The Batman continues to drum up conversation around its radical take on the iconic DC character. The movie follows a more tortured version of Bruce Wayne as he confronts his biggest challenge yet thanks to an equally unique version of the Riddler (Paul Dano), who has been targeting Gotham City's biggest public figures and leaving twisted puzzles behind.
Though the Riddler is the primary villain in The Batman, Reeves also sets up some other major rogues. A pre-Penguin Oswald Cobblepot (Colin Farrell) plays a key role in the film, and a scene at the very end teases Batman's biggest villain of all: The Joker. Barry Keoghan plays Joker in this universe, and he's already in Arkham by the time The Batman starts. While he isn't yet the villain fans know and obsess over, he has clashed with the Batman already, as a deleted scene reveals.
Since The Batman was released, Reeves has discussed numerous aspects of the film, including the fact that Keoghan shot another scene as the Joker. Reeves believes it will be released eventually, but in the meantime, he offered up a few details to CinemaBlend (via The Direct). For one thing, he revealed some of the dialogue from the scene, and that in turn says a lot about Joker's past with Batman. Reeves said:
"Well, you know, the unseen prisoner is one of the characters that he would’ve confronted in Year 1, and that’s how he ended up there. So they have a relationship. One of the lines from the scene that’s not in is, that unseen prisoner says to him ‘It’s almost our anniversary, isn’t it?’ And you realize that they have a relationship that exists before that character, who is the character that you think he is, before that character becomes that character. He hasn’t yet declared himself that character, but they have a relationship that begins very, very early, and…they’re sort of intertwined with each other in a very specific way."
For the Batman and Joker to be intertwined in this way so early on is fitting when considering the complex bond they've shared across multiple adaptations. Reeves has been careful when discussing whether Joker will be the villain for The Batman 2, but a scenario where a deeper history between two characters is hinted at but never explored feels unlikely. Reeves has something in mind for these two, it just isn't yet clear what that is. Still, now that it has been confirmed that Pattinson's Batman knows his Joker, there are bound to be countless fan theories about what their Year 1 conflict was.
The Batman establishes a new version of Gotham that is already going to be host to various spinoffs. Though the Gotham PD series has fallen to the wayside, there's a project about Arkham in the works, and the Penguin series starring Farrell just got a series order. That doesn't even include the sequels that are likely to come. As evidenced by the deleted scene involving the Joker and Bruce, Reeves has put serious thought into The Batman's world and its history, and watching it unfold through various continuations will be very, very exciting.
Source: CinemaBlend (via The Direct)
