If you were wowed by the most recent trailer for The Batman, you may not have noticed the strange symbols at the bottom of the title/cast card that appears at the very end. It turns they were a message left by the Riddler (via the Warner Bros. PR department) for you.
If you did notice the symbols, then you’re acutely aware they’re more of the strange ones the Riddler frequently leaves behind with his signature question mark. These were decoded after the first trailer was released back in 2020, so it presumably didn’t take those same sleuths long to realise the message in this trailer is “You are el rata alada.” “El rata alada” is Spanish for “the winged rat,” which is a common (although incorrect) epithet for the animals among bat-haters. But “you are el” is phonetically the same as URL,” leading folks to see if “www.rataalada.com” held any surprises.
It certainly does, at least to an extent. It’s a text-based, MS-DOS-inspired website run by the Riddler, who invites visitors to solve three riddles. I don’t know which surprised me more — that the riddles are extremely easy or that the supervillain is exceedingly patient with people who guess incorrectly, even if they’re being arseholes, like me:
Entering all three correct answers (I’ll stick them at the bottom, just in case you want them) nets you a trio of Gotham City Police Department witness sketches of Batman:
I adore how terrible and sad the left-most Batman looks. It’s like Commissioner Gordon saw this pitiful drawing, ordered the GCPD’s 10-year-old police artist to go to art school for a decade, and then try again. There’s another bit of less tragic promo art to be found if you reload the site, as the Riddler asks if you’ve been to Penguin’s Iceberg Lounge; either answer gives you access.
Honestly, it’s not the greatest Augmented Reality Game/viral movie tie-in, and certainly doesn’t have much in the rewards department, but I wouldn’t trade my time with this depressed, full-lipped gentleman for anything.
The Batman premieres on March 4, 2022 — and those answers, if you were wondering, are “street,” “law,” and “Batman.” You’ll know which is which.
[Via CBR]
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