The Batman Theater Display Contains A Crazy Easter Egg

If there's one superhero who has a strong case to make as the undisputed king of the comic book movie, it's Batman. For decades, the Dark Knight has found himself fighting crime and saving Gotham City at the cinema, with such icons as Adam West and Christian Bale taking on the role. As of this writing, the most recent live-action Batman solo movie — director Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight Rises" — premiered in 2012, meaning we're certainly overdue for a new one. To remedy this, "The Batman" from director Matt Reeves seeks to take the bat-baton in the very near future.

Over the years, each Batman-centric movie has found exciting ways to stand out from the pack. From the garishly technicolor "Batman & Robin" to the grounded, gritty "Dark Knight," filmmakers attempting to reinvent the wheel is the norm with the Caped Crusader. That holds true for "The Batman" as well, which will introduce moviegoers to a brand-new Gotham, occupied by dark, twisted versions of its comic book residents. Within this tonal framework will be an action-packed detective story, unlike anything we've seen out of this corner of the DC universe on the big screen before.

Bearing this in mind, a promotional theater display for "The Batman" has gone all-in with a crazy, true crime-inspired Easter egg.

"The Batman" is breaking away from the trends of its predecessors in more ways than one. Gone are the high-tech gadgets used by Ben Affleck's DCEU incarnation, and so is the campiness that came with the likes of Michael Keaton and Val Kilmer's performances. The world around this new Bruce Wayne (Robert Pattinson) is grim and eerie, hence why the traditionally kooky Riddler (Paul Dano) has transformed into a Zodiac Killer-esque figure. In fact, he has even taken up the use of ciphers to taunt a novice Batman and stump Gotham's police force.

One such secret code appears on a theater display promoting "The Batman," as shown by @blurayangel on Twitter. It's along the bottom of the base and appears to be just a series of jumbled-up symbols with no real meaning. However, that's what the Riddler wants us all to think, so it didn't take long for fans to not only begin decoding it but solve it as well. It reads, "You are el rata alada," which translates to "You are the winged rat" (via Collider), so even though he appears to be a conniving, dangerous criminal, the Riddler isn't above slinging schoolyard insults at his bat-themed adversary.

"The Batman" will debut on March 4, 2022, and when it does, it's a safe bet that we'll see the Riddler play some more mind games with Batman as their rivalry develops.