Funny / The Batman (2022)

Spoilers are unmarked on moment pages.

This may be the darkest live-action Batman yet, but it still has a couple of moments to remind us that Batman is inherently funny.

Film

• There's something funny about how brutally straightforward and almost last-minute the studio logos and Title Card feels. It's as if the movie is itching so bad to drop us into the story that it goes, "okay, here's who made this movie happen, here's the title, let's go, people, lotta ground to cover here!"
  • Slightly downplayed by the fact that the Title Card itself is identical to the one employed by another Darker and Edgier take on Batman's Arch-Enemy...
• The drophead that robs the convenience store in the opening and spots the Bat-Signal in the sky. You can't see his face under his mask and yet he manages to convey the perfect amount of Oh, Crap! despite his mask having a permanent smiley face on it.
• When Gordon brings Batman to Mitchell's house for the crime scene, every single cop looks annoyed as the latter enters the hallway, with their faces saying, "Oh great, this weirdo's here too."
• A detective lets Gordon in on the examination of Mitchell's body and almost bumps into Batman when he tries to move into a different position. It's hilariously awkward.
  Detective: ...Excuse me.
  [Batman slowly shuffles out of the way]
• Batman and Jim look in Don Mitchell's car, where they find a USB drive with Mitchell's severed thumb on the keyring, literally making it a thumb drive. They then have to use the thumbprint to unlock the drive, much to Gordon's disgust. Batman doesn't do this, instead passing the thumb to Gordon, creating the probably unintentional impression that Bruce was grossed out by the thumb and wanted Gordon to deal with it instead.^note The real probable reason is that, as an illegal vigilante, Batman cannot compromise the evidence at the crime scene by using it himself, thus it must be handled by the legal officer instead, but the imagery is still chuckle-worthy.
  Gordon: (opens the USB drive's biometric print scanner; realizing what the Riddler did) Oh, this guy's hilarious...
  • Batman's deadpan delivery when he shows Gordon the clue and says "Thumb... drive" is also of note.
• In his first trip to the Iceberg Lounge, Batman gets confronted by Kenzie, who threatens to shoot him in the face if he doesn't surrender. Batman, looking mildly annoyed more than anything else, throws the baseball bat he was holding directly into Kenzie's head, knocking him out instantly.
  • In future encounters, Batman almost always brings up the bandage Kenzie wears around his nose afterward, sounding almost proud of the fact he managed to pull the stunt off.
    Batman: That's one of the guys I got into it with the other night. [smugly] Looks like I broke his nose.
  • Batman mocks Kenzie yet again, this time to Jim in a whispery tone, when he shows up to the GCPD station after Batman was hauled there by the cops.
    Batman: Who's the moustache with the broken nose?
• After beating up the Penguin's goons, Batman meets the man himself. Penguin attempts to strike up some small talk, and it's clear that Batman is having none of it. Then their conversation trails off when Batman sees Selina Kyle walk by and can't help but stare at her.
• Penguin must have heard Batman's catchphrase ("I'm vengeance") at some point, because he sarcastically calls him "Vengeance" during their entire conversation (a nickname Selina later adopts for him). Penguin got one over on Batman with a Dad joke.
• While the scene itself is very disturbing, there's something darkly hilarious about how Riddler ends his video showing off the rat trap on Pete Savage's head by cheerfully saying "Goodbye!" while posing for the camera like the two of them are taking a selfie. Made even funnier by the fact that, although you can't see his face, you just know he's smiling under the mask.
• The fight between Selina and Bruce... Catwoman and Batman in Mitchell's home as Batman catches her in the act of recovering her friend's passport so she could escape Gotham. For all of Bruce's violence towards street thugs, he goes surprisingly easy on Selina as they spar. Their movements practically become a dance, like they're flirting as they test each other's skills. The humor comes from understanding that this is how their canonical relationship goes.
  • Batman snatches Annika's passport from Selina at one point. He proceeds to hold her At Arm's Length when she tries to take it back.
• When Batman speaks with Selina in her apartment, her pet cats swarm around his feet.
  Batman: You got a lot of cats.
  Selina: I have a thing about strays.
• Selina is going to spy on the Iceberg Lounge and 44 Below for Batman. As they get ready, Batman at one point tells Selina, "Look at me," as if he wants to gaze into her eyes romantically, reassure her that he's got her back and he won't put her in danger, that he'll be there for her and protect her. Nope, he's just checking that her spy contact lens looks fine. She is clearly annoyed and disappointed.
• D.A. Gil Colson is already drunk and high when Selina meets him inside the Iceberg Lounge, and he starts blabbing endless secrets as soon as she joins his table. Batman's recording the whole thing, and he almost can't believe collecting the information he needs is this easy.
  Batman: He's wasted.
  Selina: No shit.
  • The fact that Batman, who has been The Quiet One up to this point, is downright chatty with Selina when he doesn't have to talk to her face-to-face.
