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| File:Batman Forever | “ | For if knowledge is power, then a god... am... I. Was that a little over the top? I can never tell. | „ |
| ~ The Riddler |
The Riddler is the main antagonist of the 1995 film Batman Forever, first installment of the Joel Schumacher Batman film series. He's a former Wayne Enterprises employee that became a criminal after his idol Bruce Wayne disappointed him.
History[]
Nygma conducting his experiments
Edward Nygma became a researcher under the employment of Wayne Enterprises, and had developed a device to beam television directly to a person's brain. Bruce Wayne, convinced that mind manipulation would raise too many questions, turns the idea down, but Nygma continues to work on it after hours. When Fred Stickley, the head of the research department, discovers Nygma's clandestine overtime, Nygma knocks out Stickley then uses him to test his device, discovering that he can use it to absorb people's knowledge. Realizing that Bruce was right about it being mind manipulation, Stickley fires Nygma, but Nygma murders Stickley, doctors the security tapes to make Stickley's death look like a suicide, and then resigns from Wayne Enterprises.
Edward Nygma, who has been stalking Bruce and leaving riddles for him, is inspired and delighted by watching Two-Face's raid at the circus on live television and creates his own alter-ego in the form of The Riddler, a master of puzzles and quizzes. He perfects his brain-manipulation device into a system which beams signals to and from the human brain in order to simulate an immersive television viewing experience. This has the side effect of allowing the Riddler to read viewers' minds, as well as augmenting his own intelligence. Making a deal to use his brain-manipulation device to discover Batman's true identity, he becomes partner-in-crime with Two-Face in order to fund mass-production of the device. Successful, he readopts his Nygma persona and hosts a launch event for a set-top version of his device. Nygma convinces an unwitting Wayne to try it, resulting in Nygma and Two-Face discovering Bruce's alter ego. Two-Face attempts to kill Bruce/Batman, but the appearance of Dick (disguised as Robin) at the end helps to foil the plan. Armed with the knowledge of Batman's true identity, the villains later converge upon Wayne Manor. Unwilling to have Two-Face kill his idol, Nygma (as the Riddler) blows up the Batcave and leaves a final riddle for his nemesis, while Two-Face kidnaps Dr. Chase Meridian.
Bruce and Alfred eventually solve the riddles, each one having a number in it:
1. "If you look for numbers on my face, you won't find thirteen any place."
2. "Tear one off and scratch my head; what was once red is now black instead."
3. "The eight of us go forth, not back, to protect our king from a foe's attack."
4. "We're five little items of an everyday sort; you'll find us all in 'a tennis court'."
Each number corresponds to a letter in the alphabet, with 1 and 8 being digits for the number 18. 13 being "M", 18 for "R" and 5 for "E", M-R-E, or "Mr. E"- mystery, or enigma- Mr. E. Nygma. Changing into Batman, Bruce asks Alfred whether he should use the Batboat or the Batwing. Dick suggests both as he enters the Batcave- now dressed in a "Robin" costume of Alfred's design. Bruce decides two against two are better odds, and finally agrees to Dick becoming a partner.
Batman and Robin use both vehicles to enter the aquatic lair; however, the machines are destroyed by the Riddler and Two Face. The heroes end up swimming to an island made of metal, where they are separated. Batman fights his way through the Riddler's deadly traps, while Robin finally fights Two Face. He manages to send the villain over the edge of a ledge, where he clings to dear life. Realizing that he cannot kill Two Face, Robin helps him up instead. The villain thanks him by pulling out a gun and trapping him. Meanwhile, Batman finally reaches the Riddler, who sits in a large throne beneath the glass chamber that collects the brainwaves of Gotham's citizens. He reveals Chase and Robin, imprisoned in large containers over a large, deadly pit.
Riddler, challenging Batman with the greatest riddle of all ("Can Batman and Bruce Wayne actually co-exist?"), gives him the choice of rescuing only one of them. Batman distracts Nygma with a riddle of his own; unable to resist, the Riddler takes his hand off of the control that would drop the two. Batman uses this distraction to hurl a Batarang at the brain-wave hub, shattering both it and the Riddler's massive intelligence. Before Nygma collapses, he springs the trap doors in Robin's and Doctor Meridian's cages, sending them plummeting to their apparent doom. Batman rescues both of them, only to be drawn on again by Two-Face perched on a nearby plank. Before he can shoot them, though, Batman acts on a suggestion of Chase, who had theorized that Two-Face's coin is his Achilles' heel. He tells Two-Face that he must flip the coin to determine their fates. Two-Face agrees and flips his coin, but Batman hurls a handful of similar coins into the air. Frantic, Two-Face grabs at the coins, but loses his footing and falls to his death. As he drowns, his own coin lands in his palm.
Batman returns to the now-destroyed Riddler's lair and finds Edward, his mind now enfeebled by the brainwave reversal. He answers Nygma's riddle saying "I had to save them both. You see, I'm both Bruce Wayne and Batman. Not because I have to be, but because I choose to be". But one wonders if The Riddler even heard or understood the answer - just after Batman tells him the answer, the Riddler is screaming in terror as he sees a bat flying towards him.
