So much buzz this week as Jonah Hill has all but been confirmed for The Riddler in The Batman. This news seems to be polarizing the Batman community, what do we think Comic Fam?
When Hill's name started being thrown in the ring for a possible role in The Batman (2021), most fans assumed he would play the Penguin since it felt like a natural choice. At the time, The Penguin and The Riddler were still open and with Jonah's background in comedies like Superbad, This is the End, 21 Jump Street, and Wolf of Wall Street, why wouldn't he kill it as The Riddler?
This is a Great Choice
Jonah Hill has some serious acting chops. He uses his quick wit in all his roles and, as the Riddler, I think he's going to be a great fit. Hearing Jonah ramble off a riddle has the potential to either be hilarious or shockingly ominous. The last thing I saw him in was Maniac and he was amazing! I won't spoil the show since you should watch it, but Jonah gets to portray many very diverse characters and it's a master class in disappearing into several different characters while maintaining small parts of one main version's personality. That alone should make you excited about any role he's going to play. All of the following pictures are from Maniac.
What Do We Know About The Plot
We don't know much and everything we do know could change but the movie is rumored to be more of a detective story. The Batman is currently scheduled for release on June 25, 2021 but that could change with DC's past release plans. The movie is going to be set in the 90's, early in Batman's career and should have several of his rouges gallery introduced and, as we all know, the better the rouges gallery, the better the story. Case in point The Long Halloween story arc. That is one thing about the animated universe that is so much better than the cinematic universe. They can have upwards of a dozen villains in one movie and it doesn't feel forced or broken like some other movies have.
What I want to Happen
I hope they do adapt The Long Halloween. TLH is one of the absolute best Batman stories in my opinion. I think using the story line from TLH but replacing Calendar Man (the main villain who sets up a bunch of murders around specific dates) with a more marketable villain everyone knows like The Riddler and having Batman follow all the clues to track down Jonah Hill's character would be a great move. The Calander Man is such a deep cut B Villain, the average Comic Book Movie Fan wouldn't really care about him. But if they use riddles to drive the story, that would allow us to be directed all over Gotham where the Riddler can use different rouges as distractions and, in turn, introduce us to several characters throughout the movie naturally while keeping us guessing.
The Wrap Up
Jonah Hill is an Academy Award nominated actor. He's going to do a great job in what ever role he plays even if it isn't the Riddler. His roles have been getting more and more serious and dark and by the time this comes out, I think everyone is going to be as excited for this movie as they are for the new Joker movie coming out in a couple weeks.
Nate Johnson is a graphic designer and comic enthusiast. He met ComicTom and the ComicTom101 team when he offered a different kind of Comic Karma in the way of a new website (read that story here). He works on the ComicTom101 website, manages it, as well anything else online that has to do with the brand. You can learn more about Nate on his website at www.natemadeit.com or you can follow him on instagram @nthnjohnson