WARNING: This article includes MAJOR spoilers from The Batman.
Following his introduction in The Batman, director Matt Reeves expands on how potential sequels would tackle Joker's origin story. The Caped Crusader has made his latest return to the big screen, this time in a new reboot with Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne. While the reimagination doesn't serve as a complete origin story, The Batman focuses on Bruce's second year as Gotham City's protector. For the first installment in the envisioned trilogy, Batman goes up against Edward Nashton, a.k.a. The Riddler, who is depicted as a terrorist seeking to expose Gotham City's deeper corruption. The Batman also introduced rebooted versions of classic villains like The Penguin and Carmine Falcone.
However, wherever the Dark Knight goes, the Joker is usually not far behind, as The Batman gave fans a tease of Bruce's most famous nemesis. After The Riddler gets sent to Arkham Asylum, he befriends Barry Keoghan's "Unseen Arkham Prisoner," who turned out to be none other than Joker himself. While they never show Joker's face, Keoghan's silhouette gave fans a brief look at this universe's take on the iconic Batman foe. As Joker attempts to comfort a shaken Riddler, the two super-villains end their scene by bursting into laughter, foreshadowing a potential partnership.
While The Batman 2 hasn't been formally greenlit, it's only a matter of time before Warner Bros. makes that announcement following the first film's success. In a new interview with Den of Geek, Reeves talks about what he has in mind for this take on Joker, following his brief but captivating introduction. Even though Reeves has spoken about not being sure where Joker will appear next in this new universe, the filmmaker discussed how Keoghan's iteration still has a long way to go before becoming the true Joker. If he were to appear in future sequels, Reeves would focus a lot on Joker forming his ideology on human nature while exploring who this villain is, stating the following:
"Obviously, that guy has a congenital disease, it's like The Phantom of the Opera, he can't not smile and that instead of being the story of The Elephant Man, where all of his grotesque outward appearance belied the beauty inside, that this would form his nihilistic world view and that he would have an insidious understanding of human nature and so that's kinda where this psychology comes from and who this guy would be."
Just like Batman, Joker has been portrayed in live-action multiple times while also being approached differently, iteration by iteration. While the scene got deleted, there was a moment in The Batman where it would be established that this Joker has already fought the Caped Crusader. However, having a future installment truly explore his evolution into becoming the Joker fans know and love would help set it apart from Heath Ledger's incarnation in The Dark Knight. Given how they approached Paul Dano's Riddler, if Keoghan's Joker is getting the same treatment, it's another plus for the reboot as they'd continue to do angles that haven't really been in other Batman movies.
Based on Reeves' comments, it does appear The Batman universe will be more specific about this Joker, maybe even going as far as revealing the maniacal foe's real name. While the comics have retooled his backstory over the decades, most modern iterations tend to not really give him a definitive origin story. From what Reeves is thinking for Keoghan's character, it sounds like they're taking a similar approach to Joaquin Phoenix's Joker, set in an Elseworlds setting. Since Reeves' universe is being expanded on HBO Max with multiple The Batman spinoffs, it'd be intriguing to see what he would do with this Joker on a weekly basis too. As The Batman continues to succeed at the box office, it'll hopefully become clearer sooner rather than later when fans will get to see the latest cinematic Joker again.
Source: Den of Geek