• The Rule of Three with the Twins.
  • Batman finally decides to infiltrate the Iceberg Lounge himself. He knocks on the door, lets the Twins get a good look at him, and whispers, "Do you know who I am?"
    Twin #2: Get outta here, freak. You hear me? Or that little suit's gonna get all full of blood.
    Batman: Mine or yours?
  • Second time, he comes to talk to Falcone as Bruce Wayne. He asks the twins, "Do you know who I am?", almost like he's a snotty rich kid trading on his father's name. And it works, as the twins gawk at him like he's a Hollywood celeb. (Also probably helped that Bruce is still reeling about the revelation about his parents.)
  • Third time, Batman just breezes past them and locks the front door when they go to investigate.
• Riddler attached a cellphone to Colson's hand which started ringing since he crashed into the church. It's shown that a few hours have passed since and it's still ringing, meaning Riddler was patient enough to have kept calling multiple times or was able to keep on the line for hours until Batman picked up. Really shows how much of a loony fanboy he is.
  • There's also the fact that the phone is duct-taped to Colson's right hand, as if to make Colson swear to tell the truth in front of a court.
  • If there was ever the slim chance Batman didn't show up to the church, imagine how long Riddler would've kept Colson there and the phone ringing.
  • Look closely at the bomb collar. It has little blue and red flashing lights. Just like a police siren.
• When Batman has to get out of an increasingly anti-Batman police station, Gordon gives him instructions on how to get out and tells him to punch him. Batman obliges. In the face. When they meet later, Gordon grumbles that Batman could have pulled the punch.
  Batman: I did.
  • Since the whole station is watching them, Gordon and Batman have to act as though they are having a silent argument, when in reality they're exchanging new unearthed information. So we get Gordon getting all up in Batman's face, sneering intensely, but he's actually having a regular but quick conversation with him.
    Gordon: You listen to me. ...We gotta get you outta here...
    Batman: They'll put a lot of heat on you.
    Gordon: Not if you punch me in the face.
    Batman: ...Heh.
  • Then there's the cop who thought it was a good idea to try to unmask Batman by grabbing his cowl ears.
  • The little debate the officers are having when Batman starts to awaken. Especially the one of them who is really insistent on knowing who Batman is.
  • Batman is sprinting as fast as he can through the police station with hundreds of screaming cops running after him, with dozens more pouring out of their offices and joining the chase from each floor he passes as he rappels up the main stairwell to the roof using his grappling gun. Looks like GCPD approves of the use of unnecessary violence to apprehend Batman.
  • Seeing Batman, who in most media is the master of the Stealth Hi/Bye, not bothering with that and just clumsily running like hell down a hallway is an inherently funny sight, worthy of the Adam West Batman.
  • In the process of escaping the police station, Batman ends up at the edge of the roof, with the officers right behind him. Batman visibly hesitates twice, first when he realizes what he has to do to escape from such a height, and second, upon activating his wingsuit, when he's obviously psyching himself up to take off. Apparently, Bruce has a bit of vertigo and despite usually being Crazy-Prepared, Batman forgot to actually train to glide.
  • After escaping the police station, Batman deploys a parachute... right as he's approaching a bridge. The chute gets caught and he hits the bridge facefirst, bounces off a bus and a car hood, and tumbles a few dozen yards through piles of trash. He then awkwardly pulls himself to his feet, and then stumbles off in a "oh-kay…never doing that again" manner. You almost expect him to say "I'm Okay!" as he limps away.
  • Batman lost his cape when he deployed his wingsuit, but is seen with it again when he meets Jim on the rooftop, meaning he might've had to go back to the cave or his Batmobile to get another one.
• There's something amusing in that, after the hype and power of The Reveal of the Batmobile... it stalls out, giving Penguin time to run away (and give him a narrative reason to get in his own car and set up the amazing chase scene).
  • Some fans theorized that Batman did that on purpose as a scare tactic, almost as if saying "Boo". Which is somehow even funnier.
  • During the chase, Penguin's screaming at the other highwaygoers in his way. The song for this bit is, fittingly, titled "Highway to the Anger Zone".
• The entirety of the Penguin's interrogation. His Brooklyn Rage is in full force here. The first thing he does when he realizes he’s being interrogated is call out Batman and Gordon for their game of "Good cop, batshit cop"... which was probably an unintentional pun, given how Copplepot realised Batman was absolutely 'crazy' in pursuing him.
