Tim Burton’s Batman franchise continues thirty-three years after Batman Returns seemingly bade farewell to Michael Keaton’s Dark Knight. Burton’s plans for a trilogy fell through following Batman Returns‘ divisive reception, which led to Joel Schumacher’s campy reboot in Batman Forever and Batman & Robin. Although Keaton’s Batman returned one last time in The Flash, Burton’s Gotham was never fully revisited on screen.
DC is finally solving this problem with the release of the novel Batman: Revolution, which serves as the third installment in Tim Burton’s Batman trilogy. Revolution is the sequel to Batman: Resurrection, which takes place between the events of Batman and Batman Returns. Both novels address several inconsistencies between Burton’s two movies and introduce three major DC villains: Clayface, Hugo Strange, and the Riddler.
Batman: Revolution Introduces A Proper Burtonverse Riddler
Jim Carrey’s The Riddler Is Retconned Out Again
Tim Burton had plans to introduce the Riddler in Batman 3, with Robin Williams briefly in talks to play the enigma-obsessed villain. When Burton’s sequel fell through, Joel Schumacher retooled Burton’s plans and added Jim Carrey’s Riddler to Batman Forever as co-antagonist. Three decades later, Batman: Resurrection replaces Carrey’s Riddler with Norman Pinkus, a Gotham Globe reporter who tries to follow in Batman’s footsteps as a detective.
The comic book continuation of Tim Burton’s Batman universe, Batman ’89, introduces its own version of the Riddler, called Edward Nigel Maynard aka E-Nig-Ma. Modeled after actor Martin Short, this Riddler exists in a parallel universe, but he also provides his help to Batman using riddles, just like Batman: Revolution‘s Norman Pinkus does in the novel. Neither of these Riddlers are confirmed to exist in the DCEU’s version of Tim Burton’s Gotham, however.
The Burtonverse Batman Novels Add A Few Twists To Their Universe’s Lore
Clayface Makes His Movie-Novel Debut A Two Years Before He Appears In The DCU
John Jackson Miller’s two Burtonverse Batman novels play with Tim Burton’s movies. Batman: Resurrection reveals that Dr. Hugo Strange uses the Joker’s Smylex to attempt mass brainwashing, while Karlo Babić is disfigured by Smylex-derived cosmetics, which transform him into Clayface. All throughout, the Joker’s body goes missing, and Max Schreck begins to show his influence on Gotham’s criminal underworld.
Norman Pinkus is key to unveiling Hugo Strange’s true plans and saving Batman in Batman: Resurrection, but Pinkus becomes the main threat to the Dark Knight in Batman: Revolution. Though still fitting for Burton’s gloomy universe, this Riddler’s slower-paced arc makes him a far more serious antagonist than Jim Carrey’s version. Since Batman: Resurrection is a traditional novel, readers are free to picture Norman Pinkus as the late Robin Williams or any other star in the role.
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- Release Date
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June 23, 1989
- Runtime
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126 minutes
- Writers
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Sam Hamm, Warren Skaaren, Bob Kane
- Producers
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Jon Peters
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- Release Date
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June 19, 1992
- Runtime
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126 minutes
- Writers
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Bob Kane, Daniel Waters, Sam Hamm
- Producers
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Denise Di Novi
