The superhero blockbuster “The Batman”, which shoulders DC’s new hope, uses a darker, more realistic style of criminal suspense to depict the early mental journey of the revenge messenger.
For fans and audiences, this comic book with a brilliant audio-visual language and a strong author’s temperament is definitely one of the most worthy of appreciation on the big screen in recent times.
At the same time, although this is a Batman movie independent of the DCEU, there are still countless easter eggs and tributes in the film.
This article contains some spoilers, it is recommended to read after watching the movie
- “Halloween”
In the first shot of the film, we monitored the mayor’s every move from The Riddler’s point of view. Although we couldn’t see The Riddler’s face, we could hear his deep breathing.
This first-person perspective of oppression pays homage to the classic horror film “Halloween”, while The Riddler’s masked and bespectacled appearance is also somewhat similar to that of “Halloween” protagonist Michael Myers.
- Shadow Warrior Alliance
The ninja costume worn by Mayor Mitchell’s son for Halloween is reminiscent of Nolan’s first Batman movie “Batman Begins”.
In Nolan’s version of Batman, Bruce became an excellent fighter because of the fighting and skills he learned in the Shadow Warrior Alliance as a child.
In “The Batman”, Robert Pattinson’s version of Batman still pays attention to the child who lost his father, as if seeing himself.
- Sal Maroni
In the movie, we learn that the drug-smuggling case that hit Gotham City was nothing but a hoax, and that the real mastermind was someone else.
But Sal Maroni, who was imprisoned for this incident, is a real DC villain. In the comics, it was Maroney who threw acid on prosecutor Harvey Dent’s face, turning him into the villain “Two-Face”.
- Carmine Falcone
Now that we’ve talked about the mastermind behind the drug case, let’s talk about the biggest villain of “The Batman” – Carmine Falcone.
The DC villain known as “The Roman” first appeared in the “Batman: Year One” comics and is one of Gotham City’s famous traditional gang leaders.
In the comics, Carmine Falcone’s image is a reference to Vito Corleone in the “The Godfather” series, with a scar on the right side of her face after being scratched by Catwoman.
But when it comes to the movie, Catwoman tries unsuccessfully to leave something on his face.
- Red Robin
In the opening crime organization, there is a young man who has only painted half of his makeup and dares not commit a crime in the end, and he is the actor Jay Lycurgo who played Red Robin in the TV series “Titans”.
Red Robin Tim Drake is the third generation of Robin, and he will eventually follow Batman to fight crime and fight for justice.
- Something In the Way
When Batman first drives his motorcycle to the Batcave, the background music is a variation of Nirvana’s “Something In the Way”.
The song is mainly about the desperation of being homeless, which coincides with the icy temperament of the new Batman. The director has also stated many times in interviews before that when he was writing the script, the background music he listened to the most was this song.
- “Zodiac”
The way The Riddler’s crime leaves clues in the film is very similar to the Zodiac killer that has appeared in real life. The story of the killer was also made into the movie “Zodiac” by the well-known director David Fincher.
It is worth mentioning that the password characters used by The Riddler in “The Batman” are also very similar to those used in the movie “Zodiac”.
- “Batman: The Long Halloween”
In the film, we learn that Thomas Wayne once saved Carmine Falcone’s life, which pays homage to the classic comic “Batman: The Long Halloween”.
In addition, the red and black color scheme used in “The Batman” this time is also highly similar to “Batman: Dark Victory”, the sequel to “Batman: The Long Halloween”.
- “Batman: Earth One”
The movie “The Batman” actually has a lot of homage to the comic book “Batman: Earth One”.
For example, the setting of the butler Alfred’s lame leg, the abandoned station as a bat cave, and the failure of the first bat flight.
And Thomas Wayne’s run for mayor also happened in the comics, but it was a competition with The Penguin.
- “Joker”
Although “The Batman” and “Joker” belong to different movie universes, there are certain details that can be seen in the intertextuality between the two.
For example, both films portrayed Thomas Wayne as a person who looks good and righteous on the surface, but does many evils behind the scenes. This role has had a profound impact on both Batman and The Joker.
In addition, the two movies both use large fonts on the LOGO, which are similar in purpose.
- A tribute to 70s film noir
In addition to the above tribute to the famous comics, “The Batman” director Matt Reeves also said that his creative inspiration came directly from a batch of classic noir/crime movies in Hollywood in the 1970s.
Such as Martin Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver”, Polanski’s “Chinatown”, William Friedkin’s “The French Connection”, Coppola’s “The Godfather” “The Conversation”, and “Klute” “All the President’s Men” “Wait.
Interested readers can go to watch.
- Court of Owls
Although the film does not explicitly propose the concept of “Court of Owls”, the film actually gives many hints.
For example, we learn that Bruce’s mother Martha is from the Arkham family, and the Arkham family and the Wayne family are one of the founding families of Gotham City. The Court of Owls is composed of many wealthy families.
At the same time, the weapon on the arm of Batman’s suit is also similar to the weapon of the villain’s claws in the court of owls in the comics. Perhaps the two families have more secrets waiting for Bruce to discover.
- S39 7WD
The license plate of the car that rushed in at the funeral read S39-7WD, which is also a tribute to Batman’s debut year in 1939.
- Silence
We learned from Alfred that Thomas Wayne did hire Carmine Falcone to threaten and kill a reporter named Elliott.
And Tommy, the playmate who grew up with Bruce, is also from the Elliott family. Perhaps because of a sudden family change, Tommy incarnates the villain into silence to avenge the Wayne family.
- Zorro
When Batman captures mob boss Carmine Falco, he calls Batman “Zorro the Righteous.”
Zorro the Masked Man is one of the inspirations for Batman comics, and we can also see the poster of the movie “Zorro” in the title of “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice”.
- Catwoman
In fact, Zoë Kravitz is not the first time to play Catwoman, in “The Lego Batman Movie” released in 2017, she played the role of Catwoman.
And her appearance in the film is exactly the same as the comic “Batman: Year One”.
- Green Potion
In the ending climactic scene, Batman is knocked down with shotguns by followers of The Riddler, unable to move. At a critical moment, he took out a bottle of green medicine and hit him, immediately regaining all his strength and falling into madness.
This potion is very similar to the flesh-enhancing agent injected by the well-known villain Bane.
- End easter eggs
The last new friend The Riddler meets in prison is undoubtedly the Joker, played by Barry Keoghan.
In the future, we may see the Joker and The Riddler rally in Gotham City.
The easter egg at the end of the film is the URL set by The Riddler in the film: https://www.rataalada.com/
After clicking, you can follow the prompts to answer the questions, but the answer is very difficult…
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