The Batman: Movie Ending And Riddler's Plot Explained

gamespot.com:

We've returned to Gotham yet again for an all new iteration of Batman--though despite the change in appearance for the city and the characters, the Dark Knight and his foes are up to some familiar tricks. We're going to break down exactly what happens at the end of The Batman and what it might mean for the future of the Caped Crusader's perpetually rebooted film franchise so please, if you want to preserve the mystery for yourself, don't scroll any further until you see the movie.

Major spoilers for The Batman to follow.

There are three major mysteries at play throughout The Batman. The first is the identity and motivation of The Riddler, who in this version of Gotham is a Zodiac-meets-Jigsaw style vigilante carving a bloody swath through the city's elite leaving clues in his wake. The second is the mystery Riddler himself is trying to expose, the identity and source of the corruption within Gotham's upper class. Finally, the third, is the nature of Selina Kyle's involvement in said upper class and the truth about her relationship to Carmine Falcone and his organization. We'll break these down one by one for simplicity's sake, though in the movie itself they're all heavily intertwined.

The Riddler

It turns out The Riddler is a man who is (probably) named Edward Nashton, which is one of his on-again-off-again names in the comics. There's a little homage to this specific detail in the police finding multiple IDs on Riddler at his arrest, making it unclear if Nashton is really his legal name or not. From here, the movie takes some liberties in inventing a new backstory for Nashton, casting him as an orphan who was part of the Wayne family's project for Gotham City's renewal, living at a Wayne-sponsored orphanage.