Paul Dano's portrayal of Batman's foe, Riddler, in The Batman has earned him praises, with fans appreciating the darker take on a character that has traditionally been comical. But how good is his performance, compared to other voice and live-action actors that have portrayed the villain (and on Ranker)?
Ever since he debuted in Detective Comics #140, Riddler has gone on to appear in 30 live-action and animation DC projects. He has rarely missed in the video games either. And while his personality has shifted from time to time, he has maintained his habit of using complex riddles to make his crimes appear more complex.
Robert Englund - The Batman (2005)
There is no one more fitting to play a Batman villain than a horror movie veteran. Englund is best known for portraying Freddy Krueger in the The Phantom Of The Opera.
Despite being voiced by a horror actor, Englund's Riddler isn't fiendish. Additionally, he is shown to not be too concerned about Batman. He mostly has a problem with other characters, including his father, who was always jealous of his intelligence, and Gorman, who sabotaged his plans to build a brain-altering device. Appearance-wise, he is unique too as he is a bit lean, compared to other versions of the character.
John Astin - Batman (1966)
Astin only played Riddler in season 2 of the live-action series. His best-known work is that of the patriarch Gomez Addams in The Addams Family.
Aston's Riddler mostly shines because of his unique weapons and equipment. He has a wax emitter, which emits wax emulsion capable of making someone's feet stick to the ground. This is shown to be very beneficial to him as it always enables him to escape. In addition to that, he has the Riddle Juice, capable of causing amnesia, and the Temper Tonic, capable of making anyone lose their temper.
Conan O'Brien - The Lego Batman Movie (2017)
Conan has had a great career hosting late-night talk shows for close to 3 decades. He has also served as a writer for The Simpsons.
O'Brien's Riddler is a resilient one. Though he keeps on getting defeated, he remains adamant about staying in Gotham until the day he'll outsmart Batman. Initially, he was more of a drifter, moving from city to city. Thanks to Batman's great knowledge of what he "useless trivia," he is the only one who ever figures out what he's doing.
Matthew Gray Gubler - Assault On Arkham (2014)
Gubler's most recognizable role is that of criminal profiler Dr. Spencer Reid in Criminal Minds. And he doesn't do so bad as one of Gotham's hardcore criminals.
Gubler's Riddler can pride himself in being the only one that gets to have a proper Suicide Squad storyline. His arc is refreshing since he isn't feuding with Batman but Amanda Waller. Interestingly, he keeps using Batman as a pawn to prevent the ARGUS boss from killing him. All Suicide Squad teams sent to terminate him fail because he just so happened to have left enough clues to make Batman show up and save him.
Wally Wingert - Return Of The Caped Crusaders (2016) & Batman Vs Two-Face (2017)
Strictly a deejay and voice actor by profession, Wingert has been part of 110 animated projects over the years. He is also one of few actors that have voiced both DC and Marvel characters.
Since Return Of The Caped Crusaders is an animated version of the '60s TV show, Wingert's Riddler is similar to John Astin's. The goofiness is maintained and so are the innovative gadgets. Wingert has also been lucky enough to voice the same character in the Arkhmaverse series of video games.
Jim Carrey - Batman Forever (1995)
Perhaps the most famous actor to ever play Riddler, Carrey has continued to hold on to his popularity, thanks to the Sonic franchise. In the last 3 decades, he has been typecast as a comedic actor too.
Carrey's Riddler is an extremely comical one, blurring the personality lines between him and the Joker. As such, his uproarious quotes also count as some of the best Batman Forever quotes. His arc is directly tied to Bruce Wayne too since it's only after the billionaire rejects his ideas that he chooses to become a criminal. Furthermore, he proves to be a great team player by working extremely well with Two-Face.
John Glover - Batman: The Animated Series (1992-1994)
Glover is one of few Batman & Robin.
One of the things fans get to notice about Edward Nygma in the series is that his origin story is different. Here, he starts out as a skilled game developer for the company known as Competition, and when he gets sacked by a jealous boss, he opts to go to crime. It's not a legit reason for breaking bad since as a star employee he could have found work elsewhere. Nonetheless, he has a couple of great duels with Batman.
Frank Gorshin - Batman (1966) & The Legends Of The Superheroes (1979)
Gorshin is the only actor to ever win a major award for playing the DC villain. The comedian won an Emmy for his impressive performances.
Apart from the usual eccentricities, Gorshin's Riddler distinguishes himself from others by mostly operating as part of a team. He is a member of the Legion Of Doom, which tasks Justice League with locating a hidden bomb. He is close to a sitcom character too as there is a laugh track after each of his lines of dialogue.
Paul Dano - The Batman (2022)
Before his big break as Riddler, Dano had numerous roles as minor characters ever since he was a teenager. One of his early roles was that of A.J. Sopranos' friend Patrick Whalen in The Sopranos.
Modeled after the Zodiac Killer, Dano's Riddler is undoubtedly the darkest there has ever been. He enjoys murdering people just as much as he enjoys riddling. Another reason he will ways tower above the rest is that his costume is also unique. Instead of the traditional tight green costume, he opts for a baggy one which allows him to carry more murder weapons.
Cory Michael Smith - Gotham (2014 - 2019)
Smith's filmography isn't as vast as that of the other actors. Apart from Riddler, he is also known for his role as Thomas Christie in Utopia.
In what is yet another interesting take on the Gotham criminal, Smith's Riddler starts out as a forensic science technician for the GD. And while Riddler doesn't have a proper relationship with Penguin in the Matt Reeves movie, Smith's Riddler has a love-hate relationship with the character, even going as far as to serve as his Chief of Staff during his time as Mayor.