  • When Batman and Gordon bring up "el rata alada", a bemused Oz quickly points out that it should be "la rata alada", and accuses them of not knowing basic Spanish, then hammily mocks them with "¿No habla Español, fellas?" at the two.^note Which is also, amusingly, incorrect Spanish. The correct wording would have been "No hablAN/hablÁIS Español", as Penguin is addressing more than one individual. It's possible that Penguin could very well have intentionally used the wrong phrasing to mock them further. This also serves as a Call-Back to Alfred and Bruce's conversation from earlier in the film. Penguin also calls them out for automatically assuming a penguin is a rat with wings and asks why they didn't think of a friggin' bat. For a split second, Batman and Gordon look genuinely embarrassed that friggin' Penguin of all people noticed something they didn't... Then again, Batman couldn't have ratted on something he was never part of. Anyway, Gordon can't really riposte that, so he just snaps at Penguin, "Do me a favor, shithead, shut up!" so that he and Batman can actually think.
    • Really, just the look on Penguin's face when he first hears "El Rata Alada". Gordon just showed him a horrific picture of Commissioner Savage's corpse, then asked him a question with an (unknown to Gordon) example of bad Spanish. Penguin has a bewildered look of "What the fuck did this guy just say?!" on his face when he repeats the incorrect Spanish.
  • Turns out even that wasn't the real solution to the riddle: Carmine Falcone ratted on Sal Maroni so he could take over his drug ring. The "Winged Rat" wasn't a penguin or a bat; it was a falcon.
  • Penguin gets genuinely disgusted when Gordon shows him a picture of the mutilated corpse of Commissioner Savage. He might be a sleazeball and a loser, but he's not a freak.
    Penguin: Holy Gahd, what're ya showin' me here?!
    Gordon: This was around his HEAD!
    Penguin: C'monnn!
    Gordon: OPEN YOUR EYES!
    • The tone of voice isn't even horrified or anything. It's as if he's eating dinner and Gordon just decided to show him a gross-out picture he found and he's upset that he's losing his appetite.
  • With the interrogation and the subsequent investigation of rataarada-dot-com finished, Batman and Gordon drive off to continue the investigation... leaving Penguin without a ride and still ziptied by his wrists and ankles. As he calls out to them demanding to be freed, his restraints force him to waddle about like an actual penguin.
    Penguin: YOU GODDAMNED SONS OF BITCHES!
  • Before this, he complains that Batman and Gordon are acting like they've forgotten he's there. They then immediately charge away without paying him the slightest bit of attention. In fact, because of how the sequence was set up, it's highly likely that after all the dramatic plot revelations going on, the audience had forgotten he was there.
• Batman and Gordon go back to the drawing board on the clue and realize the "You Are El" part meant something way more basic: URL. Batman types rataalada.com into a web browser and immediately finds the solution to the riddle. Gordon's reaction is pure You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!.
  Gordon: Is that him…? Ho-ly shit.
• When Batman and Gordon investigate the orphanage, Gordon draws his gun and Batman immediately says, "No guns." Annoyed, Gordon says, "Yeah, man, that's your thing."
  • While the context is extremely serious, there is something funny about Batman pulling his iconic vanishing act on Gordon for what's implied to be the first time.
    Gordon: Hey!
• When Bruce goes to confront Falcone, the gangster is making small talk with Penguin and the rest of his goons. It’s hard to make out what they’re talking about but the subtitles reveal Carmine is wondering aloud how much money the inventor of the ball ended up making.
• There is something to Bruce sitting at Alfred's bedside for what might be days, and then calling him out for lying as soon as he wakes up.
• The Riddler's final clue: "Bring him into the light." Batman thinks he means exposing Carmine Falcone's crimes of murder and corruption. But as they're finally arresting him and exiting the Iceberg Lounge, Falcone is shot dead by Riddler. Police then find that he'd been renting an apartment across the club, and his sniper's nest had a perfect view just under a specific streetlamp outside the front entrance. Riddler literally meant for Batman to bring him into the light, so he could shoot him.
  • Riddler ends up calling back to this later on:
    "What did we just do? I told you to bring him into the light, and you did. We make such a good team."
• When the police finally catch the maskless Riddler at a diner, he turns to the cops and innocently mutters, "I just ordered a slice of pumpkin pie," before getting his head slammed into the counter.
• The contrast of Riddler's cold and psychotic persona with his incredibly casual and friendly greeting of "Hey, guys, thanks for all the comments..." to his online followers in the recording of his video, sounding indistinguishable from a typical vlogger or streamer.
  • He then thanks his followers for their advice on detonation techniques in the exact same tone one might say "Thanks for recommending that movie!"
  • Afterwards, he goes on to share a weirdly (and creepily) endearing message:
    "What this community has meant to me... these weeks, these months... let's just say none of us... is alone anymore."
  • Similarly, his livestream of Commissioner Savage has hearts pop up on the bottom of the screen when his viewers react to the video, which is jarring when juxtaposed with how he's livestreaming a Saw-style death by torture.
• During an otherwise tense moment as the Riddler's bombs demolish the seawall and unleash the impending flood, Riddler himself is watching the chaos unfold cozily in his cell at Arkham, mouthing "BOOM!" with each explosion.
