The Batman: Paul Dano's Most Ridiculous Riddler Scene Took 80 Takes

When it comes to the storied rogues galleries of the world's biggest superheroes, none have a higher bar to clear than those in Gotham City. It's widely accepted amongst superhero fandom that The Dark Knight has the greatest set of villains. Still, that reputation comes with a certain level of expectation, especially given how many times these characters have been adapted to the big and small screens.

Perhaps that's why Matt Reeves and Paul Dano were so committed to getting the Riddler just perfect for "The Batman." Reeves explained to The Guardian what the process was for one of the most grueling scenes in Reeves' Dark Knight reboot, the confrontation that finally arrives between the Riddler (Dano) and Robert Pattinson's Caped Crusader. "Paul loves doing a lot of takes, as do I," Reeves said. "We took two days on the final scene between him and Robert Pattinson as Batman, and we must have easily done 70 or 80 takes. Paul loves exploring. He's obsessive that way," the director explained.

Luckily, Matt Reeves and Paul Dano both thrived on experimenting with scenes in "The Batman," specifically how and when the Riddler would fly off the handle into one of his psychotic tirades. In fact, as The Guardian interview also noted, Reeves wrote the part with Dano as a performer in mind. 

"There were all these moments as the Riddler where he'd be tickled by something and then fly into a rage, and you never knew from take to take where that switch would come," Reeves went on. "I'd be sitting there with the headphones on, trying to stifle my laughter because he'd always do something surprising. Paul would ask me: 'Was that crazy? Was that too much?' I'd say: 'No, it's fantastic. Let's do another.'"

Given how memorable Dano's performance as the Riddler in " The Batman" is, it seems like Reeves definitely made the right call by letting the actor take some big swings in his scenes. Being that the character is modeled after the Zodiac killer, it also helped to make him feel dangerous and unpredictable in precisely the way you want a Batman villain to be.

Going off of the reaction of fans, it looks like the approach turned out to be a memorable aspect of "The Batman" for viewers. "Riddler singing Ave Maria while Batman is just screaming is a top-notch moment in comedy," @AltHistCody wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter) after the film's release. As we mentioned above, Paul Dano's version of The Riddler is totally unpredictable, and the confrontation scene with the Dark Knight really helps to sell his madness.

Other fans piped up to note how great the moment was, especially given how deeply serious the rest of the interrogation scene in "The Batman" is. "I will NEVER hear Ave Maria the same way again after The Batman," wrote @marisaonfilm on X. Meanwhile, @probean23 commended the two actors for being able to get through the absurdity of the scene without bursting into laughter. "In that one Ave Maria scene in Batman, how were they not cracking up?" they wondered. "I am not that strong."

As for where things are going with Matt Reeves' upcoming sequel, if the deleted scene between Dano and Barry Keoghan's Joker is any indication, we could be having twice the mayhem when "The Batman 2" finally comes to fruition.