Could Holiday be the secret main villain of Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne for the very first time, The Batman is one of the most intriguing superhero propositions on the cinematic calendar. Moving away from the DCEU after Ben Affleck's departure, The Batman looks set to deliver a dark and unique interpretation of the famous Dark Knight. The film is also confirmed to include a number of recognizable villains - Paul Dano as The Riddler, Colin Farrell as Penguin, Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman and John Turturro as Carmine Falcone.
Strangely, Pattinson's Batman doesn't yet have a clear main adversary. Previous Batman movies have generally centered around one or two big-name foes, whether that be Joker in the 1989 The Dark Knight Rises or Penguin and Catwoman in Batman Returns. With Reeves' movie, Farrell has already revealed Penguin doesn't have a big presence, and Catwoman is rarely an outright villain. This leaves Riddler as the most likely big bad, but Warner Bros. isn't going all-in with the Batman vs. Riddler marketing whatsoever. Something smells off, and it's not just the droppings in the Bat Cave.
The Batman has long been rumored to be inspired by the Long Halloween comic arc. While Reeves himself hasn't confirmed or denied this, the film's roster of characters is mostly consistent with The Long Halloween, and both stories take place when Batman is only a couple of years into his crime-fighting career. Further, The Batman was given an October release date when rescheduled due to the coronavirus pandemic, evoking those Halloween vibes. In The Long Halloween, Batman's main enemy is a serial killer known as Holiday. A series of murders occur in Gotham, all committed on public holidays, sparking an investigation with Batman and Jim Gordon at the forefront. Alberto Falcone (Carmine's son) is eventually convicted as the Holiday killer, but there is some ambiguity over whether he actually carried out all of the murders, with other characters also in the frame.
Since The Batman will clearly land on the more grounded end of the superhero spectrum, it makes sense for the antagonist to be a serial killer, rather than an outlandish supervillain with a grand masterplan. This would also explain why Warner Bros. haven't geared their marketing towards one specific villain - Holiday has no value as a mainstream Batman figure, so it's more effective to keep his casting secret. The Falcone crime family are central to The Long Halloween, and even though Alberto hasn't yet been announced among the cast, Carmine's presence might be another hint that Holiday's murder spree forms the backbone of The Batman. As an Fall bonus, Holiday as the main villain could play nicely into the new release date and the pumpkin-spiced fun of October.
Given what is known about The Batman so far, many fans are understandably assuming Riddler will be the film's big antagonist. But the green puzzler's true role could mirror Calendar Man's from The Long Halloween. Riddler's own part in the holiday-themed comic tale is minimal, but Calendar Man features more prominently, giving Batman mysterious riddle-like clues as to the Holiday killer's next victim. Riddler fits that bill perfectly, meaning Paul Dano's character could be a frustratingly vague and devilishly insane informant, rather than The Batman's main villain.
The Long Halloween ties directly into Harvey Dent's Two-Face transformation. Batman and Gordon initially work alongside Dent to catch Holiday, but soon come to suspect the Gotham D.A. is involved. Dent becomes a target rather than ally, and we get the classic acid-in-the-face courtroom origin. Harvey Dent hasn't been officially announced for The Batman, but Peter Sarsgaard is playing "Gil Colson" - the Gotham D.A. in Matt Reeves' Batman world. It has been theorized that Colson will become Two-Face in The Batman, and if this proves to be true, the parallels with the Holiday storyline become even stronger.
Secrecy is rife around The Batman at present, but given the gothic visuals glimpsed so far, The Long Halloween's Holiday storyline would certainly fit with Reeves' aesthetic, while the murder mystery element would for the hushed secrecy surrounding the film's true villain. If Holiday is set for a live-action debut in 2021, The Batman is going to be very different from any of the character's previous cinematic outings, but that might be exactly what the Caped Crusader needs.
