Matt Reeves has opened up about Barry Keoghan’s mystery character in The Batman as well as a deleted scene featuring him.
Please note spoilers follow from here. Do not read any further if you have not yet seen The Batman.
Speaking with IGN, Reeves spoke about Barry Keoghan’s appearance in the film and a scene that was cut from earlier in the film.
“What’s interesting is that the reason that Joker’s in the movie is there was actually another scene that was earlier. And because the movie is not an origin tale for Batman, but it’s his early days, it really is an origin tale for the Rogue’s Gallery’s characters. And for me, I think [it’s] this idea that the Joker is not yet the Joker, but they already have this relationship.
“The scene that was not in the movie, the scene that this is really the companion to, which is actually a really cool scene that will release at some point, it’s a scene where Batman is so unnerved because the Riddler is writing to him. And he’s like, ‘Well, why is this guy writing to me?’ And he figures he’s got to profile this killer.”
“He goes to see another killer that he’s clearly had an experience with in these first two years. And this killer in this story is not yet the character that we come to know, right? So everybody’s in their infancy. So in the comics, these characters often declare their alter egos in response to the fact that there’s a Batman out there. And so here, we have a Joker who’s not yet the Joker.”
Will we eventually see him go full Joker? We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.
The Batman is now in general theatrical release, and will arrive on HBO Max on April 19, 2022.
