#Who Is The Main The Batman Villain? The Riddler Explained

The Riddler first appeared all the way back in 1948 in Detective Comics #140, written by Bill Finger and pencilled by Dick Sprang. The cover depicts him in a green leotard, emblazoned with question marks, similar to how he would look in “Batman Forever.” In the issue, we learn a bit of his backstory: how he formed a fascination with puzzles at an early age and was not above cheating to solve them. Later in life, while working at a carnival, he decided to become a criminal and engage in a duel of wits with Batman and the police. Among other things, he sent them some giant, truck-size pieces for a puzzle the size of a football field.

Over the years, the Riddler has also gone by the last name of Nashton or Nygma, but his original name in the comics was Edward Nigma, an obvious play on the word “enigma.” Reeves has cited the 13-issue miniseries, “Batman: The Long Halloween,” and its sequel, “Batman: Dark Victory,” as influences on “The Batman,” and the Riddler does appear in both of those stories. However he takes on a more prominent role in the 6-issue sidequel, “Catwoman: When in Rome,” which comes from the same creative team, Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale. 

“When in Rome” saw the Riddler, or “Eddie,” accompany Catwoman overseas, seemingly as a friend; but by the end, she would realize that he had been manipulating her all along in an attempt to learn Batman’s secret identity. The story had him teaming up with Scarecrow and Cheetah, two villains we saw in “Batman Begins” and “Wonder Woman 1984,” respectively. In “The Batman,” Zoe Kravitz plays Selina Kyle / Catwoman.