The highly anticipated return of the Bat vigilante marks the beginning of a new Batverse. Created by director Matt Reeves, the reboot will introduce Robert Pattinson as The Batman, together with Zoe Kraviz as Selina Kyle AKA Catwoman, and the first in line to antagonize Bruce Wayne, Paul Dano's The Riddler. Following The Batman's opening weekend success, we will surely see more of the Batverse and future villains in the sequels.
One particular character who made a brief appearance but teases a lot more involvement in the future sequels is Barry Keoghan, as The Riddler's newfound friend in the Arkham Asylum. The two exchanges a psychopathic interaction, and we heard a familiar laugh from the Batman franchise, which is no other than The Joker. In a recent interview, director Matt Reeves had already confirmed that Barry Keoghan is indeed The Joker.
Now that the Eternals star is finally shifting to the DC Universe as one of the wicked rivals of Batman in Gotham City, we can safely assume that The Joker will appear soon in future projects for the Batverse.
In an interview with Variety, Reeves confirms that Barry Keoghan will indeed have a future in his Batverse:
“There’s stuff I’m very interested in doing in an Arkham space, potentially for HBO Max. There are things we’ve talked about there. So it’s very possible. It also isn’t impossible, that there is some story that comes back where Joker comes into our world.”
“It’s something to think about with the Joker. It’s been done well, a number of times.” the director added.
Reeves aims to develop more grounded characters in his Batverse and wants to make the film different from the other Batman films.
With the saturation of best Joker performances following Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix, Reeves told Keoghan that he couldn't promise that the character will officially come back, in the end, could just be a simple cameo for the film.
Reeves explained, “I said to Barry, right from the beginning, ‘Look, I don’t know where this is going to go. I can’t promise that it’ll even ever come back. I don’t know.’ And I still feel that way now. I’m not sure exactly.”
When asked about what he was looking for an actor to portray the mad villain, Reeves responded, “I was looking not only for somebody who was a good actor, but somebody who was fearless.” and added, “Barry was full in. That, along with the fact that I loved him as an actor, was the deciding factor. And we did it.”
The Joker was used multiple times in the DC Universe and introducing villains with less exposure in the live-action films is the best choice for director Matt Reeves. But we can safely assume that The Joker will make a significant appearance in future films because one does not simply introduce a character with that magnitude only for a cameo. Plus, what's a Batman without a Joker?
The Joker could be a big bad for The Batman in future films, but as of now, seems like the Batverse will follow Colin Farell's The Penguin first. The Penguin spinoff is already confirmed for HBO Max after The Batman.
The Batman is now showing in theaters.
Also Read: The Batman: Warner Bros. Reportedly Changes Spinoff's Gotham PD Genre Into Horror
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