All ‘The Batman’ Easter Eggs We Could Find From Comics to the Big Screen
The Detective’s newest film was packed full of details for fans. It’s only our first watch, but let’s take a look at The Batman easter eggs.
Past this point, there are spoilers for ‘The Batman’. If you haven’t seen it yet, get to a theater!
Batman Easter Eggs
Fans of the iconic Batman: The Animated Series may have felt a little tickle in their brains when Robert Pattison introduced himself by saying “I am vengeance.” This phrase isn’t from the comics – it actually originated in the cartoon. In the episode “Nothing to Fear”, Batman finds himself under the influence of the Scarecrow’s fear toxin. In a triumphant moment of self-realization, he denies an image of his father telling him that he’s a failure. Pulling himself back up, he declares, “I am vengeance. I am the night. I am Batman!”
My personal favorite Easter egg was of course the one with the swearing. On at least two occasions, a character calls Batman a name, putting the word “goddamn” in front of it. For example, in the first scene, a cop calls him a “goddamn freak”. The “goddamn Batman” has become a popular meme over the years to signify that someone is trying way too hard to be menacing and scary. It’s based on a panel from All-Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder by Frank Miller and Jim Lee. Let’s just say this book featured a very crass Batman – some might use the word “asshole”. Overall, the story isn’t regarded as one of the Dark Knight’s better stories – but the line itself has become a laugh-worthy silver lining.
Bruce’s internal struggle to reconcile his identity as Batman vs. Bruce Wayne was a focal point of his character development in the film. For many viewers, it’s what made this iteration of Batman so evolved. While this doesn’t directly call out to any particular comic, readers have been pointing to Darwyn Cooke’s story Batman: Ego for some related energy.
In this story, the two personalities undergo a philosophical battle about who is actually helping Gotham. Part of their resolution is the understanding that Batman must be both a figure of order and hope. Yeah, we can see why that sounds so similar to the ending of The Batman.
Courtesy of DC Comics
The Wayne Family Legacy
The Long Halloween addresses a connection between Thomas Wayne and Carmine Falcone.
Up until The Batman, the Waynes were a squeaky-clean couple in a city full of corruption. But it’s impossible for even the Waynes to exist in a vacuum. As members of two of Gotham’s oldest families, it’s hard to imagine them having no connections to practically every other powerful person in their city. Matt Reeves’ film mercifully spares us a reenactment of the couple’s death. Instead, it tells stories of Thomas and Martha’s past. And aspects of their story pull from two comic book sources.
Courtesy of DC Comics
In The Long Halloween by Jeff Loeb and Tim Sale, it’s revealed that Thomas Wayne had a connection to the infamous Falcone crime family after saving young Carmine’s life. The film builds on that relationship. It also adjusts Martha’s maiden name from Kane to Arkham, and added a struggle with mental health to her backstory – something that Geoff Johns and Gary Frank did in Batman: Earth One.
The Riddler
Aside from the character’s obvious Zodiac-Killer aesthetic, Edward Nashton reminded fans of Batman comics of another villain. Jeff Loeb’s fingerprints are all over this film, including references to the Batman villain Hush.
In the comics, Hush is Thomas Elliot, a villain determined to destroy Bruce Wayne (and therefore Batman) as revenge against the action of Thomas Wayne. Ironically, it was Wayne who saved Elliot’s parents, preventing the criminal from inheriting their fortune. However in this film, Edward Elliot is a reporter who’s murdered at the (accidental) request of Thomas Wayne. When Edward Nashton reveals the plot, he makes reference to Thomas Wayne attempting to “hush” up his wife’s past before his run for Mayor.
Batman: Hush by Jeff Loeb & Jim Lee, courtesy of DC Comics
This could be a call-out to fans of the comic. And it certainly ties into Reeve’s ability to build a universe around this story. But some fans are speculating that “Edward Nashton” could be a combination of the Riddler and Hush. After all, who says he’s using his real name? Edward would be an interesting homage to his murdered father…
The story also has some similar events to Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV’s Batman origin story Zero Year. In the story, a massive flood turns Gotham into a haven for crime cut off from the outside world. It has a vaguely apocalyptic feel, something we could see in the future of Reeves’ Batman universe. It also features the Riddler seizing control in the chaos.
Batman: Zero Year, courtesy of DC Comics
Catwoman & Carmine Falcone
Selena Kyle also sees her fair share of comic book shout-outs in The Batman Easter eggs. In The Long Halloween, it’s revealed that Selena is Carmine Falcone’s daughter. And in a fight with him, she scratches his face. In Halloween, this leaves him scarred. But in The Batman, that blood didn’t even have time to dry before he was killed.
Selena’s black corset and tall, laced vinyl boots are also straight from the pages of Batman: Year One. As are the sex worker undertones to her work.
Batman: Year One, courtesy of DC Comics
Batman Easter Eggs in Gotham’s Criminal Underworld
The film features lots of little Batman Easter eggs sprinkled all over the city like a very dark scavenger hunt. Titans actor Jay Lycurgo appears as a young man who’s got cold feet about undergoing a gang initiation. Hmm, a Robin from another universe playing a wayward kid in need a guidance, you say? Did someone’s rich ward-daddy alarm go off, Bruce?
The first card that the Riddler leaves for the Batman includes an Owl on the front, leading many of us to wonder if it’s an intention call-out to the Court of Owls. This very-old club of wealthy Gothamites have held power in Gotham since their creation, and could speak to a greater corruption in the city. Or it could just be a clever greeting card!
The Court of Owls, courtesy of DC Comics
The Penguin, of course, ran a club called the Iceberg Lounge. This is a regular gig for Oswald Cobblepot, and it was nice to see his signature haunt make it onto the big screen. It also appears that his delightfully-excessive car chase with The Batman is what will give him his signature leg injury and penguin-waddle.
Outside of the Iceberg Lounge, there are two twin henchmen. Some fans saw them and immediately thought of the Mad Hatter’s henchmen Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. But according to IMDB, these characters are named Min & Max, two twin henchmen often seen working for one Harvey Dent, A.K.A. Two-Face.
And of course, if you didn’t already know it, yes – that was the Joker in the cell next to Edward Nashton at Arkham Asylum. The Clown Prince of Crime was brought to life by Barry Keoghan (The Eternals). It’s no promise that we’ll see him in any follow-up Reeves’ Batman stories, but the opportunity is there and the casting is choice.
Other Details
This movie may be a modern take on Batman, but it’s not without an appreciation for what came before it. Gordon’s and his cops are working in Gotham’s precinct 39, a shoutout to the year the original comic first published. And the fire ejecting out of the new Batmobile is a shoutout to the model from the 1966 Adam West Batman film and series.
The end of the film leaves a few easter eggs as well. After taking a pretty brutal shot to the chest, Batman uses some kind of glowing chemical injection to pump himself up for the final fight. And he nearly beats a Riddler-groupie to a pulp. Is this Venom? That seemed a little more intense than your average shot of adrenaline.
What was your favorite ‘The Batman’ Easter egg? Did you catch any details that we missed? Let us know in the comments!
