“The Batman”: What Paul Dano’s Riddler has to do with Nirvana

Paul Dano plays the Riddler on screen in The Batman, and he credits a song, among others, for his performance as the masked villain: Nirvana’s Something In The Way.

The title of Nirvana was already heard in the soundtrack to the “The Batman” trailer in 2020. Director Matt Reeves later announced that his Bruce Wayne interpretation was inspired by Kurt Cobain. He would have listened to the “Nevermind” track while writing the first act, working on the character of the protagonist. Of course, there was room in the script for a reference to “Something In The Way”.

Dano: Nirvana became a part of the Riddler

There was also music on the set: 37-year-old Dano reports that he listened to music during the breaks in filming so that he could continue to play the demanding role of the dark lunatic. Reeves’ hint in the script would have persuaded him to use Nirvana for it: “The song, the words, the chorus, it all became extremely important to me.” become his riddler.

Another piece to which he always returned during the breaks was Aaron Copland’s composition “Fanfare For The Common Man”. This is also part of The Batman soundtrack. Additionally, Dano remains silent about his musical inspiration, saying it is “private”.

“The Batman” started in German cinemas on Thursday (03.03.). The film will not open in Russian cinemas for the time being due to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Despite this, box office earnings of up to 245 million US dollars are expected.

+++ This article first appeared on rollingstone.de +++