2025’s upcoming Batman sequel totally rewrites the story of a 1995 DC movie and the arc of a major villain within it. Though DC’s efforts to expand its movie universes are currently and understandably focused on the DCU timeline, that by no means is the only project set to see expansion in the near future.

For example, DC’s next developments on a movie franchise are currently just a few weeks away, and look to evolve and flesh out the wider mythos of the series in question considerably – though, interestingly, the way in which this is set to be done also means a rewrite of one Batman movie will be essentially unavoidable.

Batman: Revolution Changes The Riddler’s Story In A Major Way

2025’s upcoming October expansion to the universe that began with the 1989 Batman movie is particularly interesting in that it shows the Riddler in a very different light. The follow-up release to Batman: Resurrection – which itself continued directly off the story of Batman and explored the gap between it and Batman Returns – Batman: Revolution takes things in an unusual direction.

While Batman Forever had its own version of the Riddler, who went by Edward Nygma and was played by Jim Carrey, Batman: Revolution‘s Riddler appears to be a different figure who uses the same alias – establishing that Revolution will be rewriting the Riddler’s history in this series whatever happens.

In Batman: Resurrection, we’re introduced to said new Riddler – Norman Pinkus, an underestimated man working for the Gotham Gazette and who’s obsessed with puzzles – with the 2024 novel setting up Pinkus’ development into a villain after his ostensibly well-intentioned efforts start to take a more sinister turn.

Of course, there is always the chance that Batman: Revolution will tie into Batman Forever or otherwise allow these releases to co-exist by suggesting that Pinkus becomes Edward Nygma – or by showing the Riddler тιтle as a mantle that is taken up by more than one character in the world – though both would be major story changes.

However, it currently looks more likely that Batman: Revolution will build itself into a new timeline that only builds on the events of Batman and Batman Returns – an approach that makes sense given the way the franchise has handled recent updates to its mythos, and since this would have some unique benefits.

Why Batman: Revolution May Be Better Rewriting The Riddler’s Batman Forever Story Altogether

Batman Forever is a corner of Batman’s movie history that definitely has its merits. However, the film’s tonal changes and the story it developed remain divisive with audiences, since both eschewed the gothic noir aspects of the previous films in the series, and altered much of what audiences loved most about them.

As such, it makes sense for Batman: Revolution to build a different route, and one that perhaps only keeps the events of Batman and Batman Returns as entirely canon. This was already teased to be the case in Batman: Resurrection, since the early setup here for its version of the Riddler already seemed at odds with Forever‘s story.

Indeed, there is a precedent for this being possible outside of the 1989 Batman sequel books, too. The Batman Echoes comics – which similarly sought to delve into the movie universe further – also developed a version of the Riddler who was notably different to Batman Forever‘s own, with Edward Nigel Maynard being an ex-soldier instead of a disgruntled Wayne Enterprises employee.

Altogether, this proves it is possible for Batman: Revolution to entirely forgo the Batman movies’ Riddler story and replace it with a new one if this benefits the book – though it’s clear the 2025 novel will rewrite this chapter of the Riddler’s story considerably either way.