A sequel and/or spinoff to “Batman: Unburied” with a new Bruce Wayne/Batman in the supporting role. As the title of this audio drama suggests, this is the story of the Riddler. The full season of “The Riddler: Secrets in the Dark” shadow dropped on October 10 and is eight episodes long. Spoiler warning for the entire season.

A Spotify Audio Drama Starring a Muslim Riddler

Hasan Minhaj plays a Riddler with the same manner of speaking as John Glover from Batman: The Animated Series. Perhaps a bit more sadistic and much more full of himself. He’s witty, smart and narcissistic because of he thinks he’s the smartest person in the room. The obvious difference between Glover and Minhaj is that Glover is white. Hasan is brown. This Riddler brings this up often as a way to invoke white fragility in someone he doesn’t want to deal with. It’s nice to see Spotify didn’t abandon the race swapping of Bruce Wayne/Batman (now voiced by Colman Domingo). While not a big name like Winston Duke, it was only a matter of time (if I had to guess) before scheduling conflicts entered the picture. Domingo dials down the Bat growl from this show’s predecessor, “Batman: Unburied.” Yes it’s a direct continuation. Harley Quinn audio drama seems to be off on its own.

Fulfilling the Arkham Knight Promise and Foreshadowing

The writers, one of which is Saladin Ahmed, also introduce a character to this audible Gotham City mythos. Someone from Riddler’s past. A family member who we see Edward Nygma can’t stand, especially in the present. We later learn this character’s identity as well as a bit of a dark side to their character in a meeting between the two. It’s brief, but I think it foreshadows the identity of this Batman copycat vigilante going around and killing Arkham inmates. If you’ve played the Arkham games or know about Batman lore, you’ll probably piece together the masked identity of this serial killer of the bat’s rogues gallery. Who the mastermind is behind the killings is the question that remains a mystery up until the very end. A question whose answer is kind of obvious.

Even if the clues are a bit on the nose of who the messenger is, the journey is more cohesive than “Batman: Unburied.” A story whose plot was split in two and suffered because of it. As mentioned, if you’ve played the Arkham video games, you can guess the identity of the one pulling the trigger. One game, Arkham Knight, promised a new character only to reuse a character from the comics and treat them as someone different. Needless to say, that irked some fans. The show “Titans” on HBO/MAX retold the story of Arkham Knight, but didn’t try to without information by having a new character be someone they’re not. “Riddler: Secrets in the Dark” fulfills the promise to fans of getting a new character added to the world of Batman and DC Comics as a whole. Whether the character stays in this audio canon or makes it to the main stream comics is uncertain. However, if it does happen. We’d have our first Harley Quinn situation for audio dramas.

8.5/10+ Stars