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The Batman Director Defends the Decision of Including the Joker in the Film


The Batman is now out on HBO Max and a lot of people are now either rewatching or finally catching up with the film which has been a huge success at both the box office and the audience and critics' reception. One of the most-talked-about moments in the film is near the end when Barry Keoghan's Joker showed up and interacted with the Riddler in the Arkham Asylum. Some fans are still wondering about why he was included in the film and now we finally have an explanation from the director himself.

Per Heroic Hollywood, during the official Director's Commentary of The Batman which is currently an iTunes exclusive, director Matt Reeves explained his creative decision regarding why he included the scene with the Joker near the end of the film.

"A lot of people ask me, ‘Is this a setup for another movie?’ and to be honest it really isn’t," Reeves said. "This for me was tracking because Paul [Dano] and The Riddler was in the action of the third act in a very particular way, and the last we’d seen him he was saying ‘Boom!’ in his window as the bombs went off, and we hadn’t yet seen him take in the fact that Batman had been able to pull things back from the brink and that his plan had not played out, I really wanted to see the end of that arc for Riddler."

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Credit: Warner Bros.

Based on Reeves' quote, it looks like the Joker's purpose in the film is more on serving the Riddler's arc rather than a set-up of being the villain in a potential sequel. While you may either agree or disagree with the decision, at least we got a clarification regarding why he appeared in the end as well as the deleted scene that was released a few weeks ago which revealed that he also supposedly had another scene in the film.

While the Joker's appearance is not an indication that he will be the main villain in a future film, it is somehow a sign that the Joker is already a major player in Gotham City and we might expect another appearance from him whether it's in future films or in the HBO Max spinoff shows that they're working on. We should be able to find out soon enough whether Keoghan's Joker will show up again in Reeves' Batman universe.

The film's logline reads: "When a killer targets Gotham City’s elite with a series of sadistic machinations, a trail of cryptic clues sends the World’s Greatest Detective on an investigation into the underworld, where he encounters such characters as Selina Kyle, The Penguin, Carmine Falcone and The Riddler. As the evidence begins to lead closer to home and the scale of the perpetrator’s plans becomes clear, The Batman must forge new relationships, unmask the culprit, and bring justice to the abuse of power and corruption that has long plagued Gotham City."

Directed by Matt Reeves, the film stars Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Paul Dano, Jeffrey Wright, John Turturro, Peter Sarsgaard, Jayme Lawson, Andy Serkis, and Colin Farrell. Reeves co-wrote the script with Peter Craig, based on characters from DC. Michael E. Uslan, Walter Hamada, Chantal Nong Vo, and Simon Emanuel served as executive producers.

Also Read: The Batman Director Confirms Chilling Detail About Riddler in Surprise Scene

The Batman is available to watch on HBO Max and video-on-demand platforms. It is also still showing in selected theaters.

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