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Harley Quinn's been having some fun at the expense of Robert Pattinson's Batman. Her namesake show recently contained a little reference to The Batman, or more specifically, The Riddler's puzzles from the movie.
In Harley Quinn season 5, episode 9, the anti-villain, Poison Ivy, and Sharon, Harley's mother, go to the Batcave to contact Bruce after Metropolis gets shrunk (it's a wild show.) Once there, they need to hack into his computers by guessing his password.
The phrase that works? "El Rata Alada," an allusion to a riddle given to the Dark Knight in The Batman by Paul Dano’s Riddler. By the show's logic, all these characters are the same as the ones we see in other films and TV series, we’re just seeing them more during their downtime or between bigger incidents.
Ergo, this is the same Big Black Bat as in The Batman, so of course he’d have 'Rata Alada' as his password, because it’s not a phrase he’s forgetting any time soon. It's a small, inconspicuous reference, but clear nonetheless if you know Matt Reeves’ Bat-flick.
In the movie, 'Rata Alada' is a clue towards arresting Falcone, one of The Riddler's targets in his personal mission to clean up Gotham's corruption. He and Bruce Wayne have some disagreements about the methodology, to put it lightly.
A great show anyway, Harley Quinn is especially rewarding if you know DC comics and the roster’s combined cinematic history. As you might imagine, the series has a particular penchant for poking fun at all aspects of Batman’s storied adaptations.
In the first season, Batman's Shark Repellent Spray made an appearance, first seen in the 1966 Batman movie. Meanwhile Bane is obsessed by explosions in the show, much like his characterization in The Dark Knight Rises.
Our upcoming DC movies guide will keep you up to speed on the world's finest, and we have a rundown of The Batman 2 so you know when Pattinson’s moody Bruce is coming back to the silver screen.