• The Riddler is excited to meet Batman when the Dark Knight comes to visit him in prison. In his view, Batman has been helping him expose Gotham's corruption alongside him. Ironically, he reacts how a real fan would act if he got to actually meet Batman.
  Riddler: God, look at you... your mask is amazing! I wish you could've seen me in mine.
  • When Eddie realizes that Batman had never intended to aide in his crusade and finds him insane, he has an honest-to-God meltdown in front of him, with a prolonged monotone yell, a monotone Rapid-Fire "No!", and incredibly hammy moaning about how their meeting wasn't going like he thought it would go.
  • The Riddler starts singing Ave Maria at one point during Batman's attempt to interrogate him. Sure, It Makes Sense in Context, but the duet of the Riddler's high-pitched warbling while Batman screams at him is worth a few laughs.
    • The fact that it's even listed in the credits as a cover by Paul Dano is also chuckle-worthy.
  • Batman goes into the interrogation clearly nervous, upset, and maybe even a little embarrassed, as he (and the audience at this juncture) has reason to think Riddler knows his secret identity. Throughout the whole first chunk of the interrogation, Riddler seems to confirm this by going on a Motive Rant about Bruce Wayne, the tension ratchets up, Batman clearly thinks it's all over and he is about to be outed… then Riddler casually refers to Batman and Bruce Wayne as separate people, and the tense music instantly stops as Riddler segues into his loony rambling about what a big fan of Batman he is and how he'll get to be famous. Batman's expression is priceless.
  • In general, the whole Bait-and-Switch with Riddler and how the movie spends so much time making it seem like he's this hardcore Darker and Edgier hypercompetent version of the character… only for his laughable rant and childish breakdown in the interrogation to reveal, nope, this is the same pathetic loser Manchild Riddler that comic fans know and love, just manifested in a different way. Most of the harm he caused was a mixture of dumb luck; assistance from his followers; being overestimated; his riddles being poorly constructed in that they're too difficult, bordering on Moon Logic Puzzle at times; and being reliant on Batman thinking like Riddler/magically knowing the things Riddler knows (he does neither). In fact, he's so incompetent and delusional that he can't even figure out basic facts about his supposed idol, including whether or not they even agree philosophically.
• Batman shining his flashlight right into Martinez's eyes when he returns to Riddler's apartment. This is a... weirdly childish thing for Batman to do and is very likely petty revenge for when Martinez called him a "goddamn freak" way back in the beginning of the movie.
  • Martinez then offhandedly comments on the item Riddler used to kill Mitchell, only to get a confused stare from Batman before he quickly explains it's to install carpets.
• During the final battle against the Riddler's Mooks, one particular lone thug empties his rifle on Batman to no effect. He futilely tries to cycle the weapon, realizes nothing is happening, and then looks up at the untouched and completely unamused Batman giving his best "Oh you done fucked up now" face. The thug immediately turns tail and runs, only for Batman to chase him down and tackle him, clearly more annoyed than usual.
• Much like every superhero movie, The Batman has a little something for folks who waited after the credits. But rather than being a teaser for the sequel, we're treated to the word GOODBYE written in Riddler's green text appearing on screen.
• The Riddler wears an Army cold weather mask as part of his costume. Ahead of the film's release, many people incorrectly claimed it was duct tape or bandages^note presumably based on the repetition of horizontal panels in the mask, like Hush. Come the film itself, and the Riddler's own social media followers have to point out the correct item to each other.
• When Batman helps the woman onto the airlift gurney, she holds onto him as he lowers her. There's something inherently chuckle-worthy about seeing him a tad startled by it. It very quickly turns into a heartwarming moment though, as he assures her he's got her.
• After the Riddler's first victim, Alfred is seen working on the Riddler's cypher at the breakfast table like it's a Crossword Puzzle.
• In a deleted scene, Batman decides to ask a familiar inmate at Arkham his take on the Riddler's motive, handing him the letters Riddler had wrote. His first response? To comment that it's been a year since Batman incarcerated him and that he's insulted that all Batman got for their "anniversary" were postcards.
  The Joker: First anniversary is paper... what makes you think I'd come so cheap?
  • There is an exchange in their meeting showing that while Joker understands Batman like no one else, the reverse is also true.
    Batman: I thought you'd be curious.
    The Joker: You think I get off on this stuff?
    Batman: Don't you?
    The Joker: ...You have pictures?
  • While he ends up right on the money with what Riddler's motive is, Joker takes every opportunity to be a troll about it, infuriating Batman to no end.
    The Joker: I know who he is...
    Batman: Who? Who is he?
    The Joker: He's a nobody, who wants to be somebody!
• Someone on Twitter downloaded The Batman in HD when it arrived on HBO Max, and was able to get screenshots of what the viewers of the Riddler's streams were saying.

