Wild DC Theory Blames Batman & Robin"s Tone On The Riddler

Although both movies were directed by Joel Schumacher and are part of the same continuity, Batman Forever and Batman & Robin are very different, especially when it comes to their tone, with the latter being a lot campier, and a theory blames this drastic change on The Riddler’s (Jim Carrey) actions in Batman Forever. The darkness of Tim Burton’s Batman Returns and other factors led Warner Bros. to change their plans for the Caped Crusader on the big screen, replacing Burton for Joel Schumacher and Michael Keaton for Val Kilmer as Bruce Wayne in Batman Forever, which also changed the design of Gotham City and the tone of the story.
Batman Forever saw the title character doing his best to stop Two-Face (Tommy Lee Jones) and The Riddler as they joined forces to extract information from all the minds in Gotham City. In addition to that, Bruce adopted Dick Grayson (Chris O’Donnell), an orphan acrobat who became his famous sidekick, Robin. In order to get that information from the minds of Gotham’s citizens, The Riddler built a machine named The Box, which he put to test at a party hosted by him, and though the machine was later destroyed by Batman, it might be responsible for Batman & Robin’s campier and goofier tone, at least according to one theory.