The Riddler
It’s been twenty-two years since Jim Carrey donned the questionable green suit and squared off against the Caped Crusader in Batman Forever – a darn sight too long for my liking. History tells us that recreating characters on the silver screen is fraught with difficulty, but Ben Affleck’s The Batman would be fertile ground for a new vision of Edward Nygma.
Yes, Nygma is getting screen time in Fox’s Gotham, but if you ask me, a Riddler origin story pre-Batman doesn’t have any basis for being told. It’s only when Bats is pitted against Riddler that question-mark-shaped sparks fly.
Who would play the character well? Benedict Cumberbatch comes to mind, as does Michael C. Hall, whose charm would contrast well with the more unsavory aspects of the Riddler’s personality. Then there’s Edward Norton, who has both steel and intelligence. And let’s not forget the ultimate chameleon: Johnny Depp.
Would audiences respond to a return of the Riddler? I think enough time has passed to give this one a shot. Don’t you?