
Age: 42
male
Paul Franklin Dano (born June 19, 1984) is an American actor. He began his career on Broadway before making his film debut in The Newcomers (2000). He won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Debut Performance for his role in L.I.E. (2001) and received accolades for his role as Dwayne Hoover in Little Miss Sunshine (2006). For his dual roles as Paul and Eli Sunday in Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood (2007), he was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor. Dano has also received accolades for roles such as John Tibeats in Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave (2013) and Alex Jones in Denis Villeneuve's Prisoners (2013). His acting portrayal of musician Brian Wilson in Love & Mercy (2014) earned him a Golden Globe nomination in the category of Best Supporting Actor. Dano made his directorial debut with the drama film Wildlife (2018), based on the novel by Richard Ford. He co-wrote the screenplay with his partner Zoe Kazan. In 2018, he starred in the Showtime miniseries Escape at Dannemora, for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie. In 2022, he played Edward Nashton / The Riddler in The Batman.

Paul Dano

Edward Nygma/Riddler
for Edward Nygma/Riddler in FEAR THE BATMAN
Suggested by leosalec

Gotham is no longer just afraid of crime. It is afraid of Batman. In the aftermath of the city’s brutal reckoning, Batman has become an unavoidable presence—seen in reflections, felt in silence, whispered about in interrogation rooms. Crime has not vanished, but it has evolved. Fear now shapes Gotham’s underworld as much as greed once did. At the center of Gotham’s fragile recovery stands Harvey Dent, the city’s charismatic and relentless District Attorney. Backed by Batman’s unseen influence and the law’s full force, Dent wages war on organized crime, targeting the remnants of Carmine Falcone’s empire and his longtime rival Salvatore Maroni. To Bruce Wayne, Harvey is more than a political ally—he is a friend, a symbol of hope, and proof that Gotham might still be saved without masks. That hope begins to rot. As the mob fractures, a series of public, theatrical crimes grip the city—crimes designed not for profit, but for attention. Behind them is The Joker, an emerging figure whose presence infects Gotham like a disease. He does not seek control. He seeks reaction. Fear. Laughter in the wrong places. He orchestrates chaos to expose the lie beneath order, forcing Batman into confrontations that are psychological as much as physical. At the same time, a new weapon spreads through Gotham’s streets: a refined hallucinogenic toxin. Its source is Scarecrow, operating quietly in the shadows, testing fear itself as a means of domination. Victims are left broken, screaming, or catatonic—haunted by visions of Batman as a monster rather than a savior. As tensions rise, Maroni strikes back. In a public attack meant to shatter Gotham’s faith in justice, Harvey Dent is horribly disfigured. The city watches its golden boy fall—while Batman watches a friend disappear. Dent survives, but something inside him fractures. The law that once guided him becomes a coin flip. Justice becomes punishment. Two-Face is born. Bruce Wayne, already battling the weight of his crusade, now carries another responsibility: Dick Grayson, a sharp, angry orphan taken in after a tragedy that mirrors Bruce’s own. As the first Robin, Dick becomes both Bruce’s greatest risk and his only chance at breaking the cycle—challenging Batman’s obsession with fear by reminding him of compassion. A brief reunion with Selina Kyle offers Bruce clarity. Selina sees Gotham for what it is—a city that feeds on symbols—and warns him that fear alone will consume everything it touches. As Joker manipulates Dent’s descent, Scarecrow’s toxin floods the streets, and the mob tears itself apart, Batman is forced to confront the truth: fear can inspire—but it can also destroy. The film culminates in a citywide psychological collapse, where Batman must stop Two-Face not just as a criminal, but as a man he failed… while refusing to become the monster Joker believes him to be. Gotham survives—but scarred. And Batman learns that fear is a tool… not a foundation.