How Old Is The Riddler In The Batman?
The following article contains spoilers for "The Batman."
A new Batman movie means there's more than a new Caped Crusader in town, this time portrayed by Robert Pattinson joining the ranks of Christian Bale, Ben Affleck, and Michael Keaton in the pantheon of live-action Batmen. It means there are also new versions of iconic members of the Dark Knight's rogues gallery. More specifically, audiences get a chance to see Catwoman (Zoë Kravitz), Penguin (Colin Farrell), and Riddler (Paul Dano) like they've never seen them before.
Riddler arguably has the most significant change from how most audiences probably remember him. He's no longer a trickster sporting a bright green suit covered in question marks. This time, he's a serial killer who leaves behind ciphers at his crime scenes for the Batman and police to solve to try to catch him. He's a formidable foe, especially seeing how his riddles actually stump Batman on more than one occasion.
It makes sense Batman wouldn't have all the answers at this point. He's still fairly young, with most context clues placing him at around 30 years old during the events of the film. It begs the question: how old is Riddler during "The Batman?"
Riddler is probably around Bruce Wayne's age
We never get an exact age out of Edward Nashton, a.k.a. Riddler, in "The Batman," but there are hints that can help us ascertain Riddler's age.
More than likely, Riddler's probably close in age to Bruce Wayne. As he's revealing his grand plan, he mentions how he was an orphan during the time when Bruce's parents were murdered. He laments the fact that as soon as that happened, no one cared about the plight of all of the poor orphans. All anyone could think about was unfortunate, rich Bruce Wayne, who was now an orphan among them. It certainly sounds like he has first-hand experience of feeling neglected, so he was likely around the same age, if not perhaps a bit older, than Bruce.
So if Batman is about 30 years old in the movie, then Riddler is probably about the same age, with it being possible he's in his early to mid-30s. This would make sense given the real-life ages of the actors. Robert Pattinson was born in 1986, making him 35 when the film came out. Meanwhile, Dano was 37 at the time of the movie's release. They're about the same age, so the same would probably hold true for their characters.