The Batman fan decodes cryptic Riddler message hidden in trailer

A sharp-minded fan has decoded a hidden message in the new trailer for Matt Reeves’ DC Comics adaptation The Batman.

The trailer offered viewers the first look at Paul Dano’s take on the classic Batman villain The Riddler, a fiend known for posing elaborate riddles to his caped nemesis.

In part of the trailer, we are given a look at a greeting card containing one of his trademark riddles.

The card could itself be a reference to the real-life Zodiac Killer, who sent coded messages to the police, including some written inside greeting cards.

Inside The Riddler’s card is the message: “What does a liar do when he’s dead?” followed by 11 mysterious characters.

Twitter user Andrew Lane took it upon himself to crack the code, explaining his method in the replies underneath.

“I used a pretty simple substitution method that I paired with English letter frequency,” he wrote. ”It gave me which symbols stood for L and E. I just filled in the blanks from there and used the riddle for some direction!”

According to Lane’s calculations, the answer to the question is: “He lies still.”

Fans have speculated that the nifty piece of wordplay could in fact hint at something darker. For instance, it has been suggested that The Riddler’s reference to a “liar”, could refer to a member of the Wayne family.

The Batman is set to be released next year, and will see Robert Pattinson (Twilight) take over the role of Gotham’s dark knight.

Colin Farrell, Zoe Kravitz, Jeffrey Wright, John Turturro and Andy Serkis are also set to feature.