villains. Riddler holds a grudge against Gotham's corruption, while Penguin embodies it. Riddler is hundreds of times more cunning than the Penguin, and he made Gotham bow at his feet with his mind alone. Even though the Riddler is an outcast, the weight of his ideals attracts scores of followers who will do anything for him, and his sheer determination can lead Batman, Catwoman, the police department, and the criminal underworld to tear each other apart while he watches from a distance.
That said, Penguin beats the Riddler in regards to charisma, and he can give Batman plenty of trouble by just being bold enough to defy him. He can be simultaneously hilarious and terrifying, and he doesn't need to take center stage to get what he wants. Unlike the Riddler, Penguin manages to not only escape from every problem unscathed, but also end up better off than he started. And of course, Colin Farrell's incredible transformation into the Penguin, both in terms of makeup and performance, is a huge bonus. The winner between the Riddler and the Penguin depends on which aspect of their character is evaluated, but there's something to be said about a supporting character who steals the show and ends up coming out on top at the end of The Batman against all odds.