The Riddler is later committed to Arkham Asylum, and Chase is asked to consult on his case. She is told that he has been screaming for hours that he knows who Batman is. Wondering if The Riddler has indeed remembered the information taken from Bruce Wayne's brain concerning Batman's identity, she goes to Nygma's cell. She identifies herself and then asks Riddler if he remembers her. When he answers "How could I forget?", Riddler offers to reveal the identity of Batman to her if she says please. She does so, and The Riddler responds by telling her that he thinks he himself is Batman, and as if to prove his point, he starts flapping his arms as if to imitate a bat.
A couple years later, when Mr. Freeze was being held in Arkham, one of Nygma's green Riddler outfits was still being held in a storage room, along with one of Two-Face's.
Behind the Scenes[]
Batman Forever was originally titled Batman Continues and was supposed to be the third installment of the Tim Burton Batman film series and a sequel to Batman Returns. Tim Burton was set to direct again with his intention being to have Michael Keaton and Michelle Pfeiffer return and use the Riddler (Edward Nygma) as the main villain. Robin Williams was going to play the role. The Riddler was to be depicted as psychopathic, and oddly enough Burton's version of the character was going to have a question mark shaved on his head. Williams's involvement ended once Joel Schumacher was hired to direct, who instead decided to make a reboot and bank on Jim Carrey for the role. The movie was then renamed Batman Forever.
Jim Carrey portrays the Riddler in the 1995 movie Batman Forever with Gorshin as his stated primary influence. He also said that he was attracted to the "stalker" angle added to the character in the script. Nygma is shown to be obsessed with his idol Bruce Wayne, his turn to crime a result of Wayne's rejection of his mind-manipulation invention. Throughout the film, Nygma obsesses over Wayne, copying Wayne's appearance down to a facial mole, and he prevents Two-Face from killing Wayne. This version of the Riddler employs a device called "the Box", disguised as a 3D imagery device for TVs, that extracts victims' thoughts and transmits them into the Riddler's head, making him smarter and contributing to his mental breakdown. In the end, Batman damages the Box with a Batarang, and Riddler's intelligence (as well as his sanity) is lost.
Throughout the film, he plants a series of riddles for Batman/Wayne to find, which lead to the disclosure of his identity. At the end of the film, he is captured in Gotham's Arkham mental hospital and begins screaming that he's learned Batman's identity - himself. This incarnation influenced the one in New Batman Adventures, the continuation of Batman: The Animated Series: the producers decided to redesign the character to look more like Carrey. The storyline of the Riddler becoming supremely psychotic even served as the springboard for the character's actions in the 2003 LEGO fan film, Batman: Revenge (The Batman LEGO Film), although the film was not a sequel to Batman Forever. Though Two-Face had a crew of ninjas throughout Batman Forever, Riddler only had a group of Scuba Divers in a scene near the end, who were captured by Batman in a net.
Jim Carrey as Edward Nygma / The Riddler: An employee at Wayne Enterprises nursing an obsession with Bruce Wayne and a high opinion of his own genius, though it is an accidental side effect of his experimentation with 3-D TV that causes him to be fired by his boss as the invention is too dangerous – it directly taps into the human brain. Traumatised by this and Wayne's rejection of his business proposal, he kills his boss and adopts a secret identity as a stalker of Wayne. In response to Wayne's saying that the mind-control aspect "raises too many questions", the compulsive Nygma becomes the villainous Riddler, leaving riddles and puzzles at scenes of crime while modelling himself on his idol in his public role as head of a successful new business empire (NygmaTech) to rival Wayne Enterprises. It was in October 1993 when Robin Williams stated he was in talks for the role, and commented on his enthusiasm.[5] Williams had previously expressed interest for the role of The Joker in Batman, although he lost out to Jack Nicholson[6] and expressed interest in the role a second time in The Dark Knight, but lost out a second time to Heath Ledger was cast. Ultimately in June 1994, Carrey was cast after Williams turned down the role.[7] Schumacher had known Carrey since the mid 1980s, roughly ten years before he became commercially famous. After his role in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Warner Brothers and Schumacher felt for him to be perfect for the part.[4] Michael Jackson had previously opted hard to land the role but was ignored.[8] Matthew Broderick also expressed interest in the role. Jim Carrey went through over 50 different spandex outfits and over 100 different props for his cane. Schumacher commented on working with Val Kilmer, Tommy Lee Jones, and Jim Carrey, "I was told that Val was difficult and wasn't [right] for me. (...) Jim Carrey was a gentleman, and Tommy Lee was threatened by him. I'm tired of defending overpaid, over privileged actors. I pray I don't work with them again." Bob Kane remained on the set almost every single day during filming.
There is a scene in Batman Forever in which the Riddler punches someone in the face and hurts his hand from it. This could possibly be a reference to the fight scene at the end of Batman: The Movie, where the Riddler tries to punch Batman, but misses and hits a metal wall instead.
Reception[]
The filmmakers claimed they were indeed aware of reports that Jim Carrey and Tommy Lee Jones had "stolen the show." Jones quoted, "I don't want to be too fussy about language, but the idea of stealing scenes or stealing movies is nothing that I am comfortable with at all. I don't think that way. I look at the job at hand and try to do as well as I can with that job." Carrey stated, "I just hope I am doing it right; is it coming together? You can't think about that stuff because that would be, like, capsize time." He was nominated for the MTV "Best Villain" Award. (Both Jim Carrey and Tommy Lee Jones).