The Batman star Barry Keoghan reacts to fans' opinions about his Joker portrayal. 2022 marked the year the Dark Knight made his return to the big screen with Matt Reeves rebooting the franchise. Starring Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne, The Batman centered on the vigilante's second year as Gotham City's protector. The Batman found Bruce Wayne Batman the terrorist Edward Nashton, a.k.a. The Riddler, while also introducing other villains from Bruce's rogue's gallery.
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While The Riddler served as the main antagonist in The Batman and was defeated at the end of the movie, the DC reboot also re-imagined another iconic villain for a brief appearance. After Riddler gets sent to Arkham Asylum, he befriends a cellmate who is revealed to be none other than Joker, with Keoghan being the latest actor to portray the Clown Prince of Crime. Despite being seen briefly through the shadows, Warner Bros. ended up releasing Keoghan's deleted Joker scene from The Batman, where the Caped Crusader came to him for help.
Despite having less than 5 minutes of screen time, Keoghan has paid attention to fan reactions to his Joker portrayal. In a new interview with GQ, the Irish actor spoke about his feelings on how his depiction of the Batman villain is being perceived. At one point, Keoghan had found a list article where it rated the best Jokers in live-action, with his version from The Batman ranked fourth, and he even texted it to Reeves, finding it hilarious.
There were seven and I was number four. Lads, with four minutes of screen time, not bad eh!?
Will Joker Be In The Batman 2?
While Keoghan's Joker appearance was well received, it's unclear where The Batman franchise will go with him after his debut. Even though Reeves is working on The Batman 2, the director has stated in previous interviews that the deleted scene was meant to serve more as an Easter egg rather than setting up the next film. At this point, the filmmaker has no idea if he intends to have Joker show up in The Batman 2. In many ways, it would be predictable if Joker served as The Batman 2's main antagonist, as it would follow the same trajectory as The Dark Knight, which may be one of the reasons Reeves doesn't want to use him in the sequel.
Given that Batman has an endless amount of villains to choose from, Joker could be saved for the future, perhaps even in a sequel trilogy. Out of any Batman villain, Joker has been used the most in live-action, which has prevented other enemies from getting the spotlight. What's great about The Batman's Joker is that, much like Selina Kyle and Penguin, Keoghan's character is still in his early days, allowing the franchise to flesh out his background in the future. Even prior to The Batman opening in theaters, several cast members had spoken heavily about wanting to see Court of Owls as Bruce's next obstacle, especially as they have never been explored in DC movies, which would be far more interesting at this point than getting another Joker story. Even if it's not in the next film, The Batman has set up a fascinating take on Joker, and hopefully, whenever Keoghan reprises that character, Reeves will get to add something new to the popular DC foe.