Before the movie’s release, news broke that Barry Keoghan was going to be in The Batman as an unnamed prisoner in Arkham (even though he was also rumored to be a completely different character before that), and the minute it said “unnamed” we all knew who he was: The Joker.
While we didn’t get much of Keoghan’s take on the Clown Prince of Gotham in The Batman, we saw him try to make an alliance with the Riddler after everything was said and done, which gave fans hope that we could still see more of Keoghan in a future movie in director Matt Reeves’ Gotham.
In the clip, we see Batman going to the Joker to try to get answers about a new serial killer loose in Gotham. The Joker makes some quip about it being their one-year anniversary and that the gift is “paper” as Batman gives him what information he has on the Riddler. The two are working together to try to get answers, and it’s a dynamic we haven’t really gotten to explore in the live-action world, and I wish that they’d left this in the movie.
The Joker says to Batman that the Riddler is a “nobody” who is trying to be somebody, and it’s interesting given what we don’t know about the Riddler at this point in the movie and how the Joker pretty much nails it by just looking at his file.
The Joker and the Batman
What we have in live action is the Joker constantly bringing chaos to Batman and Bruce trying to navigate that. We have never gotten to see this side of their dynamic, where the two know one another, know how to find each other, and use that “relationship” to their advantage. The Joker has always been fascinated by the Bat—that’s existed since the television series with Cesar Romero.
But this? Batman going to Arkham and asking the Joker for help? It’s new and fresh and something I want to explore more of. Sure, yes, I like when the Joker embodies the chaos he so perfectly brings to the world of Batman, but I also love this—the man who wants to talk to Batman and get to know what makes his greatest foe tick.
Do I hope we get to see an unleashed version of Keoghan’s Joker in Reeves’ movies? Yes, but I don’t want it to be in the immediate sequel to The Batman. I want more of Batman going to ask Joker for help and getting an uncomfortably honest take in return. I want the Rogues’ Gallery to be Batman’s sounding board, and I want that betrayal from the Joker, when he eventually escapes Arkham, to sting that much more for them both.
Batman wants justice and the Joker wants chaos, and the two exist in this world of both needing something from the other. Seeing this scene actually made me want more of the Joker—something I haven’t wanted in at least ten years. Right now, we don’t know if Keoghan will be back for future films with Robert Pattinson, but if he is, more of this, please!
(image: Warner Bros.)
