The Batman: The Riddle in the First Trailer Might Have Already Been Solved

The Batman fans might have already have solved The Riddler’s coded message that was glimpsed in the film’s first trailer at the DC FanDome event.Twitter user Andrew Lane was amongst the first to put pen to paper on the riddle, which was presented inside a card, left behind at a murder scene being investigated by GCPD’s Jim Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) in the trailer. One side of the card appears to ask the question, “what does a liar do when he’s dead?” while the opposite side of the card challenges the recipient to decipher a coded sentence of symbols.

“He lies still,” is the answer, according to the fan who worked to crack the code. Lane shared his methodology below the original tweet, explaining how he analysed the symbols to find recurring ones and then started to substitute those with the most commonly used letters. Game designer Mike Selinker reached the same conclusion when he tried to solve the puzzle by “brute force.”

His Twitter thread details the lengthy process of unravelling the secret message, revealing a similar process of elimination for decrypting the sentence. However, the meaning behind that sentence still appears to be unclear. “He lies still” is a double entendre because the word “lies” can relate to an individual being in a resting position or a person giving an intentionally false statement.

Despite not making an official appearance on screen in the new footage, Paul Dano’s Edward Nashton (AKA the Riddler) seems to be one of the main villain’s in Matt Reeves’ The Batman, though it is not yet known whether he will turn out to be the masked killer from the trailer or whether he will simply serve as an obstacle in the Dark Knight’s quest to bring the true enemy to justice.

We’ve examined all of the evidence of The Riddler as friend or foe as part of our roundup of DC FanDome’s biggest announcements and reveals. For even more Bat-coverage, feast your eyes on the first images from The Batman, The Batman’s new logo and this sweet Jim Lee artwork, get the latest on when The Batman will resume filming, and learn about the GCPD spin-off series coming to HBO Max.

The Batman – Official Trailer 1 Stills

Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.