  BirdimusB0mbs: i've never witnessed a live execution before
  

  xXF1reBugXx: Aw, baby's first time.
  

  ratchetthatshit: wow this feed is really blowin' up
  

  Da7aM1N3R: 👿👿👿👿👿👿👿👿
  

  Cl0ckbreak3r-: who is this idiot in costume?
  

  DData_Drag0n: Screw the poser in black. I need more Riddler.
  

• When Selina visits her mother's grave, Batman decides to drop in on her. Cue Selina complaining that he doesn't just say "Hi." like a normal person.

Meta:

• Michael Giacchino is in top form with his puns as usual. Just a couple examples:
  • "Mayoral Ducting" plays during the scene where the police investigate the mayor's duct tape-wrapped body.
  • "Moving in for the Gil" plays when Riddler kidnaps Gil Colson from the Lounge.
  • "Collar ID" plays after Batman answers the Riddler's call from Gil Colson's phone. That call has no caller ID…and neither does Colson's bomb collar!
  • "Escaped Crusader" plays when Batman escapes the GCPD headquarters.
  • "Meow and You and Everyone We Know" plays during Batman and Selina's conversation on the rooftop.
• Robert Pattinson revealed that Christian Bale's advice to him on playing Batman was to make sure he could go to the bathroom in it. Considering it's the exact same advice he gave Ben Affleck, it's probably becoming obvious that he's not entirely joking.
• In YouTube clips of Riddler's Wayne "exposé", several commenters said Riddler would make a great true crime YouTuber.
• The promotional site Rata Alada dot Com is still online... But has been seized by the Gotham Police Department.

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