The Batman ending leak reveals an apocalyptic sequel
Into each life, a little rain must fall.
Next year’s The Batman will signal yet another franchise refresh for Batman.
We’ve seen the vigilante as a colorful crusader, the darkest knight, Batfleck, and even as a baby bat. But The Batman promises to bring something new: a glimpse at Batman at the beginning of his career, facing off against noirish villains.
While the success of this new take is not yet assured, a new leak suggests there are already plans for a sequel — and it's far darker than anything we’ve seen before.
The final moments of The Batman will deal with the Riddler flooding Gotham, according to a leak posted to the DCEULeaks subreddit by a source named ViewerAnon. (In the past, this leaker has also alleged that the Illuminati will appear in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and that The Matrix 4 will see a “wildly mixed” response, though their credibility is highly questionable.)
“I wouldn't call it apocalyptic, but the third act does deal with Riddler setting off bombs in Gotham harbors to flood the city,” the leak reads. “It's why Batman screams ‘What have you done?!’ in the trailer.”
Batman makes his first appearance in Zero Year, published in 2013.
For fans of the comics, a flood in Gotham brings to mind one storyline in particular — Scott Snyder’s Zero Year, which begins with Gotham flooded and Batman presumed dead. Could this be where The Batman is headed, with the sequel beginning just where Zero Year starts? It would make for a great comic adaptation, but it’s not the only option that could be inspiring the filmmakers.
In June 2021, DC Comics released Legends of the Dark Knight, which follows Batman dealing with a Gotham that’s also been flooded, this time seemingly by Killer Croc. However, the flood was merely a distraction for a group of sleazy stockbrokers to rob the Gotham Stock Exchange. In order to take down the robbers, Killer Croc hesitantly forms an alliance with Batman.
Killer Croc in Legends of the Dark Knight #12, published in June 2021.
Could this be an inspiration for the future of The Batman? Matt Reeves’ universe may seem a bit too grounded for Killer Croc, who’s a little too Calendar-Man-esque of a villain compared to the realistic Riddler and Penguin we know we’ll see in The Batman. (At least, as realistic as the Riddler and Penguin can possibly be.)
A third possibility is this flooding will somehow factor in to the Knightmare sequence we saw in Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Could this leak be the missing link between the Reeves Batman universe and the Snyderverse?
Only time will tell, but this leak means one thing is for sure: just because The Batman seems more subdued than the over-the-top superhero action we’ve seen before, that doesn’t mean it won’t end up equally epic.
The Batman premieres in theaters March 4, 2022.
